The aim of this study was to describe the plant communities within the eastern portion of the Mkuze Wetland, including only those systems that have a substantial input of water from the Mbazwane Stream, and to determine environmental factors that control distribution. The Mbazwane Wetland has a catchment of reworked sandy marine sediments, and its gradient is very shallow, such that water moving downstream through this system is free of suspended sediment and is clear. In addition, it has low conductivity suggesting a low solute load. A total of nine communities were identified in the study, based on the TWINSPAN cluster analysis. These are: Ficus trichopodalScleria angusta Swamp Forest Community; Rubus rigidus Disturbed Swamp Forest; Phragmites australis/Ficus trichopoda Precursor Swamp Forest; Typha capenis/Pycreus mundii/Leersia hexandra Marsh Community; Phragmites australis/Cladium mariscus/Ficus verruculosa Swamp Community; Cyperus papyrus Swamp Community; Echinochloa pyramidalis Floodplain Community; Ischaemum fasciculatum/Centella asiatica Floodplain Community; Paspalum distichum Floodplain Community. These communities can be divided into three broad groups, swamp forest, emergent herbaceous swamp/marsh and grassland floodplain communities. One of the main environmental variables influencing distribution was duration and depth of flooding, which separated the permanently flooded swamp and emergent swamp/marsh communities from the seasonally/ periodically inundated floodplain communities. Environmental variables that account for further division of the communities within these two groups, appear to be disturbances from fire and substratum differences related to sediment deposition from the Mkuze River, which enters the lower Mbazwane Wetland from the west. The permanently flooded swamp forest communities, are largely restricted to the northern parts of the study area, while the emergent swamp/ marsh communities, are restricted to the southern part of the study area. The swamp forest community is fringed to the west by an extremely high and steep dune, while the swamp/marsh communities are fringed to the west by much lower and more gently sloping dunes. It is suggested here that wildfires in conjunction with topography influence the distribution of these two groups of communities. An analysis of diurnal variation in temperature in the winter months (June - August) for winds (greater than l.0m/s) reveals that winds blowing from the west to north-west are associated with extremely high temperatures that persist during the day and well into the night. These are berg wind conditions that have been strongly linked to the desiccation of vegetation and promoting its susceptibility to burning in wildfires, and it is during these conditions that fires are most likely to occur in the study area. Swamp forest is situated in areas that are protected from direct exposure to these winds by the high, steep dune immediately to the west. These are thus likely to be naturally protected from fire. In contrast the herbaceous swamp/marsh communities are not protected from wind or fire by a similar topographic feature. Mature swamp forests were restricted to these 'berg wind shadow' areas, where there is complete protection from fire. Precursor and disturbed swamp forests occur where they are less protected and thus are infrequently exposed to fire. The distribution of the permanently flooded swamp/marsh communities in the areas exposed to fire appears to be related to the input of nutrients. The Cyperus papyrus Swamp Community was rooted in clay rich peat in the area around the Mkuze Delta that receives an input of clay from the Mkuze River during very high floods. In contrast, the Phragmites australis/Cladium mariscuslLeersia hexandra Swamp Community was rooted in peat with low ash content, as there is little or no input of clay from the Mkuze River, even during high floods. The seasonally/periodically- flooded communities included the Echinochloa pyramidalis Floodplain Community, the Ischaemum fasciculatum/Centella asiatica Floodplain Community and the Paspalum distichum Floodplain Community. The Echinochloa pyramidalis Floodplain Community was restricted to seasonally flooded areas receiving an input of clastic sediment from the Mkuze River during high floods, while the other floodplain communities occurred in areas receiving water from the relatively sediment free Mbazwane Stream. The distribution of these two communities appears to be influenced by the duration of inundation, with the lschaemum fasciculatum/Centella asiatica Floodplain Community being at higher elevation and therefore less frequently flooded than the Paspalum distichum Floodplain Community. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2000.

The overall aim of this study was to develop an understanding of the vegetation ecology of the lower Mkuze River floodplain from a landscape ecology perspective. The lower Mkuze River floodplain and its associated wetlands are located east of the Lebombo Mountains and north of Lake St. Lucia on the Maputaland Coastal Plain in northern KwaZulu-Natal. This system is defined as a storage floodplain wetland and comprises a mosaic of different wetland types. In addition it has a complex history of resource use and management. Landscape ecology proved to be an ideal theoretical framework for this study because it enables the examination of complex ecological processes and phenomena in an integrated and holistic manner. It achieves this by explicitly recognizing the spatial heterogeneity, dynamics and hierarchical organization of the landscape; concepts that proved useful in developing an understanding of the ecological patterns and processes operating within the lower Mkuze River floodplain. The vegetation of the study area was classified, using multivariate techniques, into six plant communities. The distribution of these plant communities was correlated with underlying environmental gradients that summarized the interactions between hydrology, substrate properties and topography within the floodplain system. Within the study area the Phragmites mauritianus reed swamp community was found where there was slow moving water, in semi- to permanently saturated soil. This was usually around the edges of pans or in extensive stands in low-lying areas in the distal reaches of the floodplain. The Imperata cylindrica hygrophilous grassland community was uncommon and was found in isolated stands towards the edge of the region of seasonal flooding. The Echinochloa pyramidalis backswamp community was the most extensive of all the plant communities identified. This community was tolerant of flooding and was found in damp places such as seasonal pans, backswamps and riverbanks as well as in standing water. The distribution of the Ficus sycomorus riparian forest community was restricted to elevated levees adjacent to the river channel that experienced inundation when floods were large enough to overtop channel banks. The Cynodon dactylon floodplain community was generally found towards the floodplain-terrestrial upland boundary in elevated areas with sandy well-drained soils. The Acacia xanthophloea woodland community was distributed on the floodplain margin in elevated areas on sandy soils, primarily fringing the linear pans draining towards the Mkuze River from the north. The description of the plant community types and the underlying environmental determinants of their distribution provided a useful foundation for the examination of ecological processes and phenomena operating at spatially coarser levels within the landscape hierarchy. Plant communities were aggregated into functional types based on criteria such as exposure to similar flooding and sedimentation regimes. The identification and mapping of these functional types, using a Geographical Information System (GIS), enabled one to identify a hydrogeomorphic continuum that described the interaction between floodplain processes and vegetation distribution. Within the study area the proximal-seasonally inundated functional type comprised plant community types found on channel levees and within backswamp areas. These areas were functionally connected to the Mkuze River in that they were exposed to seasonal flood events and associated sedimentation. The distal-permanently inundated functional type was typically found in the lower reaches of the floodplain that were rarely exposed to hydrological and sedimentological inputs from the Mkuze River. This functional type was permanently inundated and characterized by standing water and/or permanently saturated soils that were generally associated with the large floodplain pans. The distal-infrequently inundated functional type was typically located in sandy areas along the southern distal reaches of the floodplain. These areas were infrequently inundated by overbank floodwaters from the Mkuze River and were not characterized by substantial clastic sedimentation. The distribution and interaction between these functional types made it possible to develop process-based understanding of the ecosystem patterns and processes operating within the lower Mkuze River floodplain. Landscape ecology theory emphasises the importance of a temporal analysis of spatial heterogeneity and the role of disturbance in ecosystem patterns and processes. Therefore a temporal analysis of the landscape mosaic from 1937 to 1996 was undertaken, using a GIS, in order to quantify landscape change over time. The landscape characteristics utilised to examine this change were total category area, percentage contribution to the total landscape area, number of patches, mean patch size, median patch size, patch size standard deviation and the mean perimeter-area ratio. These spatial statistics were calculated for each year using PATCH ANALYST, an ArcView GIS extension and they were used to illustrate the role of anthropogenic disturbance on the landscape mosaic at a variety of levels within the landscape hierarchy. Anthropogenic disturbance was found to affect landscape content and configuration and therefore had the potential to undermine the underlying environmental determinants of landscape patterns and processes. Once the underlying functional processes are undermined, irreversible ecosystem degradation is a possible outcome. The examination of the different levels within the landscape hierarchy and the dynamics of ecosystem patterns and processes operating within the Mkuze River floodplain made it possible to develop deeper insights into ecosystem patterns and processes than a conventional vegetation ecology study that typically focuses primarily on plant community classification. The use of landscape ecology as an overarching theory that guided the research process and aided the interpretation of findings by explicitly recognising the importance of examining spatial heterogeneity, hierarchical organisation and dynamics, proved invaluable in developing process-based understanding of the lower Mkuze River floodplain. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2001.

Den här studien undersöker hur vegetationen förändras mellan 1979 och 2010 i området som idag är Hornborgasjöns naturreservat. Sjösänkningar i området ledde till att ett igenväxt träskområde ersatte en viktig vattenreservoar och närsaltfälla. Restaureringsarbetet under 80-talet var banbrytande och antagligen ett av vår tids mest omfattande naturvårdsarbete. Studien svarar också på om restaureringen uppnådde sitt mål och om resultatet blev som man tänkt sig. I arbetet skapades en aktuell vegetationskarta för 2010, denna jämfördes med en i arbetet digitaliserad vegetationskarta från 1979. Kartbilder skapades och justerades i ArcGIS och vegetationsytornas area framtogs för att möjliggöra en vegetationsanalys mellan kartorna. Vegetationsförändringarna i området visade sig vara omfattande mellan 1979 och 2010, där tydlig igenväxtningsmark med stora monokulturer ersattes med öppnare marker där vegetationstyperna var spridda över hela området i mindre ytor. Mångfalden i området ökade liksom vattenytan. Vattenytans stora utbredning efter restaureringen blev den stora överraskningen tillsammans med att sävvegetationen helt försvann. Undervattensvegetationens stora spridning räddade dock restaureringens syfte att gynna fågellivet trots sävruggarnas frånvaro. En ny viktig naturtyp framkom i vegetationskartan 2010, öppet vatten med död vegetation, där stora delar av vegetationstypen består av den för många hotade arter vitala biotopen död sumplövskog. / This study investigates vegetation changes in the nature reserve of Lake Hornborga between 1979 and 2010. Lowering of the surface of the lake had changed an important water reserve and nutritive salt trap into an overgrown fen and during the 80's a total pioneering restoration, perhaps the most important work of nature conservation of our time, was made. This study claims to answer if the restoration was successful and if its goals were reached. A current vegetation map for 2010 was created and adjusted in ArcGIS and this map was compared with a vegetation map of 1979. Vegetation areas were calculated to facilitate analyses between the maps. Large-scale vegetation changes have occurred between 1979 and 2010. Overgrown fenland with monoculture vegetation has been replaced by a more open landscape with a diversified growth and an open surface of water. The large extension of open surface and the disappearance of rush vegetation are two great surprises of the restoration. Thanks to a large-scale spread of underwater vegetation the aim of furthering birdlife could be reached despite the loss of rush vegetation. A new type of vegetation area has also been created, where  open water submerges dead vegetation, one of which is a biotope of dead marsh broadleaf trees, vital to many threatened species. / Vid kontakt med Lantmäteriet har muntlig bekräftelse getts gällande tillstånd av publicering av deras upphovsrätts skyddade material, där alla högskolearbeten ges sådant tillstånd vid alla Sveriges lärosäten. I mitt arbete gäller detta figur 1.