ANALYSIS OF THE SPONTANEOUS VEGETATION OF INTENSIVELY MANAGED URBAN OPEN SPACES IN THE POTCHEFSTROOM MUNICIPAL AREA, NORTH WEST PROVINCE, SOUTH AFRICA

This report forms part of a research programme on spontaneous vegetation in urban open spaces in the North West Province, South Africa. The spontaneously growing vegetation of intensively managed sites such as parks, pavements and parking areas was investigated, using numerical methods. The numerical classification technique, TWINSPAN was used for analysing the floristic data as a first approximation and then the data were refined by using Braun-Blanquet procedures. The result is a phytosociological table where ten communities, four sub-communities and two variants, most of them representing undescribed vegetation types for South Africa, were recognised. Associated gradients in habitat and different human impacts are identified by using an ordination algorithm (DECORANA). This is one of the first studies on synanthropic vegetation in South African urban areas and should contribute to our knowledge of the ecology and biology of plant invasions in intensively managed areas.