Page 12 - Professorial Lecture - Professor Mapaure

Figure 5: A herd of elephants at Okaukuejo water point, Etosha National Park. The
denuded landscape around the water point is very clear. [Photo: I. Mapaure]

This has been demonstrated in numerous studies such as Farmer (2010), Mapaure
et al. (2012) and may compromise biodiversity and ecosystem resilience. The
heavily impacted area around a water point is called a piosphere (Figure 6). Proper
water point management is therefore required. Provision of artificial water to
animals is still a contentious management issue in southern African savanna
conservation areas. Research has shown that herbivory and trampling, especially
within the piosphere, may lead to increases in unpalatable plants, decrease in
palatable grasses, decrease in plant cover, decline in overall biodiversity and
undesirable changes in ecosystem functioning (Mapaure et al., 2012; Mukaru &
Mapaure, 2012).

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