Phytosociology and phenology

Abstract

Relatively little is known about the syntaxonomy of the vegetation of central african floodplains. In 1978 Werger & Coetzee presented an account of the information on the floodplains within the Sudano-Zambezian Region available until then. From this account it is clear that the current knowledge of these floodplains is remarkably low (compare also Denny, 1985). This contrasts strongly with their ecological and economical importance (see e.g. chapter 1; Ellenbroek, 1981; 1983). Several researchers have published descriptions of the vegetation on the Kafue Flats, mostly serving different purposes (Van Rensburg, 1968; Sheppe & Osborne, 1971; Douthwaite & Van Lavieren, 1977; Rees, 1978; Werger & Ellenbroek, 1980; Ellenbroek, 1980). None of these studies, however, is very comprehensive and usually only the most conspicuous species in a certain area of the floodplain are indicated. Van Rensburg (1968) presented a rough vegetation map of the whole Kafue Flats area, but, while emphasizing the woodlands, relatively little attention was paid to differences in the composition of the grasslands.