Update on threats to SA’s plant diversity
In a monumental collaborative effort involving more than 200 professionals, as well as members of the public, South Africa has become the fi rst of the world’s mega-diverse countries to fully assess the status of its entire fl ora, which consists of an amazing 20 456 species.
Update on threats to SA’s plant diversity
In a monumental collaborative effort involving more than 200 professionals, as well as members of the public, South Africa has become the fi rst of the world’s mega-diverse countries to fully assess the status of its entire fl ora, which consists of an amazing 20 456 species.
The assessment has been recently published by SANBI in a book entitled The Red List of South African Plants 2009. With this new Red List we have, for the fi rst time, a complete picture of the extent of the threats to our fl ora.
One in every eight plants is in danger of extinction. In addition, 11% of our fl ora is listed under other categories of conservation concern.
This brings the proportion of the South African fl ora that we urgently need to conserve to 24%, or one in every four species. This is a very sobering statistic in this International Year of Biodiversity.
The threats to the fl ora include loss of natural habitat, habitat degradation and encroachment by invasive alien plants.
At least 10% of the species can be found locally in the Albany hotspot which stretches from west of Port Elizabeth along the coast to East London and inland along the Amathole/Winterberg mountain chain.
Action that we can take to limit the loss of plants is to start a hack group or join an existing hack group such as that of the Albany Branch of the Botanical Society.
We also need to be conscious about the impact of our purchases, and should favour products with a conservation ethic.
The Red List is available at the Pretoria National Botanical Garden and the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden’s bookshop. It can also be purchased online from SANBI – go to http://www. sanbi.org/ and follow the “shops, venues & services” link to “online bookshop”.
Student research on Grahamstown’s Southern Municipal Commonage
Commonages are areas of municipal land that are close to urban nodes and serve the purpose of providing direct and indirect ecological benefi ts to local rate-paying residents.
Direct benefi ts are those that contribute to people’s livelihoods, such as livestock grazing, medicinal plant use, thatching, fuel in the form of wood, or potable water supply where reticulated water is not provided to all residents.
Indirect benefi ts are those that are not of direct benefi t to individuals or households, but are of benefi t to society at large, such as improved water yield from catchments during periods of drought, improved water quality in streams through the presence of intact and functioning wetlands, and improved opportunity to trap carbon in the face of global warming.
Third-year students that are majoring in Environmental Science at Rhodes University are conducting a wide-ranging study of the Southern Commonage of Grahamstown. The focus of these studies is to examine issues such as:
•Use of the commonage by local residents, and the perceived benefi ts it provides
•Threats such as soil erosion or invasion by alien invasive plants
•The impact of alien plant clearing on water yield through the establishment of a monitoring programme
•Vegetation mapping and fl oristic diversity
•Inventory of wetlands and assessment of their ecological health
•Management effectiveness and perceptions of participatory management Residents, managers and stakeholders may be approached by students doing these projects, and participation by all parties is encouraged. Feedback on the fi ndings of the study will be presented to all stakeholders towards the end of the year.
Dry, dry, dry!
Our traditionally driest time of year is the period May, June and July. Rainfall recorded during the month of May over the last ten years in Howison’s Poort (Rivendell Farm) was:
| Year | Rainfall | Comment |
| 2000 | 24mm | Average |
| 2001 | 10mm | Very dry |
| 2002 | 33.5mm | Average |
| 2003 | 95.5mm | wet |
| 2004 | 39mm | Avarage |
| 2005 | 40mm | Average |
| 2006 | 86.5mm | wet |
| 2007 | 34.5mm | average |
| 2008 | 11mm | Very dry |
| 2009 | 8.5mm | Very dry |
| 210 | 14.5mm | Dry |
