Thesis (Ph. D. (Botany)) -- University of Limpopo, 2020 / Colophospermum mopane (Benth.) J. Léonard, commonly known as mopane, is a
dominant tree or shrub in the mopane woodland. It is distributed in the low-lying
areas of southern Africa’s savannas. Mopane maintains its foliage well into the dry
season, and thus provides nutritional forage for browsers such as Tragelaphus
strepsiceros, commonly known as the greater kudu. Despite its wide distribution
and value as a source of forage for browsers, especially during the dry season,
knowledge of the effect of browsers on mopane leaf quality is limited. There is also
inadequate knowledge of the diet composition of the greater kudu during different
seasons in the mopane woodland. Such information is important for proper
management of browsers in the mopane woodland.
As a result, a field experiment was conducted at Musina Nature Reserve, Limpopo
Province, South Africa to determine the effect of pruning on mopane leaf
phenology, production, macronutrients, trace elements and secondary
metabolites. Pruning was conducted to simulate the effect of browsing by large
herbivores such as the greater kudu on mopane leaf quality. In addition, rumen
content analysis of greater kudu was conducted in order to quantify the amount of
mopane and other plants browsed during the dry and wet seasons. Collected
datasets were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. A two-tailed
Mann-Whitney U-test was used to test the effect of pruning on mopane leaf
phenology and production. The effect of pruning on the monthly concentration of
macronutrients, trace elements and secondary metabolites was tested using a
two-tailed t-Test: Two-Sample Assuming Equal Variance. The seasonal and
annual effect of pruning on the concentration of macronutrients, trace elements
and secondary metabolites was tested using One-Way Anova. Rumen datasets
were analysed using the Pearson Correlation Coefficient.
This study found that the rate of leaf phenology and production, including the
concentration of certain macronutrients (Ca, K, N, P, S, Cl, Na, protein and fibre),
trace elements (Fe, Mn, Mo, Cu, Zn and Se) and secondary metabolites (TP, CT
and PPT) increased during leaf flush in October and then declined as the leaves ii
matured and aged. However, the concentration of selected macronutrients (Mg
and NO3) and trace elements (B, Co and F) increased when the leaves reached
maturity in June, particularly during the leaf senescence stage, and declined
thereafter. The concentration of macronutrients, trace elements and secondary
metabolites between the control and pruned trees was statistically insignificant at
P>0.05 for most samples.
This study further showed that C. mopane contributed most (47%) to the diet of
the greater kudu during the dry season. Other important dry season browse plants
were Dichrostachys cinerea (30%), Commiphora edulis (12%), Grewia bicolor
(6%) and Combretum apiculatum (5%). However, when gender was considered,
the diet of the female greater kudu during the dry season consisted mainly of C.
mopane (71%) and D. cinerea (22%). The diet of the male greater kudu contained
less C. mopane (33%), but similar proportions of D. cinerea (31%) and other
browse species. However, during the wet season, the diet of the greater kudu was
mainly composed of C. apiculatum (43%). Other wet season browse plant species
were Sclerocarya birrea (24%), C. mopane (12%) and Senegalia nigrescens (8%),
with the contribution of the remaining species to the diet being insignificant. The
diet of the female greater kudu in the wet season consisted mainly of C.
apiculatum (44%) and C. mopane (20%), while the diet of the male mostly
contained S. birrea (38%) and C. apiculatum (34%).
It is concluded that the concentration of macronutrients, trace elements and
secondary metabolites in mopane leaves is not dependent on <10% pruning, but
seems to be associated with leaf growth stages. It is further concluded that the
concentration of nutrients and chemical compound in mopane leaves has
implications on the diet composition of browsers such as the greater kudu in the
mopane woodland. The dependency of the greater kudu on species such as C.
mopane and C. apiculatum as main sources of browse indicates the importance of
these species to the diet of the greater kudu in the mopane woodland. / Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD) ,
National Research Foundation (NRF)
and University of Limpopo (Biodiversity Research Chair)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ul/oai:ulspace.ul.ac.za:10386/3346 |
| Date | January 2020 |
| Creators | Makhado, Rudzani Albert |
| Contributors | Potgieter, M. J., Luus-Powell, W. J. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | xvii, 202 leaves |
| Relation |
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