The impact of land use on woody plant cover and species composition on the Grahamstown municipal commonage: implications for South Africa’s land reform programme

Abstract

Using an analysis of aerial photographs from 1942, 1985 and 2004 we assessed the impact of changing land tenure and land-use regimes on the cover of thicket vegetation on the Grahamstown commonage. Land-use impacts were examined by comparing plant species composition within three vegetation types between sites incorporated into commonage for different lengths of time and sites outside the commonage. Results showed that thicket cover increased by 87% between 1942 and 1985 but declined by 11% between 1985 and 2004. The increase in thicket cover was highest on land where goat browsing and wood harvesting was excluded. There was a decline in thicket cover when uncontrolled goat browsing and wood harvesting were introduced. An analysis of plant species composition suggests an increase in the impact of livestock in areas closest to the urban area and with time since inclusion into commonage. Such areas exhibited greater cover of Increaser II grasses and dwarf shrubs in the herbaceous layer and lower cover of succulents within subtropical thicket. We interpret the decline in thicket cover and shift to a less palatable and less productive vegetation as resulting from the open-access land use system that has prevailed on the commonage since 1994.

Keywords: aerial photograph analysis, communal lands, land degradation, vegetation change, woody thickening

African Journal of Range & Forage Science 2014, 31(2): 123–133