Woody species composition, structure and diversity of Mazowe Botanical Reserve, Zimbabwe
Journal Title: Journal of Biodiversity and Environmental Sciences (JBES) - Year 2013, Vol 3, Issue 6
Abstract
This study assessed woody species diversity, composition and vegetation structure in a dry forest Miombo woodland at Mazowe botanical reserve. All woody species were systematically identified and measured in 45 sample plots. Analysis of inventory data was done using Microsoft Excel. Four vegetation communities identified along the river, anthills, hills and slope areas of the reserve were demarcated. Relative Density, dominance, frequency, and species and family importance values were computed to characterize the species composition. A total of 108 woody species belonging to 78 genera and 41 families were recorded. Members of the Fabaceae subfamily Caesalpinoideae were dominant with 6 genera and 9 species. Stem densities/ha were high ranged from 572 on the anthills to 2040 along the river valley. The dbh distribution showed an inverse “J” shaped curve, meaning that there is active regeneration and recruitment in the woodlands. Shannon-Wiener Index of diversity values ranged from 1.85 in the slope area to 3.42 on the anthills showing high species diversity in the reserve. This study reveals that the Mazowe botanical reserve has a high species richness and diversity. This is mainly due to the diversity of habitats like river valleys, anthills, streams, hills and slopes for species establishment. A number of anthropogenic activities have been recorded in the reserve notably fire and tree cutting. These require further detailed assessment to evaluate their impact on the woodland dynamics.
Authors and Affiliations
C. Zimudzi, A. Mapaura, C. Chapano, W. Duri
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP37352
- DOI -
- Views 205
- Downloads 0
Increased interleukin-6 is associated with low cardiorespiratory fitness in healthy people
To determine the relationship of maximal oxygen consumption as a cardiorespiratory marker with systemic inflammation. We measured fasting serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) and Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and cardiorespira...
Microorganism’s application strategy for bio-phytoremediation of heavy metal: A review
Phytoremediation is a group of technologies that use plants to reduce, remove, de- grade, or immobilize environmental toxins, primarily those of anthropogenic origin, with the aim of restoring area sites to a condition...
Geo-spatial assessment of temporal variation of greenhouse gases emission using GIS in Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh
To assess the present scenario of GHGs (CO2 and CH4) emission and its distribution, day time emissions of CO2 and CH4 in August 2013 and 2014 in Jahanginagar University area were studied using statistical analysis and...
Ethnobotanical survey of the medicinal plants in the central mountains (North-South) in Jordan
An ethnobotanical survey for the wild medicinal plants in the central high mountains extending from northern to central Jordan has been carried out. A special questionnaire is prepared to test for the medicinal uses of...
The evaluation of airborne respirable particulates in opencast mining area of jharia coal field using grimm 1.109 real-time portable aerosol spectrometer
Mining of coal is believed to be an environmentally unfriendly activity as all the components of environment are affected adversely. Out of these, air environment in particular is getting deteriorated significantly by v...