Vegetation monitoring in Chobe National Park

Dr Kalwij's research team at Chobe water point



HOORC's Library had a visit today from Dr Jesse Kalwij (email kalwij(a)sun.ac.za), postdoctoral fellow at Stellenbosch University, who has recently completed his fieldwork about the long term vegetation dynamics around artificial water points in the Nogatsaa area of Chobe National Park. Monitoring of vegetation in the area began in 1997 with the first supply of artificial water, was repeated in 2000, and now in 2008. Preliminary findings indicate that, in spite of the 40 per cent elephant increase since 1997, tree height and density appear to have significantly increased while abundance of unpalatable species has grown. The work was supported by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's African Elephant Program.