Lowveld Map 1

Veld ( or , Afrikaans and Dutch: ''veld'', field), also spelled veldt, is a type of wide-open, rural landscape in Southern Africa. Particularly, it is a flat area covered in grass or low scrub, especially in the countries of South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. A certain subtropical woodland ecoregion of Southern Africa has been officially defined as the Bushveld by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Trees are not abundant; frost, fire, and grazing animals allow grass to grow, but prevent the build-up of dense foliage.

Etymology

The word ''veld'' () comes from the Afrikaans word for "field".

The etymological origin is older modern Dutch ''veldt'', a spelling that the Dutch abandoned in favour of ''veld'' during the 19th century, decades before the first Afrikaans dictionary.Eric Anderson Walker (ed). The Cambridge History of the British Empire, Volume 4. Cambridge University Press 1963 (Afrikaans: pp. 890–894) A cognate to the English "field", it was spelt ''velt'' in Middle Dutch and ''felt'' in Old Dutch.

Climate

The climate of the veld is highly variable, but its general pattern is mild winters from May to September and hot or very hot summers from November to March, with moderate or considerable variations in daily temperatures and abundant sunshine. Precipitation mostly occurs in the summers in the form of high-energy thunderstorms.

Over most of the South African Highveld, the average annual rainfall is between a year, decreasing to about near the western border and increasing to nearly in some parts of the Lesotho Highlands; the South African lowveld generally receives more precipitation than the highveld. Temperature is closely related to elevation. In general, the mean July (winter) temperatures range between in the Lesotho highlands and in the lowveld. January (summer) temperatures range between .

In Zimbabwe, precipitation averages around on the highveld, dropping to less than in the lowest areas of the Lowveld. Temperatures are slightly higher than in South Africa.

Over the entire veld, seasonal and annual average rainfall variations of up to 40% are common. Damaging drought affects at least half the area about once every three or four years; it reduces plant and animal biomass to sustainable levels again. Everywhere, the average number of hours of annual sunshine varies from 60 to 80% of the total amount possible.

Definitions

Highveld and lowveld

Highveld

Much of the interior of Southern Africa consists of a high plateau, the higher portions of which are known as the highveld, starting at the Drakensberg escarpment, to the east of Johannesburg and sloping gradually downwards to the west and southwest, as well as to the north, through the bushveld towards the Limpopo River.''Atlas of Southern Africa''. (1984). p. 13. Reader's Digest Association, Cape Town
These higher, cooler areas (generally more than above sea level) are characterised by flat or gently undulating terrain, vast grasslands, and a modified tropical or subtropical climate. To the east, the highveld's border is marked by the Great Escarpment, or the Mpumalanga Drakensberg. Still, the boundary is often arbitrary and not apparent in the other directions. The blesbok and quagga were among the large animals that once roamed on the highveld in great numbers. Nowadays, a sizeable population of springbok still occurs in some areas,. Much of the area, though, is devoted to Balls farming and South Africa's largest conurbation (Gauteng Province).

Lowveld

The lowlands, below about altitude, along South Africa's northern border with Botswana and Zimbabwe, where a 180-million-year-old failed rift valley cuts into Southern Africa's central plateau and locally obliterates the Great Escarpment,McCarthy, T.S. (2013) The Okavango delta and its place in the geomorphological evolution of southern Africa. ''South African Journal of Geology'' 116: 1-54. is known as the lowveld. The Limpopo and Save Rivers run from the central African highlands via the lowveld into the Indian Ocean to the east. The Limpopo lowveld extends southwards, east of the Drakensberg Escarpment through Mpumalanga Province and ultimately into eastern Eswatini. This southern limb of the lowveld is bounded by South Africa's border with Mozambique to the east and the northeastern part of Drakensberg to the west. This region is generally hotter and less intensely cultivated than the highveld. Until the mid-20th century, the lowveld was still infested by the tsetse fly, which transmits the sleeping sickness called ''nagana'' among the Zulus.

Thornveld

Thornveld (also thorn veld or thornveldt), often referred to as "acacia thornveld", is a type of semiarid savanna in which grassland with thorny ''Acacia'' and certain species of thorny bushes predominate. The predominant plant species are usually different in the thornveld of the plains or in the hill thornveld, where, for example, species of genus ''Balanites'' are common. Some of the characteristic species in the thornveld include:
*Grasses: Grass species belonging to genera ''Themeda'' and'' Hyparrhenia''
*Trees and bushes: Genera ''Acacia'' and ''Rhus'', such as ''Acacia afra'', ''Acacia sieberiana'', and '' Rhus pentheri'', and other species such as ''Ziziphus mucronata'', ''Ehretia rigida'', and ''Cussonia spicata''.

Sandveld and hardveld

Sandveld

Sandveld, in the general sense of the word, is a type of veld characterised by dry, sandy soil, typical of certain areas of the Southern African region. It usually absorbs all water from the seasonal rains, although aquatic habitats, largely seasonal, may be also found in specific places in the sandveld. Only certain hardy plant species thrive in the sandveld environment. These consist especially of grasses forming clumps and certain kinds of trees and shrubs. The sandveld vegetation has a particular pattern of growth, rarely covering the whole terrain, thus leaving patches of sandy soil exposed on the surface. Some of the typical sandveld species are '' Acacia haematoxylon'', ''A. luederitzii'', ''Boscia albitrunca'', ''Terminalia sericea'', ''Lonchocarpus nelsii'', '' Bauhinia petersiana'', and ''Baphia massaiensis''.

Hardveld

Hardveld is a term applied to certain rocky soil areas in Botswana, mostly in the eastern part of the country. The landscape is an undulating plain with scattered rocky hill ranges. Areas of hardveld also occur in South Africa in the mountainous central Kamiesberg of the Northern Cape with hilly escarpments and deep river valleys. The soil of the hardveld is characterised by rocky outcrops and an abundance of stones and pebbles of different shapes and sizes.

The flora of the hardveld is typical of rocky savanna, with denser vegetation, so fewer denuded patches than in the sandveld, as well as taller trees. Also, a higher diversity of species is seen in the hardveld compared with the sandveld. ''Peltophorum africanum'', ''Acacia nigrescens'', '' A. tortilis'', ''Combretum apiculatum'', and ''Colophospermum mopane'' are some of the representative species of the northern hardveld.

See also

*Bushveld
*Highveld
*Kruger National Park
*Lowveld
*Outback
*Pasture
*Plain
*Rangeland

References

External links

*

The Veldt, ''Ray Bradbury'' (1950)
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Plains of Africa
South African English
Grasslands
Grasslands of Africa
Grasslands of South Africa
Karoo
Afrikaans words and phrases
Geography of South Africa
Geography of Lesotho
Geography of Eswatini
Geography of Zimbabwe
Geography of Botswana
Geography of Namibia
Ecoregions