PARENT SESSION
Poster Session #54: Plant Ecology: Communities.
Thursday, August 8. Presentation from 8:00 AM to 9:30 AM. Exhibit Hall B & C, TCC

Community similarity and diversity of kopje and grassland forbs in the Serengeti .

Poelchau, Monica^*,1, Mistry, Shahroukh¹, ¹ Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA

ABSTRACT- This study investigates whether grassland kopjes in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, differ from their surrounding habitat in forb community composition and diversity. Kopjes are granitic-gneissic rock outcrops that are found intermittently throughout the Serengeti landscape. They exhibit structural variation strikingly different from the surrounding grassland, enhancing habitat heterogeneity and providing distinctive habitats that are known to harbor unique species as well as high diversity. Three sites were analyzed for differences in forb community composition and diversity between habitat types. Detrended correspondence analysis, subsequent analysis of variance, and cluster analysis revealed significant separation of kopjes from grassland sites, with low among-kopje variation. At two sites, diversity was lower and species richness was higher in the kopje habitat, indicating more kopje specialists and few generalists. These results suggest that kopje forb communities have a species composition distinct from the surrounding grassland, emphasizing the importance of kopjes as contributors to habitat heterogeneity and species richness. The findings also stress the conservation value of kopjes in the Serengeti.

KEY WORDS: kopje, forbs, serengeti, grassland