Floodplain rehabilitation in North Cameroon: impact on vegetation dynamics

Published source details Scholte P., Kirda P., Adam S. & Kadiri B. (2000) Floodplain rehabilitation in North Cameroon: impact on vegetation dynamics. Applied Vegetation Science, 3, 33-42.
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This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

	Action	Category
	Actively manage water level: freshwater marshes Action Link

Actively manage water level: freshwater marshes

A before-and-after study in 1993–1997 on a floodplain in northern Cameroon (Scholte et al. 2000) found that after releasing water from a dam to restore seasonal flooding, there were changes in the relative abundance of some plant species and groups. Of eight monitored plant species, three were significantly less dominant in the year after reflooding than in the year before (antelope grass Echinochloa pyramidalis, turf grass Ischaemum afrum and vetiver grass Vetiveria nigritana; data not reported). Over the four years after reflooding, there were increases in the relative cover of antelope grass (from 9% to 19%) and wild rice Oryza longistaminata (from 29% to 38%), and a decrease in the relative cover of wild sorghum Sorghum arundinaceum (from 26% to 16%). Meanwhile, there was an increase in the relative cover of perennial herbs (from 41% to 62%), but a decrease in the relative cover of annual herbs (from 58% to 34%). Methods: This summary is based on data from 108 permanent 36-m² plots, spaced 0.5–1.0 km apart on a floodplain. Wet-season flooding of these plots (approximately August to December) had been restricted after a dam was built upstream in 1979. Wet-season flooding was restored from 1994 by releasing water from the dam. Vegetation was surveyed, in the dry season, before reflooding (1993) and in four years after (1994–1997).

(Summarised by: Nigel Taylor)