Impact of water provision on herbaceous community composition in the Kruger National Park, South Africa

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Abstract
We studied the relationship between herbaceous plant community composition and distance from water to test whether the provision of water in the Kruger National Park has an impact on community composition. Composition at watering points has shifted to disturbance related annual species (e.g. Urochloa mosambicensis, Tra‐gus berteronianus, Dactyloctenium aegyptium, Amaran‐thus thunbergii and Alternanthera pungens) whereas perennial species (e.g. Digitaria eriantha, Themeda triandra and Sporobolus fimbriatus) tended to increase in presence with distance from water. There was a significant relationship between the first axis coordinates of ordinations of community composition in transects and distance from water. Results show that permanent water troughs for large herbivores in the Kruger National Park have an impact on the herbaceous community composition. Community composition along transects radiating from watering points is satisfactorily described by the logistic equation and parameters derived from this equation may be built into ecological models. Sacrifice areas (where the herbaceous community consists mostly of annual plants), extending to 20–300 m from water, occur at watering points.