REPORT ON THE EXPERIMENTAL BURNING PLOTS (EBP) TRIAL IN THE MAJOR VEGETATION TYPES OF THE KRUGER NATIONAL PARK

A recent review of the management plan of the Kruger National Park led to several fire workshops in which, inter ail, the future of the Experimental Burning Plot trial was called into question. This report details the background to, and history of the trial since its inception in 1954: against a background of events and changes perceived as undesirable during a period of fire suppression at that time, the trial had initially targeted understanding of the effects of season, and frequency of burning, on vegetation.

The carefully designed experiment was laid out in four major veld types of the park, in each of which four separate replicates are placed. Each replicate has 12 to 14 treatments (season-frequency combinations and a control) in plots of about 7 ha in a contiguous ribbon-like spatial design. The total area of the experiment totals approximately 1500 ha in the park. Photographs and extensive pre-treatment measurements on grass and woody vegetation were carried out, making up some of the earliest thorough records of this type in the region.

The trial treatments have been applied essentially unaltered until the present, the report also documenting monitoring initiatives undertaken after the start, as well as details of the very limited number of publications answering the original objectives. It points out, however, that acceptable publication levels have been achieved from trial data in related areas, the best examples being fire behaviour (type and intensity) and as part of the international SAFARI ’92 project (atmospheric research). The trial is currently receiving serious field and analytical attention in terms of vegetation response. Possible reasons are forwarded for lack of scientific interest in the trial over the years, an important one being the widely-held perception that the trial was of little relevance because it was a fire trial confounded by unnaturally high levels of herbivory. The report argues that the trial should rather be seen as a realistic fire-herbivory interaction study, and suggests ways in which this contention can be validated.

The future of the trial was considered in the light of current and possible future park objectives. It is recommended that:

a) In view of the obvious and clearly under-utilised value of the trial to current park objectives, that a concerted and structured effort be made to realise this value. This period (until mid 2003) is referred to as a “wrap-up period”, during which numerous publications are expected.
b) In view of the clear longer-term value of this trial (as also continually pointed out by other stakeholders), a directed effort be made to engage such stakeholders. Also because the SANP may not be able to carry all the costs of maintaining this trial in perpetuity, it is seen as essential that a workable framework for participation by committed stakeholders be established in good time.
c) Because monitoring of global climate change is seen as a possible area in which this trial may prove important, that the SANP consider this possibility in the context of their evolving objectives regarding global climate change and its possible effects on future management strategy for fire and elephant impact.