Page 14 - Professorial Lecture - Professor Mapaure

some form of hierarchical management system applied where clusters of
‘relatively’ similar ones can be applied.

Figure 7 below demonstrates that if you have a natural habitat at equilibrium with
the natural animal densities in it, the biodiversity would be healthy. Establishment
of water points leads to increases in animal numbers, modifying the habitat into
another habitat state. Continual use of the water point will lead to degradation of
the rangeland. However, if the water point is closed, the rangeland will recover but
it may not revert to exactly its previous state. There is evidence for this in our
Etosha National Park study (Mapaure et al., 2011).

Figure 7: Conceptual representation of effects of establishing artificial water points
and their management.
Therefore, some management considerations are:
1. Determine (especially for dry seasons):
(a) critical herbivore densities at water points,
(b) temporal herbivore residence times at water points,
(c) functional herbivore composition at water points,
(d) seasonal patterns of water point use by animals.
Use above information to determine sustainable animal densities and manage as
necessary.

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