Background: Gauteng, the smallest of South Africa’s nine provinces, is rich in biodiversity; yet it is also the most densely populated province and thus faces significant development pressures.Objective: A project was therefore initiated in 2001 to identify areas of biodiversity importance in the province, using the systematic spatial biodiversity planning approach that has been adopted in South Africa. This article reports on the final version of the provincial conservation plan as completed in 2011.Method: Vegetation types and quaternary catchments constituted the coarse filter biodiversity features, while rare and threatened taxa constituted the fine filter features. Ecological processes were captured by a range of landscape features, while planning for climate change primarily involved the design of a corridor network. Planning was undertaken within the ArcView linked C-plan decision support system, where a cost surface preferentially directed the selection of available sites towards low-cost areas.Results: Forty-four per cent of the province is required to achieve targets. Only 8% of features are close to having their targets met or are adequately conserved in the current protected area network of 23 protected areas covering 2.4% of the province, while 73% of features are absent or poorly represented.Conclusion: The existing protected area network is inadequate for the conservation of biodiversity in Gauteng. The Gauteng Conservation Plan identifies a set of areas that are required to achieve conservation targets. It is important that identified areas currently not in the protected area network are protected either formally or through legislated land use management processes.
The woodland dormouse, GraphiulUs murinus, in common with many other small rodents, enters torpor under conditions of food deprivation and low temperatures. Its thermoregulatory capabilities under more favourable conditions, however, have not been investigated. We measured metabolism and thermoregulation in woodland dormice acclimated to long-day length, moderate temperature and abundant food over a temperature range (Ta) of approximately 5-37°C. The thermal neutral zone for this species lay between 29 and 35°C. Estimated resting metabolic rate (RMR) within this range averaged 21.10 ± 3.28 J g-l h-1. Below 29 0 e energy expenditure increased with a decrease in T a , with a maximum value of 90.76 J g-l h'1 measured at 6°e. Both evaporative water loss (EWL) and thermal conductance (C) were minimal and independent of T a between 5 and 32°C but increased above the thermal neutral zone, maximum EWL and C being 6.7 mg g-l h-1 (79% of metabolic heat production) and 19.74 J g-1 h-1 °C'\ respectively, at 37.3°C. Thermal conductance and RMR of G. murinus were approximately 48% and 30% below predicted for rodents of equivalent mass, respectively. This pattern is consistent with that suggested for warm-temperate arboreal rodents. Although body temperature (T b) was labile and was significantly related to T a over the temperature range investigated, dormice maintained T bS between 34 and 3aoe using typical thermoregulatory responses that included increased activity at low Ta and postural adjustments and salivating at high Ta. While not as impressive as some rodent species, under favourable conditions G. murinus is a competent thermoregulator and torpor in the species is facultative.
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