Abstract
The research was carried out in the Ea land type of the northeastern Orange Free State, with the objective of reclassifying and refining Acocks’s veld types. TWINSPAN classification results were further refined by Braun-Blanquet procedures. The 100 relev^s distributed over the Ea land type resulted in the recognition of four major vegetation types which may be divided into nine plant communities. The communities were hierarchically classified, described and ecologically interpreted. DECORANA ordination was used to determine vegetation/environmental gradients and relationships.
Highlights
The research was carried out in the Ea land type o f the northeastern Orange Free State, with the objective of reclassifying and refining Acocks’s veld types
FIGURE 3. —The distribution of the different veld types within the total study area according to Acocks (1988)
The reason for patch-overgrazing is the dispropor tionate utilization o f the veld, resulting in patches being over-utilized (Fuls 1992). These patches are gradually retrograding until bare patches of soil develop. This plant community is to a great extent similar to grasslands described by Bezuidenhout (1988) and Kooij (1990), except for the prominence of Eragrostis plana and other species typical of the moister eastern grasslands of the Orange Free State
Summary
Releves were compiled in 100 stratified random sampleFIGURE 5.—The drainage of the total study area with the Klip River plots. The following habitat data were recorded in each sample plot: geology, topography, terrain unit, slope and aspect, rockiness, soil types and erosion. To derive a first approximation o f the vegetation types, two-way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN) (Hill 1979a) was applied. This was further refined by BraunBlanquet procedures (Behr & Bredenkamp 1988; Bredenkamp et al 1989). The Ea land type is characterized mainly by the con stant presence, mostly with high cover-abundance values of Themeda triandra, and Eragrostis curvula and E. plana (species group L, Table 2). Con spicuous and dominant grasses include Themeda triandra, Eragrostis curvula and E. plana of species group L, and Aristida congesta and A. junciformis of species group I (Table 2). The herbaceous layer of terrain unit 2 is more conspicuous and better developed than those of other terrain units
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