Use of key grass species for assessing veld condition in the Eastern Cape.

The current technique used in the Eastern Cape for assessing veld condition and trend assumes that the operator is able to identify all the grass species in the sample site. This is a serious limitation to its use by extension officers, consultants and farmers. Data from the Dohne Sourveld and the False Thornveld of the Eastern Cape were used successfully to identify the minimum number of key grass species required to assess the condition and trend of the veld.Keywords: botany; disturbance history; dohne sourveld; eastern cape; false thornveld; grass; grasses; south africa; veld conditio