Short Communication:Vegetation response to wagon wheel camp layouts.

Abstract

Wagon wheel camp layouts have been favoured, in some quarters, for rotational grazing due to the economy and convenience of having the camps radially arranged around central facilities. A possible disadvantage of such layouts is the tendency for over-grazing near the hub and under-grazing at the extremities. The recent construction of three wagon wheel camp layouts on a farm near Kimberley provided the opportunity for a survey of the state of the vegetation. Two of the wagon wheel cells exhibited a low beta diversity while a higher beta diversity in the third cell was characterized by annuals and other weedy species near the hub, which was established at a previously existing watering point.

Keywords: beta diversity; botany; grazing; kimberley; northern cape; over-grazing; overutilization; piosphere; rotational grazing; south africa; species turnover; survey; underutilization; vegetation