A Vegetation Map for the Little Karoo. Unpublished Maps and Report for a SKEP Project Supported by CEPF Grant No 1064410304
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A VEGETATION MAP FOR THE LITTLE KAROO. A project supported by: Project team: Jan Vlok, Regalis Environmental Services, P.O. Box 1512, Oudtshoorn, 6620. Richard Cowling, University of Port Elizabeth, P.O. Box 1600, Port Elizabeth, 6000. Trevor Wolf, P.O. Box 2779, Knysna, 6570. Date of Report: March 2005. Suggested reference to maps and this report: Vlok, J.H.J., Cowling, R.M. & Wolf, T., 2005. A vegetation map for the Little Karoo. Unpublished maps and report for a SKEP project supported by CEPF grant no 1064410304. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Stakeholders in the southern karoo region of the SKEP project identified the need for a more detailed vegetation map of the Little Karoo region. CEPF funded the project team to map the vegetation of the Little Karoo region (ca. 20 000 km ²) at a scale of 1:50 000. The main outputs required were to classify, map and describe the vegetation in such a way that end-users could use the digital maps at four different tiers. Results of this study were also to be presented to stakeholders in the region to solicit their opinion about the dissemination of the products of this project and to suggest how this project should be developed further. In this document we explain how a six-tier vegetation classification system was developed, tested and improved in the field and the vegetation was mapped. Some A3-sized examples of the vegetation maps are provided, with the full datasets available in digital (ARCVIEW) format. A total of 56 habitat types, that comprises 369 vegetation units, were identified and mapped in the Little Karoo region. All of these units constitute critical components of the Little Karoo environment that must be understood before rational decisions and actions are taken to conserve the biodiversity of the region. To simplify understanding of the often complex vegetation of the Little Karoo the environment is described and discussed as 32 major habitat types. Diagnostic descriptions are also provided for each of the 369 vegetation units identified in the Little Karoo region. These descriptions are grouped following the proposed 32 major habitat types. These descriptions and a photo of approximately 80% of the units are also provided in digital format and they have been linked to the ARCVIEW database. 2 The outcomes of a workshop held to determine how the products of this project should be disseminated and developed are also presented here. Major actions recommended by the delegates are as follows; Make maps and reports of this study easily accessible to all stakeholders. Capacitate civil society and important decision makers to read the maps and documents of this report. Prepare a field guide that would be useful to land owners, - mangers and tourists. Prepare a conservation plan for the Little Karoo of which the outcomes will be clear and useful to all the affected parties in the region. Revise the current carrying capacity map for animals in the region. Provide recommendations on a fire protection plan for the region. Extend vegetation map to adjacent areas in a similar format. Determine environmental water requirements of the local aquatic systems. Prepare a field guide on the flora of the Little Karoo. Market the biodiversity of the Little Karoo environment better. 3 CONTENTS PAGE 1. INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………... 05 2. STUDY AREA, PROPOSED CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM AND METHODS USED TO MAP THE LITTLE KAROO VEGETATION UNITS …………………………………………. 07 2.1 Introduction ………………………………………………….. 07 2.2 Study area ……………………………………………………. 08 2.3 Proposed hierarchy and classification system ……………….. 10 2.4 Methods used to sample vegetation, record the data and to map the vegetation ……………………………………….. 16 2.5 References …………………………………………………… 17 3. RESULTS ………………………………………………………. 19 3.1 Altered classification system ………………………………. 19 3.2 Ecosystem concept in altered classification system ………… 23 3.3 Biome concepts ……………………………………………… 23 3.4 Habitat type concepts ………………………………………… 24 3.5 Regional (bio-geographic) concepts ………………………….. 25 3.6 Sectors ………………………………………………………… 26 3.7 Solid versus mosaic vegetation units …………………………. 27 3.8 Spatial extent of vegetation units …………………………….. 29 4. HABITAT UNITS ……………………………………………… 34 4.1 A basic framework to understand the Little Karoo vegetation 34 4.2 Aquatic Units ………………………………………………… 36 4.3 Terrestrial Units ……………………………………………… 41 5. UNIT DESCRIPTIONS …………………………………………. 82 5.1 Sequence and style of description of vegetation units ………... 82 5.2 Aquatic Units …………………………………………………. 84 5.3 Terrestrial Units ……………………………………………… 92 6. THE WAY FORWARD AS INDICATED BY STAKEHOLDERS 221 Appendix One: Notes made at SKEP fine scale mapping workshop. 4 1. Introduction Participants at a Succulent Karoo Ecosystem Planning (SKEP) workshop, held in Oudtshoorn on 25-26 March 2003, identified the need for a vegetation map of the Little Karoo region. They indicated that a detailed map of the vegetation of the Little Karoo region is required to provide baseline information for informed decision-making on conservation, sustainable commercial farming and land-use planning in the region. The ultimate purpose of this vegetation map, and hence this project, is to enable landowners, land managers, environmental conservation agencies and regional planners to take informed decisions on sustainable land-use practices and when determining priorities for conservation projects in the Little Karoo region. The Succulent Karoo Ecosystem Planning (SKEP) project identified the Little Karoo map project as a high priority for their Southern Karoo sub-region and Regalis Environmental Services CC approached the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) for potential funding for this project. The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund is a joint initiative of Conservation International, the Global Environment Facility, the Government of Japan, the MacArthur Foundation and the World Bank. A fundamental goal is to ensure civil society is engaged in biodiversity conservation. The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund subsequently afforded a grant to Regalis Environmental Services to proceed with the project. The four main outputs required in this project are as follows; 1. To produce a map of all the vegetation units that occur in the Little Karoo area at a scale of 1:50 000 in electronic (ArcView) format at each of the four tiers of the vegetation classification system. 2. To produce a document in which the four-tier classification system is described and in which diagnostic descriptions and illustrations are provided for all the vegetation units that have been mapped in the Little Karoo. 3. The vegetation transformation layers that will be produced by an affiliated project must be ground truthed. 5 4. All the relevant stakeholders agree upon a way in which a fine-scale conservation plan will be developed for the critical natural capital of the Little Karoo. The latter point pertains to a potential continuation of the project after the vegetation map and transformation layers for the vegetation of the Little Karoo have been produced. In this document only the results of the field survey for the vegetation map are presented. The project team for this project entitled “A vegetation Map for the Little Karoo.” consisted of; 1. Prof. R.M. Cowling (Terrestrial Ecology Research Unit, University of Port Elizabeth), who supervised and provided guidance in the development of the project. 2. Mr. J.H.J. Vlok (Regalis Environmental Services, Oudtshoorn), who mapped the vegetation and described the vegetation units. 3. Mr. T. Wolf (Trevor Wolf, Knysna), who was responsible for digitizing and the production of the electronic maps. 4. Me. Elna van den Berg (Institute for Soil, Climate and Water, Potchefstroom), who prepared the hard copies of the LANDAT images used to map the vegetation. The project team wishes to acknowledge and thank the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund for the grant that funded this project (Grant Code 1064410304). We also wish to thank the delegates that attended a workshop, held on the 22nd November 2004 in Oudtshoorn, to present the mapping results of this project and to discuss the main requirements of stakeholders during a second phase of this project. We are very grateful to Marina Moller and Susan Botha for assistance during this workshop and for keeping minutes of the meeting. The outcomes of this workshop are summarized in Chapter 6. Lastly Jan Vlok wishes to thank all the landowners who provided permission to access their land and especially my wife Anne Lise and daughter Marlene for their patience and support during this study. 6 2. Study area, proposed classification system and methods used to map the Little Karoo vegetation units. 2.1 Introduction: The two most important factors that determine the approach that should be followed when vegetation is mapped are: (i) the requirements of the end users, and (ii) the resources available. Adequate time and resources are rarely available to satisfy all the wishes of the end-users, which implies that one must plan the final output carefully. Here I will explain how I planned the mapping work and the methods I used. In this case the requirements of the end-users were identified at a Succulent Karoo Ecosystem Planning (SKEP) workshop held in Oudtshoorn. The participants indicated that a detailed map of the vegetation of the Little Karoo region is required to provide baseline information for informed decision-making on conservation, sustainable commercial farming and land-use planning matters in the region. The main purpose of this map thus being to facilitate people in the agricultural, conservation and regional planning sectors to identify and locate areas that are sensitive to the current and future land-use practices of the region. The vegetation map will thus be used to locate sensitive areas, either since they contain unique biodiversity components, or because vital life- supporting ecological processes are operating in these areas. In this project time and resources have also been limited. In this project an area of 2 343 900 ha had to be sampled and mapped within a six month period. Approximately 40 000 ha had to be sampled and mapped during each day of field survey time available.