Ecology and productivity of an African wetland system: The Kafue Flats, Zambia (Geobotany)

Review `This book is recommended to all workers with an interest in river systems where the multipurpose utilization of water meets the needs of the farming communities, and energy authorities involved in the generation of hydroelectric power, as well as the needs of wildlife. I am confident that readers will take a leaf outof this detailed study made in the Kafue Flats of Zambia.' Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 1988 Product Description Three and a half years of field study in Zambia and another three years of processing the data and writing up the results and conclusions preceded the publication of this book. During this period many people have assisted me with the collection of field data in Zambia and, after repatriation, with the processing of these data in the Netherlands. The research work carried out in Zambia was initiated by the Kafue Basin Research Committee of the University of Zambia. The members of this Committee felt the need to gather quantitative ecological data to enforce their position in the struggle for the water rights on the Kafue Flats. It was hoped that a study of the productivity of the grasslands on the floodplain and adjacent areas would confirm the expected high rates of primary production and the relation of these to the natural flooding pattern. These results would then serve as a base for the nature conservationist, the agriculturalist and the local people to challenge the demands of the Zambia Electricity Company, that presently governs the artificial flooding pattern. The methods attained to collect the data on productivity and vegetation structure are very time consuming.