Vegetation-environment relationships in a catchment containing a dambo in central Zimbabwe

Seasonally saturated wetlands, known as dambos, are a common landscape elem ent throughout much of southern Africa. The diversity of species compositio n within catchments containing dambos is widely attributed to hydrological conditions, but plant-water relationships are poorly established. In this p aper a detailed classification and a vegetation map are presented for a sma ll catchment in central Zimbabwe containing a dambo. Canonical Corresponden ce Analysis has been applied to explore the link between vegetation composi tion and environmental variables. This confirms that water is a key influen ce in species distribution and small-scale patterning of vegetation within the catchment.