VEGETATION OF PASTORALIST CAMPSITES WITHIN THE COASTAL GRASSLAND OF CENTRAL SOMALIA

Seasonal occupancy of pastoralist campsites where livestock are bedded down at night has created islands of soil fertility within the coastal grassland of central Somalia. Soil organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium concentrations were greatest at the centre of the campsites and decreased towards the perimeter. The vegetation on the campsites differed from the surrounding grassland, presumably in response to soil fertility and intense grazing. The fast-growing, grazing-tolerant, stoloniferous grass, Cynodon dactylon, and the non-palatable, annual forbs, Cleome tenella and Gisekia pharnaceoides, occupied the centre of the campsites. The campsite perimeters were dominated by the slow-growing, grazing-sensitive, perennial plants Cenchus ciliaris and Indigofera intricata.