Status of African baobab ( Adansonia digitata) across Gonarezhou National Park, Zimbabwe

Abstract

An assessment was done to determine the abundance and structure of baobab (Adansonia digitata) across Gonarezhou National Park, Zimbabwe. Baobabs were sampled on fifteen belt transects of constant width of 300 m with fifteen baobabs in each belt transect determined the length of a particular belt transect between May and June 2012. Our results showed that there were no significant differences in basal area, height and density of baobabs across Gonarezhou. Moreover, elephant (Loxodonta africana) dung counts and damaged baobabs were similar across Gonarezhou. Our findings suggest a relatively similar spatial effect of elephant herbivory and other disturbance regimes on baobabs in Gonarezhou. We recommend the continuous monitoring of baobab woodland stands across Gonarezhou.