Ecology of a Miombo Site, Lupa North Forest Reserve, Tanzania: II. Plant Communities and Seasonal Variation in the Vegetation

Abstract

Results of studies intended to show variation in floristic composition of the woody vegetation, relationships between herb layer plants and units of the woody vegetation and seasonal changes in appearance of the vegetation in the Lupa miombo site are presented. Forty samples of the woody vegetation were taken and the population divided into 7 groups by Association Analysis, a statistical method of comparing the floristic composition of the samples. The 7 groups form a catenary series; each group is not a separate entity but a part of a vegetation continuum. Herb layer plants collected during 5 seasons of the yr. are listed indicating which plants flower in each season in each of the 4 catenary zones (the three chief woodland sample groups and a fourth zone, the mbuga). Short notes on the aspect of the vegetation in each of the 5 seasons and on the composition of the vegetation of the 3 special sites -mbuga, termitarium and disturbed soil within woodland-are given.