Ecology and spatial patterns of large-scale vegetation units within the central Namib Desert

This article offers a review of published knowledge and a new state-of-the-art analysis regarding the floristic composition, the functional composition and the plant communities found in the central Namib Desert. At the same time, this paper contributes to the understanding of the relationship between the plant species composition of the central Namib Desert and the prevailing environmental gradients, with an emphasis on diversity and ecology in space and time. This article builds on three thematic foci. The first focus (1) lies on the present knowledge of the composition and the characteristics of the flora. A comprehensive floristic database has been compiled based on all available sources. A second focus (2) lies on the characterization and spatial distribution of the vegetation units. Therefore, we created a new vegetation classification based on a unique vegetation-plot database (http://www.givd.info/ID/AF-00-007) and additional data summing up to 2000 relevés, resulting in 21 large-scale vegetation classes. Using a supervised classification approach based on the vegetation classification, remote sensing and environmental data, we were able to produce a new vegetation map of the Central Namib. This was updated using expert knowledge, field visits and through manual preprocessing. With the third focus (3) we explore the spatial patterns of the previous foci and discuss their relation to environmental parameters and gradients.

► We review published knowledge on spatial subdivision of Central Namib vegetation.
► We classify a consistent plant data set and we model a comprehensive vegetation map.
► Environmental parameters, related to climate and substrate are important drivers.
► We confirm and refine the understanding of the coast-inland zonation of vegetation.
► Longevity is of high ecological importance for key species and ecosystems.