## 5 Discussion  
Our land cover classification method proved highly effective in this heterogeneous and temporally dynamic ecosystem. Excitingly, this method was successful in differentiating grasses of different heights, which, to our knowledge, has not been previously achieved in such a diverse landscape mosaic. A mapping technique with this capability is particularly important for an area like the Masai Mara National Reserve, which is composed primarily of grasslands (83.8% of the area is covered by short, medium, and tall grass as well as grass _Acacia_ and grass _Balanites_). Visual inspection of our map (Figure 3) suggests several differences between the Mara Triangle (west of the Mara River), which is managed by the Mara Conservancy, and the portion of the Reserve managed by the Narok County government (east of the Mara River). Some of these differences may be due to differences in management, i.e., active vs. passive management of livestock grazing within the Reserve. Within the eastern side, progression from south to north (e.g., towards the northern boundary of the Reserve) coincides with a transition from tall to medium to short grass and sometimes to large patches of barren ground. That is, grasslands in this region appear to diminish with increasing proximity to the northern boundary. The southern boundary of the Reserve is the Kenyan/Tanzanian border, beyond which lies the Serengeti National Park. Beyond the northern boundary, on the other hand, some land is protected whereas other areas are not. For instance, the communities of Talek and N'Tipiliguani, which lie immediately north of the Reserve, have developed rapidly, leading to a fivefold increase in illegal livestock grazing in the park between 2008 and 2015 [(43; 44)]. This could potentially explain the south-north transition in grass height and cover. However, some differences in land cover between the western and eastern sides of the park are more likely attributable to naturally occurring topographic variation. For example, the Mara Triangle seems to contain higher proportions of wetlands than the rest of the Reserve. This may in part be attributed to the higher rainfall the Mara Triangle receives compared to the east side of the Reserve due to local precipitation patterns created by the Lake Victoria convergence zone [(45)]. Additionally, the Mara Triangle is more densely populated by _Acacia_ and _Balanites_ trees than is the area east of the Mara River. Although we consider this landscape to be a savanna-woodland mosaic, it is worth noting that grass is far more common than woody vegetation. Open grasslands constitute the majority of the entire Reserve (60.9%), followed by grasslands studded with sparse _Acacia_ and _Balanites_ (23.0%), and then shrubs (8.8%). Forests constitute only 2.0% of land cover within the Reserve. Historically, these grasslands have been maintained by frequent fire disturbance and uprooting of woody vegetation by elephants [(46)]. The frequent resetting of the successional clock by elephants and fires would explain why trees are less common than shrubs, which in turn are less common than grasses. Riverine forest is found primarily along rivers, particularly the Mara River. Upland forest is primarily distributed along \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline \hline
**Land Cover** & **Total Area (km2)** & **Percentage of Study Area** \\ \hline Barren & 45 & 3\% \\ Riverine forest & 18 & 1\% \\ Upland forest & 14 & 1\% \\ Grass _Acacia_ & 191 & 12\% \\ Grass _Balanites_ & 176 & 11\% \\ Tall grass & 496 & 31\% \\ Medium grass & 315 & 20\% \\ Short grass & 163 & 10\% \\ Shrub & 141 & 9\% \\ Water & 4 & ¡ 1\% \\ Emergent wetland & 20 & 1\% \\ Wet meadow & 17 & 1\% \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 4: Total area and percentage of Masai Mara National Reserve covered by each land cover class, based on the output of Random Forests. the top of the Oloololo Escarpment but is also commonly found atop inselbergs.