A conservation assessment of the terrestrial invertebrate fauna of Mkambati Nature Reserve in the Pondoland Centre of Endemism

Abstract

Mkambati Nature Reserve (NR) falls within the Pondoland Centre of Endemism, which is part of the Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany global biodiversity hotspot. The biodiversity status of this area is based largely on its flora, and the invertebrates are poorly known. The area is under threat from various proposed developments. We surveyed 14 orders in three invertebrate phyla at 26 sites with two main objectives: (1) to assess the fauna in terms of conservation value, and, (2) to identify habitats and sites of conservation concern. From the survey, 3231 samples were sent for identification and 425 species were identified. A minimum of 18 new species were confirmed. Mkambati NR shows exceptional diversity for molluscs (Gastropoda, 51 species), bees (Apoidea, 48 species) and true bugs (Heteroptera, 65 species). At least 43 species collected from the Reserve are South African endemics, 31 have a restricted distribution within South Africa and 18 are only known from the Reserve itself.Conservation implications: The authors provide the first assessment of the invertebrate fauna of the Mkambati NR, which indicates that it is a rich and important fauna. The results highlight the need to consider invertebrates in other biodiversity assessments in the Pondoland region. In terms of habitats, for both forest and grassland there was a large difference in the invertebrate communities at different sites, even over relatively short distances in grassland; shared habitat attributes clustered sites with more similar communities, for example, rocky ledges or the sea shore. All forest patches are a priority for protection.

Comparing the effectiveness of pitfall traps and active sampling methods for ants and spiders in a Chromolaena odorata invaded site

“…The Global R generated represents the closeness to the compared assemblages, when the significance value is closer to one there is more of a difference (Clarke & Gorley 2001). To adequately represent this significance, estimation of difference was established, the significance of R > 0.75 is clearly separated, R > 0.5 partially overlaps but is different, and R < 0.25 mostly overlaps (Hamer & Slotow 2017). A Non-metric Multi-Dimensional Scaling (NMDS) was conducted using the Global R-value generated to graphically represent these findings, where points with closer distances have more similar assemblages (Patrick et al 2012).…”

A list of spider species found in the Addo Elephant National Park, Eastern Cape province, South Africa

“…Work in the province has largely been limited to the Mountain Zebra National Park, the first national park for which a spider species list was published (Dippenaar-Schoeman 1988, 2006, and a study on the subsocial eresid Stegodyphus tentoriicola Purcell, 1904 (Ruch et al 2009a(Ruch et al , 2009b(Ruch et al , 2012. Further work in the Eastern Cape includes aspects of the spider fauna in the Mkambati Nature Reserve (Dippenaar-Schoeman, Hamer & Haddad 2011;Hamer & Slotow 2017) and the Silaka Nature Reserve (Forbanka & Niba 2013), while surveys in the Asante Sana Nature Reserve were the focus of a doctoral study on epigaeic invertebrates (Midgley 2012).…”