The impact of the African elephant on marula trees in the Kruger National Park

Previous vegetation studies in the Kruger National Park have shown a dramatic decline in the density of large trees in four major vegetation units of the Park. An assessment of the damage status of Sclerocarya birrea (marula), identified as one of the most important tree species in the Kruger National Park, was conducted across three major landscapes of the Park. Previous studies indicated that marula were most utilized by elephants, resulting in weak regeneration and recruitment, with consequent changes to the population structure of the species. Furthermore, results indicated that the marula populations in two major landscapes of the Kruger National Park were threatened. The objective of this study was to generate a data set, which can be used in conjunction with future monitoring, to quantify the elephant damage to the marula population in the Kruger National Park. Results indicated that almost half the surveyed population suffered from damage due to elephant activity, predominantly in the form of bark stripping and felling. Felling resulted in a large proportion of marula trees being reduced to a height of less than five metres. Main stem breakage by elephant was the main cause of the 7% mortality observed in the marula population.