Synonym:

Kalahari Thornveld (A16).

Statistics:

50 857 km˛; ± 55% transformed; 0.47% conserved.

Locality & Physical Geography:

Found on deep, loose sand in the Bray, Vorstershoop and Pomfret areas, mostly in North-West Province, and also in the north-eastern part of Northern Cape. The area is characterised by undulating to flat sandy plains, at 1 000 m altitude.

Climate:

The average annual rainfall is 300 mm, which fails in summer and early autumn. Temperatures vary between -9C and 42C, with an average of 18C.

Geology & Soil:

Deep sandy to loamy sands of aeolian origin, underlain by calcrete.

Vegetation:

Characterised by a fairly well-developed tree stratum with Camel Thorn Acacia erioloba and Shepherd's Tree Boscia albitrunca as the dominant trees, along with scattered individuals of Belly Thorn Acacia luederitzii and Silver Clusterleaf Terminalia sericea, which may be locally conspicuous. The shrub layer is moderately developed and individuals of Black Thorn Acacia mellifera, Weeping Candle Thorn A. hebeclada, Karee-thorn Lycium hirsutum, Grewia flava and Acacia haematoxylon dominate this layer. The grass cover depends on the amount of rainfall during the growing season. Grasses such as Lehmann's Lovegrass Eragrostis lehmanniana, Sour Bushmangrass Schmidtia kalihariensis and Silky Bushman grass Stipagrostis uniplumis are conspicuous.

Key Environmental Parameters:

The low rainfall on sandy plains and grazing by livestock influence the structure of this vegetation type.

Economic Uses:

Livestock and game farming are the major activities, but important mines occur within this type.

Conservation Status:

Very poorly conserved.

Key References:

Leistner (1967), Bezuidenhout et al. (1993).

Authors:

Noel van Rooyen & George Bredenkamp.