Characterization and mapping of the vegetation of Bicuar National Park in Southwestern Angola

Abstract

Knowledge about plant formations of a given region, plays an important role in the handling and management of floristic resources. The study was carried out in Bicuar National Park, located in the province of Huíla there, with a historical extent of6800km2, and its main objective the vegetation of the park, using Information Systems Geographies and Detection Techniques Remote. To survey the vegetation, 20 × 50 m plots were used, containing smaller subplot of 10 × 10 m², considered as an independent unit of the larger subunit, and all individuals with DAP≥ 5 cm, from the smaller subplot???, following the vegetation mapping training protocol, in which 350 individuals were sampled. The data obtained from the forest inventory were analysed using Microsoft Excel. Class analysis and similarity analysis between plots for vegetation classification were performed using the PAST statistical program (Version 4.11). The phenological metrics results were obtained by processing the data in TIMESAT to analyse vegetation behavior, considering environmental variations. The result was the completion of a map showing the vegetation classes of Bicuar National Park, emphasizing the Brachystegia utilis class, which had not been previously described. The final classification of the species distribution corresponding to each vegetation class was based on species abundance and was stratified into five vegetation classes using MODIS imagery.