Patch dieback of Colophospermum mopane in a dysfunctional semi‐arid African savanna

Abstract

Abstract Patch dieback occurred in an almost monospecific Colophospermum mopane (Kirk ex Benth.) Kirk ex J. Léonard woodland in the Northern Province, South Africa, following severe droughts in 1988–1989 and 1991–1992. Discrete patches of dieback and adjacent paired areas of ‘healthy’ vegetation lost an average of 87 and 13% of basal area to mortality, respectively. Whole trees mostly died on ‘dead’ plots, while single‐stem mortality prevailed on ‘live’ plots. Tree mortality decreased with increasing stem number per tree. Patch dieback did not occur on sandy soils. On fine‐textured soils, variation in soil type, topography or slope did not affect dieback. Dieback was influenced by vegetation structure, soil surface condition and soil chemistry. Intense intertree competition, shown by self‐thinning occurring prior to dieback, was a precondition for dieback. Intertree competition had heightened during the 30 years prior to dieback because of an increase in woody cover. Dieback patches had changed from functioning as sinks of water and sediment to sources of these as a result of loss of perennial herbaceous cover, decreased water retention on bared surfaces, and accelerated erosion during 50 years of livestock ranching. Vegetation had thus become increasingly drought‐prone, exacerbated in places by soils with a high sodium concentration. Dieback had occurred because the water requirements of C. mopane could no longer be met during drought years on the dysfunctional patches.