Nutrients in Soil and Vegetation Around Two Artificial Waterpoints in Eastern Botswana

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Abstract
A comparison of the vegetation and soil was made around two boreholes differing in cattle density and exploitation period. Increased grazing and trampling pressure around the borehole has caused a vegetation zonation with a species-poor zone in the immediate vicinity of the borehole, followed by thickets with Acacia species and Dichrostachys cinerea, transitional to tree savanna. The creation of the artificial water points has caused an increase in soil nutrients near the borehole due to deposition of dung and urine, the amount dependent on cattle density and borehole age. The increased soil fertility is reflected in the nutrient content of the herbs and trees near the boreholes. A nutrient balance demonstrated that overgrazing severely affected the phosphorus balance of the savanna ecosystem.