Ecology and Productivity of an African Wetland System : The Kafue Flats, Zambia

Three and a half years of field study in Zambia and another three years of processing the data and writing up the results and conclusions preceded the publication of this book. During this period many people have assisted me with the collection of field data in Zambia and, after repatriation, with the processing of these data in the Netherlands. The research work carried out in Zambia was initiated by the Kafue Basin Research Committee of the University of Zambia. The members of this Committee felt the need to gather quantitative ecological data to enforce their position in the struggle for the water rights on the Kafue Flats. It was hoped that a study of the productivity of the grasslands on the floodplain and adjacent areas would confirm the expected high rates of primary production and the relation of these to the natural flooding pattern. These results would then serve as a base for the nature conservationist, the agriculturalist and the local people to challenge the demands of the Zambia Electricity Company, that presently governs the artificial flooding pattern. The methods attained to collect the data on productivity and vegetation structure are very time consuming. Front Matter....Pages I-XIV Introduction....Pages 1-4 The physical environment....Pages 5-32 Major vegetation zones of the Kafue Flats and adjacent areas....Pages 33-43 Phytosociology and phenology....Pages 44-84 Diversity....Pages 85-113 Canopy structures and aboveground production....Pages 115-216 Belowground vegetation and root/shoot ratios....Pages 217-230 Decomposition....Pages 231-236 Estimation of net annual primary production on the Kafue Flats....Pages 237-239 Fire and the ecology of termitaria grasslands....Pages 240-250 Summary....Pages 251-252 Samenvatting....Pages 253-255 Back Matter....Pages 257-267