Where are you: Home  Publications Working Working Vegetation Studies of Selected Islands and Adjacent Mainland on Lake Kariba, islands in Lake Kariba. A total of forty-six islands were surveyed. Two hundred and eleven samples were classified into twenty vegetation types. The types were described in terms of their location, floristic composition and factors that determine or influence them. Woodlands consisted of ten types: Colophospermum mopane woodland, Colophospermum mopane-Combretum apiculatum woodland, Colophospermum mopane mixed woodland, Combretum apiculatum mixed woodland, Mixed Combretum woodland, Combretum elaeagnoides mixed woodland, Jelbernardia globiflora woodland, Ficus sycomorus woodland, Acacia nilotica woodland and Acacia nigrescens-Afzelia quanzensis mixed woodland. Thickets and woodland thickets consisted of four types: Karomia tettensis thicket, Diospyros quiloensis thicket, Combretum celastroides woodland thicket and Guibourtia conjugata woodland thicket. Shrublands consisted of five types: Colophospermum mopane shrubland, Mundulea sericea shrubland, Crotonmenyhartii shrubland, Preliopsis myrtifolia shrubland and Indigofera tinctoria shrubland. Grasslands consisted of seven types: Melinis repens wooded grassland, Panicum repens grassland, Aristida rhiniochloa grassland, Aristida adscensionis grassland, Hereropogon contortus grassland, Urochloa trichopus wooded grassland and Eragrostis viscose wooded grassland. Populations of large herbivores, especially elephants are having a negative impact on vegetation structure and species composition on some of the island. The influence of soil texture in determining species composition is also significant with most thickets and woodlands occurring on sands. Twenty-nine years of isolation from the mainland has not had a significant influence on species richness and composition of the vegetation of the islands. |
