The Batemi are an agropastoral group who inhabit a semi-arid area in Northwestern Tanzania. The group lives a traditional subsistence lifestyle and are therefore dependent on the resources that surround them. This study: (1) investigates their use of woody vegetation; (2) studies the abundance and distribution of woody vegetation in the area; and (3) experiments with assigning use values to species and with employing these use values to identify conservation priorities. The Batemi utilize over 100 woody species, in 37 families' and 58 genera, from the environment surrounding their villages for construction, fuel, implements, services, food and medicine. Random sampling and systematic inventories in the valley showed that the most abundant species are Croton dictygamous and Acacia tortilis. Land cover in the area can be classed into three main vegetation types using a polythetic divisive program, TWINSPAN and these types are linked to three habitat types: hillside, plain and riverine. A landcover map for the area was produced from Landsat TM digital data. Based on density of woody vegetation, four categories were chosen for the final map product: thicket, woodland, wooded grassland, and grassland. To establish conservation priorities, use values are assigned based on importance of a use, number of species that can fulfill that use, and the rate of consumption. These values, when compared to abundance, provide a framework for considering conservation priorities. Based on various methods, Acacia mellifera and Haplocoelum folioosum are identified as two species that may require special attention.

Thesis (M. Env. St.)--University of Adelaide, Mawson Graduate Centre for Environmental Studies, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 141-150).

Thesis (M. Env. St.)--University of Adelaide, Mawson Graduate Centre for Environmental Studies, 1993? / Eight folded maps in pocket. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 94-99).

Thesis (M. Env. St.)--University of Adelaide, Mawson Graduate Centre for Environmental Studies, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 189-195).

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Australia, 2008.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

No description available.

In response to a growing concern over the rising rates of extinction of the world's plants and of habitat destruction, studies of Southern African threatened plants were initiated in the 1970's. These studies, which have largely concentrated on Western Cape flora, led to the publication of "Threatened Plants of Southern Africa" by Hall et al., 1980, which attempted to list as many threatened or possibly threatened species as possible. It was however marred by a lack of recent herbarium records and detailed studies from many parts of the region, the Eastern Cape being one of these. In order to extend these detailed studies to gain a clearer picture of the numbers of threatened species in the Eastern Cape and evaluate the conservation status of Eastern Cape vegetation this project was initiated. Initially lists of possibly threatened and endemic taxa of the Eastern Cape were compiled from various sources. These listed taxa were then checked against herbarium records, all available information being filled onto index cards for filing purposes. This paper-based filing system was then transferred into a computer-based data bank to facilitate the efficient storage and retrieval of information. Results from this data bank show that there are 662 variously threatened plant taxa in the Eastern Cape, many of which fall into temporary categories which need to be clarified by investigation in the field. Primarily based on the above results, a table ranking the various vegetation types into an order of priority for investigations about conservation requirement was developed.Subtropical Thicket was found to be the vegetation type in most need of investigation and so an extensive phytosociological survey was carried out in the Valley Bushveld which forms the major portion of Subtropical Thicket in the Eastern Cape. Twelve sites were sampled for floristic and environmental variables along a rainfall gradient of between 300 mm yr⁻¹ and 1 000 mm yr⁻¹ and along a longitudinal gradient from the Buffalo River in the east to the Gamtoos-Kromme complex in the west. Floristic data W(re analysed using multivariate techniques of classification and ordination. A classification by two-way species indicator analysis revealed the Valley Bushveld to consist of two orders of thicket, the Kaffrarian Succulent Thicket containing the two suborders, Inland Succulent Thicket and the Coastal Succulent Thicket and the Kaffrarian Thicket containing Coastal Kaffrarian Thicket and Inland Kaffrarian Thicket. Ordina tion by detrended correspondence analysis also grouped sites according to these vegetation categories in a sequence along one axis, to which the rainfall gradient could be related. Variables such as diversity indices, numbers of endemics, numbers of threatened taxa and structural features were also extracted from the data and these were correlated with environmental variables by multiple regression analysis. Species richness and the percent woody component w\!re positively correlated with rainfall while endemism and percent succulent component were strongly negatively correlated with rainfall. Most of the other relationships were explained by interrelationships with rainfall. Finally the sites were evaluated according to floristic criteria indicative of conservation value. The Coastal Succulent Thicket appeared to have the highest conservation value mainly owing to high endemism, while Inland Kaffrarian Thicket was also important as it supports a high number of species. The thickets with high conservation value are therefore the thickets of coastal areas in the western parts of the Eastern Cape which receive a low rainfall and the thickets which receive a rainfall in excess of 800 mm. / KMBT_363 / Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in