Marloth Park Management Plan. - Nkomazi Local Municipality
Marloth Park Management Plan. - Nkomazi Local Municipality Marloth Park Management Plan. - Nkomazi Local Municipality
However, if only the parkland and road reserves are considered as suitable habitat for animal species, only 3 GAU (Table 8) can be sustained without further degradation of the environment. Browsing capacity The long-term browsing capacities for Marloth Park is based on available habitat, with due consideration of environmental restrictions and future development implications. The browsing capacity of Marloth Park, if considered that all open areas are considered suitable habitat for game is 113 BAU. However, if the landscaped gardens are excluded from this calculation, only 92 BAU can be sustained. Worst-case scenario is where only the parkland and road reserves are considered suitable habitat for wildlife; in which case only 48 BAU can be sustained. It is apparent from the woody vegetation analysis that tree density is not the limiting factor in available leaf biomass production, but rather tree height. As much of the woody vegetation is mature trees it can only be deduced that the leaf biomass produced are now out of reach of the browsing animal species. © Ecological Associates/ Marloth Park 53
INTRODUCTION ESTIMATION OF HERBACEOUS BIOMASS PRODUCTION The herbaceous biomass of an area refers to the total leaf production of herbaceous vegetation such as grasses and forbs. To better compare values from different areas, the biomass is usually measured as dry mass per unit area. The extent of total biomass production is highly dependent on various environmental factors, of which climate and especially rainfall is considered as the most important factor in the arid regions of southern Africa. Estimations of leaf dry mass production can also be used to calculate grazing potential of an area. A further application of biomass data is found in the field of range management, where biomass is used to determine veld condition using the herbaceous phytomass method. However, the most important aspect for the measurement of biomass production is the determination of fuel load. This information is important to determine the necessity or possibility for veld burning as well as the risk for natural fires. Sufficient fuel load to carry a fire is a prerequisite for the implementation of a burning regime. The use of fire is considered an important management tool on any wildlife area. Firstly, it is useful to remove moribund material and improve the palatability of the veld, or keep the veld in a desired stage of succession. Secondly, fire is considered a means of bush control, even though its´ use in combating bush encroachment is limited. Thirdly, fire is implemented to actively influence animal movement to rest degraded veld. Species such as blue wildebeest Connochaetes taurinus, impala Aepyceros melampus melampus, kudu Tragelaphus strepsiceros, white rhinoceros Ceratotherium simum and zebra Equus burchelli are attracted to recently burned areas. The new growth provides a palatable food source that is rich in protein. Most methods to determine phytomass production such as the Quadrat Method or Strip Mowing Method are based on harvesting a predetermined area at ground level, drying the clippings and weighing them. However, these methods are time consuming and labour intensive. The Disc-pasture Meter Method is considered a better alternative due to the ease of implementation and non-destructive nature. With this method the biomass under a standardised area, the disc of the pasture meter, is measured and related to the settling height of the disc above ground. OBJECTIVES The objective of this study is to: • Determine the biomass production in the various homogenous units. © Ecological Associates/ Marloth Park 54
- Page 9 and 10: Three different scenarios are analy
- Page 11 and 12: Ecosystems disturbed by clearing op
- 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: Table 6: Browsing capacities for th
- Page 63 and 64: The resulting Large Stock Units are
- Page 65 and 66: INTRODUCTION GAME MANAGEMENT ON MAR
- Page 67 and 68: STOCKING RATES Current stocking The
- Page 69 and 70: Table 10: The current stocking dens
- Page 71 and 72: Recommendations on stocking rates C
- Page 73 and 74: High selectivity grazers Blue wilde
- Page 75 and 76: Waterbuck Kobus ellipsiprymnus Ogil
- Page 77 and 78: Space requirements: Kudu have range
- Page 79 and 80: Recommendation: The range requireme
- Page 81 and 82: Food preference: Steenbok utilise A
- Page 83 and 84: Table 12: The potential stocking de
- Page 85 and 86: Table 14: The potential stocking de
- Page 87 and 88: Table 15: The recommended stocking
- Page 89 and 90: The proteins may be less available
- Page 91 and 92: When urea is incorporated into a ph
- Page 93 and 94: Recommended intake for game is 150
- Page 95 and 96: Ticks The main parasite of concern
- Page 97 and 98: Figure 12: Sketch of Cyphostemma /C
- Page 99 and 100: NOXIOUS AND INVASIVE WEEDS An invas
- Page 101 and 102: Management plans need to be reviewe
- Page 103 and 104: Ricinus communis, Solanum sisymbrii
- Page 105 and 106: Although soil treatment with chemic
- Page 107 and 108: Planning errors must be expected, a
- Page 109 and 110: To further reduce grazing pressure
However, if only the parkland and road reserves are considered as suitable habitat for animal<br />
species, only 3 GAU (Table 8) can be sustained without further degradation of the<br />
environment.<br />
Browsing capacity<br />
The long-term browsing capacities for <strong>Marloth</strong> <strong>Park</strong> is based on available habitat, with due<br />
consideration of environmental restrictions and future development implications. The<br />
browsing capacity of <strong>Marloth</strong> <strong>Park</strong>, if considered that all open areas are considered suitable<br />
habitat for game is 113 BAU. However, if the landscaped gardens are excluded from this<br />
calculation, only 92 BAU can be sustained. Worst-case scenario is where only the parkland<br />
and road reserves are considered suitable habitat for wildlife; in which case only 48 BAU can<br />
be sustained.<br />
It is apparent from the woody vegetation analysis that tree density is not the limiting factor in<br />
available leaf biomass production, but rather tree height. As much of the woody vegetation is<br />
mature trees it can only be deduced that the leaf biomass produced are now out of reach of the<br />
browsing animal species.<br />
© Ecological Associates/ <strong>Marloth</strong> <strong>Park</strong> 53
Change language