Abstract
The availability and abundance of surface water on the Manyeleti Game Reserve was quantified to provide information towards the development of a water provision policy. A total of 696 water source sites were located with a mean distance of 223.3 m apart. The water source sites (natural and artificial) were monitored seasonally to describe the seasonal availability of surface water on the Manyeleti Game Reserve. There were significant relationships between seasonal rainfall and the number of water source sites and maximum distance between sites. The large number of water sources is regulated by climatic progression and thus water provision on the Manyeleti Game Reserve follows a natural cycle linked primarily to rainfall. Water sources that dry up towards the dry seasons need to be supplied with water during drought periods in order to maintain game numbers without causing rangeland degradation. A water provision model that incorporates all the variables of the Greater Kruger Park Conservation Area, with particular reference to the smaller conservation areas within it, should become a research priority.
Highlights
Managers of protected areas have few effective methods at their disposal for controlling the movements of game
Eight hundred and seventy water sources were found on the Manyeleti Game Reserve
The inability to find a significant relationship between the minimum and mean distances of water sources with seasonal rainfall could possibly be attributed to the large number of water sources that had several close distances measured between sites
Summary
Managers of protected areas have few effective methods at their disposal for controlling the movements of game. Broadscale heterogeneity in surface water availability and distribution is caused by geology (Gaylard et al 2003). Fine-scale heterogeneity in surface water availability and distribution is caused by rainfall patterns that vary over decades (wet and dry periods), years (El Niño oscillations) and seasons (Gaylard et al 2003). The size of a conservation area will relate to the effects surface water availability and distribution will have on the area’s spatial and temporal heterogeneity. Cognizance of the distribution, abundance, availability and the efficient maintenance of surface water (natural and artificial) are of paramount importance, as these factors have a profound influence on effective veld and game management (Young 1992)
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