Bush encroachment involves a widespread increase in, and abundance of, woody vegetation in grassland and savanna biomes. This phenomenon has a direct impact on the socio-economic well-being of rural ...communities and affects livestock owners and those who utilise the land for various other purposes. This study set out to evaluate and gain an understanding of how livestock owners and land users in a typical rural village in South Africa’s North West Province perceive bush encroachment and the impact it has on the community’s ecosystem services. A quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional design was used to document the perceptions of the participants regarding bush encroachment and bush control in an attempt to describe characteristics and to find answers to questions related to how local communities are affected by bush encroachment and the control thereof. The results show that encroachment has a significant impact on the socio-economic status of participants. Furthermore, it was found that the vast untapped knowledge of local livestock owners is vital to control bush encroachment, preserve the land for various types of usage and to conserve natural resources. Evaluating participants’ responses and perceptions also contributed significantly to gaining an understanding of how bush encroachment and the control thereof impact rural communities socio-economically. This led the contributors to conclude that raising awareness, actively engaging with the community, imparting skills and offering educational opportunities, creating jobs, merging biophysical activities and promoting active participation are key to the success of programmes aimed at bush control and the resultant improvement of ecosystem services.
Climate change and inappropriate management practices in semi-arid savannas often result in shrub encroachment. Chemical shrub control is a common rehabilitation measure to counter shrub ...encroachment. A recent development, particularly in southern Africa, is the conversion from cattle to wildlife farming. Cattle and wildlife exhibit different behaviours, and different management practices are used. How these differences affect the results of rehabilitation measures is not well known. Here, we compared how selective chemical shrub control in these two land uses affected herbaceous diversity, and composition along waterhole transects (proxy for grazing pressure). Shrub control increased Simpson diversity when both land uses were analysed together, while land use type did not affect any diversity measure. However, when land uses were analysed individually, spatial differences in diversity became apparent. Species richness in game farms was affected by shrub control only at distances greater than 300m from waterholes, and in cattle farms total abundance increased at 1000m distances. Eleven species contributed to compositional differences between land uses. Our results show that bush control can improve ecosystem functioning and habitat heterogeneity in both land use types, which is particularly important given the current transition from livestock to game farming in southern Africa.
•Differences in cattle and game farming alter herbaceous vegetation after bush control.•Selective bush control increased herbaceous diversity in both land use types.•These effects of bush control vary among the two land uses on a spatial scale.•Both land use and selective bush control affected herbaceous composition.•Adequate bush control measures are needed for sustainable land use practices.
•South Africa successfully developed land degradation neutrality targets.•Biomes rather than land cover types form the fundamental unit of analysis.•Subjectively and objectively developed bassline ...data was combined for identifying priority interventions.•The global indicators proved problematic for identifying interventions.•Alien plant invasions and woody plant densification were the most pressing degradation problems needing intervention.
South Africa undertook a national Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) target setting process during 2017/18 in response to the United Nations Convention to Combatting Desertification’s call for signatory countries to voluntarily commit to LDN as also requested under Sustainability Development Goal 15.3. The process was supported by the Global Mechanism (GM) and followed their guidelines. This resulted in an ambitious set of targets being set for 2030. Early in the process it was recognised that biome level or landscape process based (bush encroachment, alien plant species removal) targets were more appropriate than location specific targets. South Africa has used the World Overview of Conservation Technologies and Approaches (WOCAT) Mapping Questionnaire (QM), to conducted two, ten years apart, assessments based on experts’ perception of municipal level land degradation. The spatial location and extent of degradation, as identified from these studies, differed substantially from the three global indicators suggested as a baseline for LDN target setting. An analysis of the reasons for the discrepancies between the UNCCD indicators from the perception-based studies, and the implications this has for setting and monitoring South African land degradation is the main focus of this paper.
Odločitev skupine LEGO, da da bo svoj četrti zabaviščni parka LEGOLAND gradila v Bavarsko - Švabskem okrožju Günzburg, je regionalnim politikom postavila izzivalno nalogo. S pomočjo novega ...svetovalnega pristopa "občinsko profiliranje" je bil razvoj okrožja Günzburga jasno načrtovan in potem tudi dosledno uveljavljen. Moto projekta je "Günzburg - otroška in družinska regija".
The chemical control of thickened woody savanna layers is a common practice applied in southern Africa to release the grass layer from competitive pressure and restore the economic viability of ...rangelands. We comparatively assessed the composition, density and production of the grass layer in relation to the woody vegetation structure following the selective control of increaser woody species (SC) and non-selective control of the whole woody layer (NSC) in a semi-arid Kalahari savanna. Vegetation states associated with bush-thickening preventative range management (PRM) served as a benchmark. The SC treatment created a well-structured woody layer and favored the development of a grassy savanna state with abundant valuable forage grasses, as found under PRM. Despite a high dry matter production and density of grasses, NSC rangelands appeared to be unstable. Results indicate that NSC facilitates the development of a dense woody recruitment layer that counteracts a favorable grass layer development. We conclude that SC is conditionally more effective in restoring a relatively stable and desirable bush-grass ratio for commercial farming purposes, whereas NSC increases the risk of vegetation transition back to a bush-dominated state. While essential in combination with both treatments, NSC demands an increased effort of follow-up control of woody recruits.
•Type of chemical bush control affects grass layer development.•Grass composition varies with demographic structure of the woody layer.•Non-selective bush control increases risk of unfavorable vegetation transitions.•Selective bush control facilitates development of favorable grassy states.•Results of selective bush control are similar to such of bush-thickening preventative range management.
Treed savannas and treeless grasslands occur across Mokala National Park, South Africa. To identify soil properties potentially underpinning these marked differences in vegetation structure, we ...analysed the soil chemistry of 27 composite pedoderm samples in both savannas and grasslands. Savannas had a greater pH and greater mean concentrations of P, K, Ca, Mg, Mn, Cu, Zn, B, Na and C compared with the grasslands. Tree seedlings are likely to be more constrained in the grasslands than in the savannas because of Al toxicity and deficiency of P, Cu and B. Of the nutrients analysed, B is likely to have had the greatest effect on vegetation structure for two main reasons. Firstly, the mean concentration of B in the grassland (0.05 mg kg
−1
) was approximately ten times less than the concentration expected to constrain plant growth. Secondly, the extreme scarcity of B is likely to have reduced the vigour of tree seedlings more than that of the grass sward because grasses have a considerably lower requirement for B than eudicot trees. We suggest that abiotic soil forming processes such as colluvial action and aeolian deposition are the primary factors influencing pH and concentrations of B, both of which have a disproportionate effect on tree establishment.
Aims
Shrub encroachment is a major challenge for livestock and wildlife management in semi‐arid savannas. Shrub removal by land managers is widespread, but the long‐term effects on vegetation ...structure and composition, which determine carrying capacity for herbivores, are poorly documented. This study aims to examine the effects of selective shrub removal to guide vegetation management in key land uses of semi‐arid African savannas.
Questions
Vegetation responses were assessed across land uses and treatments to answer the following questions: (1) does shrub removal increase the frequency of palatable plants and therefore herbivore‐carrying capacity; (2) does selective shrub removal decrease woody vegetation structure 15 years after application; and (3) how do these effects differ between cattle and wildlife ranching?
Location
Molopo region of the North West Province, South Africa.
Methods
Herbaceous and woody vegetations were sampled within six transects each of three wildlife ranches and three cattle ranches in areas that had either been selectively shrub‐controlled with herbicides 10–15 years previously or left untreated. To quantify effects of woody shrub control on herbaceous functional‐group abundances and assemblages, tree equivalents, regrowth rate, and shrub abundance, we compared these variables across two treatments (treated and untreated) and land uses. Data were analysed using GLMMs, NMDS ordinations, PERMANOVA, and SIMPER.
Results
Selective shrub control effectively improved palatable herbaceous vegetation, especially on cattle ranches. Especially abundance of perennial grass was higher on wildlife ranches compared to cattle ranches. Tree equivalent was higher in untreated compared to treated plots, and these differences were more pronounced on wildlife ranches than on cattle ranches.
Conclusionss
Selective shrub removal improved the palatable herbaceous layer for both wildlife and cattle ranching and can be considered an effective management strategy in semi‐arid rangelands.
After 15 years of application, selective shrub control significantly enhanced palatable herbaceous vegetation, especially on cattle ranches. Wildlife ranches exhibited notably higher abundance of perennial grass, emphasising the lasting effectiveness of shrub control for rangeland improvement across different land‐use types.
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