Kalahari Transect Vegetation Cover and Species Data from SAFARI 2000

Vegetation cover and composition data were collected at four sites along the Kalahari Transect in Botswana during the SAFARI 2000 wet season campaign. The dataset includes species identification, canopy diameter, and percent cover estimates for live/dead herbaceous material, litter, and bare soil across 12 sampled locations per site. It was produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, with data collection occurring in the year 2000.

Use Cases

• Analyzing species richness per site using the calculated number of species per 270 m2 transect area.
• Modeling vegetation structure by combining canopy diameter measurements with percent cover data for woody vegetation, grass, forbs, and bare soil.
• Assessing local variability in semi-arid savannas using the stratified sampling data across differences in topography, soils, and disturbance.
• Calibrating or validating satellite-derived vegetation indices with ground-based measurements of green herbaceous cover and woody vegetation cover.

Strengths

• Data collection followed a standardized protocol with identical methods at each of the four locations, ensuring comparability.
• Sampling design employed random stratified techniques across 12 locations per site within a 30-km radius to capture local variability.
• Measurements include multiple vegetation components: species enumeration, canopy diameter, and percent cover for several ground categories.

Limitations

• Conflicting metadata exists for the last update date, with one source listing 2000-03-14 and another listing 2026-03 12.
• Key quantitative details like total row count, file size, and specific column names are not provided by any source.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Field measurements including species identification along transects, visual canopy diameter estimation, and quadrat-based percent cover assessment.

Time Range

2000 (wet season campaign)

Freshness

2000-03-14 23:59:59.999000

Geography

Four locations along the Kalahari Transect in Botswana: Pandamatenga, Maun, Okwa River, and Tshane.