Author(s)

G.E. Weber & F. Jeltsch

Abstract

Increasing shrub cover density poses a widespread problem in semiarid savanna rangelands. Recently, vegetation dynamics has been studied with the aid of spatially explicit models, aiming to highlight the response of shrub cover to livestock grazing. Assuming that on a local scale, grazing and trampling act as a disturbance ultimately facilitating local extinction, small scale local variability of grazing intensity might influence density and vegetation cover of forage plants and thus affect shrub cover dynamics. We used a spatially explicit grid based simulation model based on southern Kalahari ecology. Plant life histories were modelled at the level of the three major life forms: perennial grasses and herbs, shrubs, annuals. To study the role

Keywords