Natural resources and services provided by ecosystems are getting more and more limited while the demand for land, water and ecosystem services is globally growing (Millenium Ecosystem Assessment 2005). Therefore, the old style of land use planning driven by opportunity and short lived interests is no longer a valid option. Instead, knowledge based decision making shall allow to combine prosperous development with sustainable use of resources and conservation of biodiversity and ecosystems. To support this goal, the project “The Future Okavango” has been developed within the frame of a global program on “Land management” (LaMa) established by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in 2010.
The main body of this Special Volume is dedicated to a series of sixteen research articles. These are again sorted in a series starting with aspects of the landscape, followed by climate, hydrology, the importance of water for ecosystems and livelihoods, agricultural yield assessments, the role of soil bacteria and phosphate and soil fertility, recent land use change, floodplain vegetation, riparian tree species, fire regime, livelihood diversification, household economies, land utilization strategies, and customary water law.
Table of Contents
Pages 1–6
Editorials
How can scientific information on the Okavango Region be made useful for decision making? - An integrated compilation of the first products of the project "The Future Okavango"
Norbert Jürgens
Pages 7–8
Authors general acknowledgements
Authors general acknowledgement
Pages 9–13
Fact Sheets
Okavango Basin - Physicogeographical setting
Jan Wehberg & Thomas Weinzierl
Pages 11-13
Okavango Basin - Climate
Torsten Weber
Pages 15-17
Okavango Basin - Hydrology
Thomas Steudel, Hendrik Göhmann, Edwin Mosimanyana, Manuel Quintino, Wolfgang-Albert Flügel & Jörg Helmschrot
Pages 19-22
Okavango Basin - Earth Observation
Marion Stellmes, David Frantz, Manfred Finckh & Rasmus Revermann
Pages 23-27
Okavango Basin - Vegetation
Rasmus Revermann & Manfred Finckh
Pages 29-35
Okavango Basin - Relative Importance of Ecosystem Services (ESS) Among Stakeholders
Stephanie Domptail & Oliver Mundy
Pages 37-42
Cusseque - Landscape
Alexander Gröngröft, Jona Luther-Mosebach, Lars Landschreiber, Rasmus Revermann, Manfred Finckh & Annette Eschenbach
Pages 43-44
Cusseque - Climate
Torsten Weber
Pages 45-46
Cusseque - Micro-climatic Conditions
Rasmus Revermann & Manfred Finckh
Pages 47-50
Cusseque - Soils
Alexander Gröngröft, Jona Luther-Mosebach, Lars Landschreiber & Annette Eschenbach
Pages 51-54
Cusseque - Earth Observation
Anne Schneibel, Marion Stellmes, David Frantz, Manfred Finckh & Rasmus Revermann
Pages 55-57
Cusseque - Vegetation
Rasmus Revermann, Francisco Maiato, Amandio Gomes, Fernanda Lages & Manfred Finckh
Pages 59-63
Cusseque - Biodiversity of Birds
Friederike Richter
Pages 65-67
Cusseque - Use of Woody Plants
Ana Filipa Piedade
Pages 69-71
Cusseque/Cacuchi - The People
Stephanie Domptail, Laura Marlene Große, Benjamin Kowalski & João Baptista
Pages 73-80
Cusseque - Para-ecologist Miguel Sachilula Hilario
Miguel Sachilula Hilario
Pages 81-82
Caiundo - Landscape
Alexander Gröngröft, Jona Luther-Mosebach, Lars Landschreiber, Rasmus Revermann, Manfred Finckh & Annette Eschenbach
Pages 83–84
Caiundo - Climate
Torsten Weber
Pages 85-86
Caiundo - Earth Observation
David Frantz, Anne Schneibel, Marion Stellmes, Rasmus Revermann & Manfred Finckh
Pages 87-89
Caiundo - Vegetation
Rasmus Revermann & Manfred Finckh
Pages 91-96
Caiundo - Biodiversity of Birds
Friederike Richter
Pages 97-100
Mashare - Landscape
Alexander Gröngröft, Jona Luther-Mosebach, Lars Landschreiber, Rasmus Revermann, Manfred Finckh & Annette Eschenbach
Pages 101-102
Mashare - Climate
Torsten Weber
Pages 103-104
Mashare - Soils
Alexander Gröngröft, Jona Luther-Mosebach, Lars Landschreiber & Annette Eschenbach
Pages 105-108
Mashare - Microbiology
Katharina Huber, Pia Wüst, Janne Grönemeyer, Claudia Burbano, Barbara Reinhold-Hurek & Jörg Overmann
Pages 109-111
Mashare - Earth Observation
Achim Röder, Anne Schneibel, Marion Stellmes & David Frantz
Pages 113-115
Mashare - Woody Vegetation
Vera De Cauwer
Pages 117-119
Mashare - The People
Benjamin Kowalski, Nadege Azebaze, Stephanie Domptail, Laura Marlene Große & Michael Pröpper
Pages 121-128
Mashare - Para-ecologist Robert Mukuya
Robert Mukuya
Pages 129
Seronga - Landscape
Alexander Gröngröft, Jona Luther-Mosebach, Lars Landschreiber, Rasmus Revermann & Annette Eschenbach
Pages 131-132
Seronga - Climate
Torsten Weber
Pages 133-134
Seronga - Soils
Alexander Gröngröft, Jona Luther-Mosebach, Lars Landschreiber & Annette Eschenbach
Pages 135-137
Seronga - Earth Observation
Anne Schneibel, Marion Stellmes, David Frantz, Rasmus Revermann & Manfred Finckh
Pages 139-141
Seronga - Vegetation
Mike Murray-Hudson, Manfred Finckh & Rasmus Revermann
Pages 143-146
Seronga - The People
Laura Marlene Große, Benjamin Kowalski, Stephanie Domptail & Amanda Eigner
Pages 147-158
Seronga - Para-ecologist Meshack Kwamovo
Meshack Kwamovo
Pages 159
Okavango Delta - Biodiversity of Microalgae, precious invisible plants
Luca Marazzi
Pages 161-163
Contact of Fact Sheet Authors
Pages 165-166
The Future Okavango conceptual articles
Cumulative effects of policy and management actions on ecosystem services. Challenges and methodological approaches in The Future Okavango project
Achim Röder, Marion Stellmes, Stephanie Domptail, Annette Eschenbach, Manfred Finckh, Alexander Gröngröft, Jörg Helmschrot, Michael Pröpper, Anne Schneibel & Johannes Stoffels
Pages 167–183
Using trade-offs and synergies in ecosystem services for resource management
Stephanie Domptail, Ernst-August Nuppenau, Nadege Azebaze, Lawrence, Dereck Brown, Thomas Falk, Manfred Finckh, Laura Marlene Große, Benjamin Kowalski, Michael Pröpper, Marion Stellmes & Jörg Overmann
Pages 185–193
Transdisciplinary research and stakeholder involvement. A review of the TFO approach.
Laura Schmidt, Stephanie Domptail, Patrik Klintenberg, Martin Gruber, Ute Schmiedel, Ibo Zimmermann & Thomas Falk
Pages 195–212
OBIS - a Data and Information Management System for the Okavango Basin
Sven Kralisch, Franziska Zander & Wolfgang-Albert Flügel
Pages 213–220
Research Articles
Terrain-based Landscape Structure Classification in Relation to Remote Sensing Products and Soil Data for the Okavango Catchment
Jan Wehberg, Michael Bock, Thomas Weinzierl, Olaf Conrad, Jürgen Böhner, Marion Stellmes & Lars Landschreiber
Pages 221–233
Regionalization of Baseline Climatologies and Time Series for the Okavango Catchment
Thomas Weinzierl, Olaf Conrad, Jürgen Böhner & Jan Wehberg
Pages 235–245
Assessment of hydrological dynamics in the upper Okavango River Basins
Thomas Steudel, Hendrik Göhmann, Wolfgang-Albert Flügel & Jörg Helmschrot
Pages 247–261
Impacts of desiccation on ecosystem services and household adaptation in the Okavango Delta, Botswana
Donald L. Kgathi, Gagoitseope Mmopelwa, Cornelis Vanderpost, Piotr Wolski & Moseki R. Motsholapheko
Pages 263–277
A method for yield assessment on rainfed dryland agricultural fields
Alexander Gröngröft, Jona Luther-Mosebach, Lars Landschreiber & Benjamin Kowalski
Pages 279–286
A survey for plant-growth-promoting rhizo-bacteria and symbionts associated with crop plants in the Okavango region of Southern Africa
Jann Grönemeyer, Dirk Berkelmann, Tabo Mubyana-John, Daniel Haiyambo, Percy Chimwamurombe, Bruce Kasaona, Thomas Hurek & Barbara Reinhold-Hurek
Pages 287–294
Mechanisms of phosphate solubilisation associated with some rhizobacteria in floodplains, as exemplified by the Okavango Region of Seronga, Botswana
Tabo Mubyana-John, Lawrence Tarupiwa, Wellington R. L. Masamba & Susan Ringrose
Pages 295–302
Variations in soil physicochemical characteristics in some soil profiles of Okavango Delta’s Pan-handle region, Botswana
Cornelia Gwatidzo, Wellington Riach Liamba Masamba & Tabo Mubyana-John
Pages 303–310
Agricultural expansion during the post-civil war period in southern Angola based on bi-temporal Landsat data
Anne Schneibel, Marion Stellmes, Rasmus Revermann & Manfred Finckh
Pages 311–319
Vegetation of the Okavango river valley in Kavango West, Namibia
Ben J. Strohbach
Pages 321–339
Spatial variation of population size structure of selected riparian tree species in the Okavango Delta, Botswana
Gaolathe Tsheboeng & Mike Murray-Hudson
Pages 341–350
Fire frequency, fire seasonality and fire intensity within the Okavango region derived from MODIS fire products
Marion Stellmes, David Frantz, Manfred Finckh & Rasmus Revermann
Pages 351–362
Livelihood diversification in a rural community of the Okavango Delta, Botswana. - Results from a Socio-Economic Baseline Survey
Björn Herold, Laura M. Große, Stephanie Domptail, Donald L. Kgathi, Thomas Falk, Nadege Azebaze & Benjamin Kowalski
Pages 363–377
Partly subsistent household economies and modern consumerism in the Namibian Kavango: Assets, income, expenditure and socio-economic stratification
Michael Pröpper, Thomas Falk, Stephanie Domptail, Laura Marlene Große & Benjamin Kowalski
Pages 379–391
“Everything”: Towards an Ecology of Land Utilization
João Afonso Baptista
Pages 393–405
Makongoro are the Hafumu of water and we respect them, or the ethno-philosophical foundation of customary water law in the Kavango Region of Namibia
Manfred O. Hinz
Pages 407–418