Water provision is an important tool in the management of savanna ecosystems. Artificial water
sources are a potential focus for degradation (biodiversity and loss of ecosystem resilience at a
range of spatio-temporal scales), because they alter plant-animal interactions and soil function
and stability, through the creation of piospheres.
This study was undertaken as part of a drive by the Kruger National Park (KNP) to
enable managers to integrate artificial waterhole management (e.g. waterhole closure or rotation)
when setting goals for heterogeneity and biodiversity conservation in the park. The over-arching
goal was to quantify the relationship between water provision and different attributes of
heterogeneity, as part of a broader initiative to place water provision and piospheres within an
ecosystem threshold framework.
Herbivore utilisation gradients (piospheres) around artificial waterholes in the KNP,
described in 1990, were resurveyed in 2006-2007, against a backdrop of waterhole closure in the
KNP, to contribute to an understanding of the factors governing recovery and resilience in
grazing systems. The responses of the plant community and soil parameters to a relaxation of
herbivore utilisation pressure around closed waterholes (recovering piospheres) were examined,
as were changes in the same parameters at sites that have remained open (active piospheres).
These ecosystem properties were considered in relation to structural and functional ecosystem
thresholds, and the piospheres surveyed incorporated a range of rainfall and edaphic gradients in
the KNP.
Herbaceous basal cover and soil infiltration capacity both increased significantly between 1990
and 2006/7, regardless of waterhole status. This was linked to higher rainfall in 2006/7,
compared to 1990. The only vegetation variables to respond consistently to distance from water
were the remote-sensed Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and herbaceous
species composition. NDVI increased with distance from water, and annual grasses and forbs
were most abundant close to water. Perennial, disturbance-sensitive climax species increased in
abundance further from water. Soil analyses (N, P, pH, organic matter, and texture) and field
measurements (infiltration, compaction) revealed no systematic piosphere patterns. Waterhole
closure did not result in soil or vegetation recovery, but piosphere intermittency and the increases
of basal cover and infiltration rate indicated that ecosystem resilience has not been compromised
vii
by long-term artificial water provision in the KNP. This study has shown that the traditional
piosphere model is of limited use in sub-humid savanna ecosystems like the KNP during above-average
rainfall periods. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ukzn/oai:http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za:10413/10778 |
| Date | 27 May 2014 |
| Creators | Matchett, Katherine Jean. |
| Contributors | Kirkman, Kevin Peter., Ward, David Mercer., Peel, Michael John Stephen., Morris, Craig Duncan. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en_ZA |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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