Abstract
Woodland ecosystems are integral and crucial to biodiversity and neighbouring human communities. These ecosystems have experienced vast changes in their physical nature which affect the roles they play, as urban expansion, agriculture, wood fuel collection and open-air churches all result in the clearing of woody vegetation. Remote sensing and geographic information system techniques are used to assess changes in woody vegetation over a 20-year period (1990–2010) around Bulawayo. Three of Bulawayo's woodland areas (Richmond, Pumula and Bellevue) were compared and used to illustrate the changes. Thirty randomly selected quadrats of 20 × 50 m2 (10 in each study site) were established to assess the population structure and species diversity of the woody vegetation. The results showed that an area of 36.38 km2 covered by woody vegetation was lost from 1990 to 2010 while built-up areas occupied an additional 47.64 km2. Richmond had the highest species diversity compared with Pumula and Bellevue while the major uses of the woodlands were similar (p < 0.001) across all the three areas. Changes in the extent of woody vegetation cover were therefore evident in Bulawayo from 1990 to 2010.
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