Page 13 - Professorial Lecture - Professor Mapaure

Figure 6: Examples of a piosphere around Moringa Water point at Halali Resort in
Etosha National Park. [Photo: I. Mapaure]

Case studies we did in Etosha National Park (Mapaure et al., 2011) and in
Waterberg Plateau Park (Mukaru & Mapaure, 2012) can be used to demonstrate
some of the impacts described above. Comparisons of various vegetation attributes
around currently-used water points (functional) and closed water points showed
that species diversity was significantly lower at close to the water point at
functional water points than at closed water points in Etosha National Park.
Vegetation composition within the piosphere at both study sites had significantly
changed compared to sites away from the water points. Plant species diversity and
richness were significantly lower in the piosphere than outside it at both sites.
These observations varied from water point to water point, depending on the
herbivore functional types and their residence times at the water points.
The above observations are ‘bad news’ for the management of water points for
habitat and animal conservation. The implications are that there is no ‘one-size-
fits-all’ when it comes to the management of the water points, because in some
landscapes like Etosha National Park, the water points are quite heterogeneous.
Therefore, each water point should be looked at in its own context first, and then

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