Marloth Park Management Plan. - Nkomazi Local Municipality
Marloth Park Management Plan. - Nkomazi Local Municipality Marloth Park Management Plan. - Nkomazi Local Municipality
Supplementary feed must be placed in containers, as the leaching of salt and other nutrients into the soil will result in permanent sterilisation. Protein and energy lick blocks may be made available from May to September. Salt licks may be made available throughout the year. Anthelminthic or deworming lick blocks may be supplied in July only. Although lick blocks can be mixed locally, it is recommended that a more reliable composition be purchased from a reputable company. Feeding game cubes to animals must be seen as supplementation only as this feed is not a constant resource and cannot substitute the natural ingestion of roughage. No supplementary feed must be supplied in the Dichrostachys cinerea – Tragus berteronianus Low bushland areas. At least one rare and potentially endangered plant is currently found on Marloth Park. If this plant is encountered on a development site, it is recommended that it be protected. Where the development footprint cannot be changed, a reputable botanist should be contacted to remove and transplant the Cyphostemma sp. Another plant of note is the summer impala lily Adenium swazicum that is restricted in its distribution on Marloth Park. The same guidelines for protection are advocated. A number of invasive and noxious weeds occur throughout Marloth Park. It is recommended that all plants declared as undesirable by law be eradicated. However, it must be emphasized that success will not be achieved without co-operation of the property owners, where education and understanding of the implications is considered crucial, as many of these plants are still being planted as garden subjects. The presence of sickle bush Dichrostachys cinerea is the only species currently exhibiting encroaching properties on Marloth Park, and although not classified as an alien plant species, it is invasive and recommended that the number of individuals be reduced in an attempt to decrease the localized densities. The liase fair approach to this problem in the Dichrostachys cinerea – Tragus berteronianus Low bushland areas has resulted in these trees becoming of age, thus exceeding the maximum browse high of 2.0 m, with effect that these trees have little to no browsing value. It is recommended that a combination of mechanical and chemical treatment of the sickle bush be initiated, where all trees rooted within a circumference of 5 m of each other, irrespective of age or size, are removed. To achieve effective control of the sickle bush infestations, initial, follow-up and maintenance treatments must be implemented. © Ecological Associates/ Marloth Park 3
Ecosystems disturbed by clearing operations will be susceptible to re-invasion, usually due to the residual weed-seed bank that remains viable for a number of years. Therefore, where time, money and effort are spent on environmental weed control, commitment to rehabilitating and managing these areas correctly is essential. It is recommended that rehabilitation measures be implemented in conjunction with bush control applications, where branches from cut sickle bush be used in brush packing these areas. However, compacted soils should be treated to improve water infiltration and reseeded before brush packing. Due to the risks involved, the use of fire as a management tool is not recommended, as its application is strife with complications and potential high risks. An alternative method of simulating the effect of non-selective or bulk grazers on the vegetation structure is preferred. This can be achieved by manual manipulation of the herbaceous layer as part of the management plan for Marloth Park. It is recommended that the herbaceous biomass production be measured annually and priority areas identified that require a slashing programme. Property owners must be convinced of the necessity of removing this excess material, not only for the health of the vegetation but to reduce the risk of natural or accidental fires that can damage or destroy their residence. The availability of water on Marloth Park is not a limiting factor as many owners have constructed their own little waterholes on their properties. This effectively gives all wildlife access to water without much competition, reducing the concentration of large animal groups around waterholes and limiting the formation of piospheres. The disadvantage of this practice is the uniformed utilisation of the natural resources, without any areas with reduced impact. It is recommended that the owner’s co-operation be obtained in managing water access to animals, through education and guidance. All waterhole locations must then be recorded, and then opened or closed on a rotational basis to induce some form of rotational resting. It is recommended that all waterholes in the degraded Dichrostachys cinerea – Tragus berteronianus Low bushland plant communities be closed, until after successful rehabilitation of these areas. As property owners generally do not have the equipment, labour or time to implement many of these recommendations, it is recommended that an independent consultant be contracted to measure the biomass production annually and identify those areas that require slashing. This can be combined with the sickle bush control programme, scarification of the compacted soil surface, reseeding and brush packing of the areas. Furthermore, eradication of other undesirable plant species can also be achieved during the same time. © Ecological Associates/ Marloth Park 4
- Page 1 and 2: Ecological Associates Environmental
- Page 3 and 4: THE ASSESSMENT OF AVAILABLE BROWSE
- Page 5 and 6: LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Location
- Page 7 and 8: LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix 1: A li
- Page 9: Three different scenarios are analy
- Page 13 and 14: INTRODUCTION Although only a few ve
- Page 15 and 16: Figure 1: Location of the Marloth P
- Page 17 and 18: GEOMORPHOLOGY Looking down from the
- Page 19 and 20: Figure 4: Geology of the Marloth Pa
- Page 21 and 22: Tonalitic granite and gneiss A sect
- Page 23 and 24: Figure 6: Soil depth of the Marloth
- Page 25 and 26: Figure 7: Land Types of the Marloth
- Page 27 and 28: Figure 8: Land use in the Marloth P
- Page 29 and 30: A 610.1 B 104.0 C 7.4 D 19.9 E 39.8
- Page 31 and 32: INTRODUCTION VEGETATION CLASSIFICAT
- Page 33 and 34: METHOD For an initial and broad sca
- Page 35 and 36: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Analysis and
- Page 37 and 38: The dominant grass species are broa
- Page 39 and 40: The characteristic tree species are
- Page 41 and 42: VELD CONDITION ASSESSMENT AND THE C
- Page 43 and 44: Degradation gradients are models th
- Page 45 and 46: The nearest grass species to each s
- Page 47 and 48: Calculation of grazing capacity The
- Page 49 and 50: Table 2: Contribution of ecological
- Page 51 and 52: Table 3: Grazing capacities for the
- Page 53 and 54: THE ASSESSMENT OF AVAILABLE BROWSE
- Page 55 and 56: X Y D1 Y Dimensional measurements:
- Page 57 and 58: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The browsing
- Page 59 and 60: Table 6: Browsing capacities for th
Ecosystems disturbed by clearing operations will be susceptible to re-invasion, usually due to<br />
the residual weed-seed bank that remains viable for a number of years. Therefore, where time,<br />
money and effort are spent on environmental weed control, commitment to rehabilitating and<br />
managing these areas correctly is essential. It is recommended that rehabilitation measures be<br />
implemented in conjunction with bush control applications, where branches from cut sickle<br />
bush be used in brush packing these areas. However, compacted soils should be treated to<br />
improve water infiltration and reseeded before brush packing.<br />
Due to the risks involved, the use of fire as a management tool is not recommended, as its<br />
application is strife with complications and potential high risks. An alternative method of<br />
simulating the effect of non-selective or bulk grazers on the vegetation structure is preferred.<br />
This can be achieved by manual manipulation of the herbaceous layer as part of the<br />
management plan for <strong>Marloth</strong> <strong>Park</strong>. It is recommended that the herbaceous biomass<br />
production be measured annually and priority areas identified that require a slashing<br />
programme. Property owners must be convinced of the necessity of removing this excess<br />
material, not only for the health of the vegetation but to reduce the risk of natural or<br />
accidental fires that can damage or destroy their residence.<br />
The availability of water on <strong>Marloth</strong> <strong>Park</strong> is not a limiting factor as many owners have<br />
constructed their own little waterholes on their properties. This effectively gives all wildlife<br />
access to water without much competition, reducing the concentration of large animal groups<br />
around waterholes and limiting the formation of piospheres. The disadvantage of this practice<br />
is the uniformed utilisation of the natural resources, without any areas with reduced impact. It<br />
is recommended that the owner’s co-operation be obtained in managing water access to<br />
animals, through education and guidance. All waterhole locations must then be recorded, and<br />
then opened or closed on a rotational basis to induce some form of rotational resting. It is<br />
recommended that all waterholes in the degraded Dichrostachys cinerea – Tragus<br />
berteronianus Low bushland plant communities be closed, until after successful rehabilitation<br />
of these areas.<br />
As property owners generally do not have the equipment, labour or time to implement many<br />
of these recommendations, it is recommended that an independent consultant be contracted to<br />
measure the biomass production annually and identify those areas that require slashing. This<br />
can be combined with the sickle bush control programme, scarification of the compacted soil<br />
surface, reseeding and brush packing of the areas. Furthermore, eradication of other<br />
undesirable plant species can also be achieved during the same time.<br />
© Ecological Associates/ <strong>Marloth</strong> <strong>Park</strong> 4
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