Effect of Fire and Distance from Water point on Rangeland Vegetation at Um keddada locality, North Darfur State

This study was conducted at Um Kaddada area, North Darfour State, Sudan to investigate the effect of distance from water points and fire on the performance of rangelands vegetation. Four water points at different sites were selected to determine plant species frequencies, vegetation cover, species composition, forage productivity, range carrying capacity and amount of seeds in the soil within 1 km and 2 km from water points. Plant cover, forage productivity, and amount of seeds in the soil were determined in selected burned and unburned sites. Descriptive statistics was used to present frequency, vegetation cover, species composition, forage productivity and range carrying capacity. Analysis of variance was used for the data concerning the seed bank at different distances from water points. The results revealed that frequency, plant cover, forage productivity and range carrying capacity were lower near the water points than far away from them. The amounts of seed in the soil were higher away from the water point than near the water points. Plant cover, forage productivity and carrying capacity were lower in the burned site than in the unburned sites. The amount of seeds in the soil was higher in the unburned site than in the burned site. Areas near the water points were dominated by unpalatable plant species such as Abutilon mauritianum, Hibiscus esculentus, tribulus terrestris, Euphorbia aegyptiaca and Ammannia paccifera. Intermediate palatable species such as Dactyloctenium aegyptium and Cenchrus spp were found in areas far away from water points. Some species such as Monsonia seneglensis and Blepharis spp were completely absent