The savanna areas of South Africa can be divided into the moist and arid savanna types according to the availability of soil moisture. Bush encroachment is a serious veld management problem in all the savanna areas and veld burning is a potential eradication technique in situations with an adequate grass cover to support an intense fire. In the moist savannas fire per se can be used to control bush encroachment but in the arid savannas it has the role of maintaining trees and shrubs at an available height and in acceptable state for browsing animals. Intense head fires applied at the end of the dormant season are used for bush eradication. The frequency of burning is relatively high in the moist savannas but is very low in the arid savannas, being usually limited to years with above average rainfall when adequate grass fuel loads can be accumulated. Veld burning provides an attractive economic and energy saving technique of solving the problem of bush encroachment in the savanna areas of South Africa.
Journal articles from the Grassland Society of Southern Africa (GSSA) African Journal of Range and Forage Science as well as related articles and reports from throughout the southern African region.