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4.03 MOSAICS OF VEGETATION |
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Data ID |
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Description: |
Detailed shapefile of vegetation units for the whole of Namibia |
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Chapter: |
4 Living Resources |
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File name: |
vegetation units |
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File type: |
ArcView shapefile |
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Geographical area: |
Namibia |
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Namibia |
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North-central |
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Keywords: |
vegetation |
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units |
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mosaics |
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Notes on data, analysis and |
The compilation of this map by Antje Burke, Wynand du Plessis & Ben Strohbach was based on existing information |
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compilation: |
available from: |
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1) Giess’ preliminary vegetation map (1971) |
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2) published vegetation maps for parts of the country (Leser 1972; Viljoen 1980; Williamson 1997) |
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3) vegetation maps recently completed as part of regional environmental profiles (Hines in Mendelsohn & Roberts |
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1997; Mendelsohn et al. 2000; Burke 2000) |
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4) vegetation mapping project at the National Botanical Research Institute (Strohbach in press) |
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5) vegetation survey information at the Etosha Ecological Institute (le Roux et al. 1988; Sannier et al. 1995, 1998; du |
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Plessis 1999, 2000) |
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6) the Agro-ecological zones project at the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Rural Development (de Pauw & Coetzee |
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1999). |
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This new vegetation map is consequently a product of review and synthesis. The background information available for |
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this review differed significantly in terms of (a) date, (b) coverage, (c) scale and accuracy of mapping, (d) format (e) |
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quality and quantity of accompanying data. Although this map provides more detail than the preliminary vegetation |
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map of 1971, policy makers, conservation and resource planners, and whoever wishes to use the map for further |
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analysis are cautioned to take these short-comings into account. |
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At the smallest scale are Vegetation Units or mosaics within the broad Vegetation Types. The broad Vegetation Types |
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thus present ecologically similar map units, largely controlled by climate, topography and underlying substrate. For |
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example, the dwarf succulent shrubland of the southern Namib encompasses a diverse mosaic of dwarf shrubland and |
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shrubland communities with different plant species dominant in different parts of this area. Each Vegetation Type is |
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associated with a number of descriptive variables which include information on vegetation cover and species |
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composition. Species composition names up to eight dominant and characteristic species for each vegetation type (not |
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necessarily in order of importance). |
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Burke, A. 2000. The vegetation of Kavango. Report for Environmental Profiles Programme, Ministry of Environment |
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and Tourism. |
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du Plessis, W. P. 1999. Linear regression relationships between NDVI, vegetation and rainfall in Etosha National Park, |
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Namibia. Journal of Arid Environments. 42: 235-260. |
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du Plessis, W.P. 2000. Green vegetation biomass imagery of Namibia derived from NOAA AVHRR satellite data. |
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Unpublished data, Etosha Ecological Institute. |
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de Pauw, E. & Coetzee, M.E. 1999. Production of an agro-ecological zones map of Namibia. Agricola 10: 27-44. |
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Edwards, D. 1984. A broad-scale structural classification of vegetation for practical purposes. Bothalia 14:705-712. |
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Giess, W. 1971. A preliminary vegetation map of South West Africa. Dinteria 4:5-114. |
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Leser, H. 1972. Geoökologische Verhältnisse der Plflanzengesellschaften in den Savannen des Sandveldes um den |
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Schwarzen Nossob und um Epikuru. Dinteria 6: 1-44. |
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le Roux, C.J.G., J.O. Grunow, J.W. Morris, G.J. Bredenkamp & J.C. Scheepers. (1988). A classification of the vegetation |
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of the Etosha National Park. South African Journal of Botany. 54(1); 1-10. |
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Mendelsohn, J. & Roberts, C. 1997. An Environmental Profile and Atlas of Caprivi. Environmental Profiles Project, |
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Directorate of Environmental Affairs, Windhoek. |
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Mendelsohn, J. el Obeid, S. & Roberts, C. 2000. A profile of North-Central Namibia .Environmental Profiles Project, |
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Directorate of Environmental Affairs, Windhoek. |
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Rutherford, M.C. & Westfall, R.H. 1994. Biomes of southern Africa: an objective |
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categorization. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Afr. Vol. 63. |
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Sannier, C.A.D., Taylor, J.C., du Plessis, W.P. & Campbell, K. 1998. Real-time vegetation monitoring with |
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NOAA-AVHRR in Southern Africa for wildlife management and food security assessment. Int. J. Remote Sensing. 19(4): |
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621-639. |
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Sannier, C., Taylor J.C. & du Plessis, W.P. 1995. Structural vegetation classification of Etosha National Park using |
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Landsat TM satellite imagery at 30m resolution. Unpublished data & maps – Silsoe College, U.K. & Etosha Ecological |
Data quality and organisation |
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Positional Accuracy: |
Variable - see notes on data analysis and compilation |
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Vector/Raster: |
Vector |
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Spatial reference |
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Projection: |
Geographic |
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Fields |
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Field name |
Field description |
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ID |
unique polygon ID |
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VEG_UNIT |
Vegetation unit |
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CODE |
Vegetation unit code |
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BIOME |
Biome name |
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VEG_TYPE |
General vegetation type |
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Source/Distribution |
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Data Source: |
Antje Burke, Wynand du Plessis & Ben Strohbach |
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Contact: |
Antje Burke |
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Online/Offline Address: |
Antje.burke@enviro-science.info |
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Distribution notes: |
Unrestricted |