Characteristics of the Vegetational Landscape in Mopane Vegetation, Arid Namibia

Abstract

Mopane vegetation, which is characterized by the dominance of Colophospermum mopane, is distributed through arid to semi-arid areas of southern Africa. It is widely recognized that the physiognomy of mopane includes both tree and shrub forms, but in the arid part of Namibia, less is known about the characteristics of the vegetational landscape, including the mopane tree's morphology, than other areas. The purpose of this study is to reveal the characteristics of the vegetational landscape with special reference to the physiognomy of Colophospermum mopane. As a result of my fi eld survey, the mopane that dominates this area can be divided into a short, multi-stemmed type and a tall, single-stemmed type. Each type has a specifi c distribution. Short, multi-stemmed mopane grew densely in hilly and mountainous areas, while tall, single-stemmed mopane trees sparsely dominated on the fl oodplain and near ephemeral riverbed. Because short, shrub-type mopane provides a resource for feeding goats, the dense growth of short, shrub-type mopane may play an important role in livestock farming in this area.