The Climate of Swartboskloof

Versfeld, D. B.; Richardson, D. M.; Wilgen, Brian W. van; Chapman, Arthur; Forsyth, Gregory G.

doi:10.1007/978-3-642-76174-4_2

Cited by 13 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Wildfires are at least as frequent in South African fynbos as in the Californian chaparral, and the vegetation responses show many similarities (Keeley 1992c, Versfeld et al 1992). …”

Section: South Africamentioning

confidence: 97%

Seed-Germination Patterns in Fire-Prone Mediterranean-Climate Regions

Keeley¹

1995

Ecological Studies

103

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Wildfires are at least as frequent in South African fynbos as in the Californian chaparral, and the vegetation responses show many similarities (Keeley 1992c, Versfeld et al 1992). …”

Section: South Africamentioning

confidence: 97%

Seed-Germination Patterns in Fire-Prone Mediterranean-Climate Regions

Keeley¹

1995

Ecological Studies

103

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…q Although no detailed comparative analysis exists, the climate of most Mediterranean-climate areas is hotter and drier than typical fynbos areas (Versfeld et al 1992), leading to more severe fire weather. In areas of more severe fire weather, the fires themselves would be more damaging and more difficult to control, and this would demand greater investments in training and equipment.…”

Section: The National Park In An International Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Management of Fire-Adapted Ecosystems in an Urban Setting: the Case of Table Mountain National Park, South Africa

Wilgen¹,

Forsyth²,

Prins³

2012

E&S

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ABSTRACT. The Table Mountain National Park is a 265-km² conservation area embedded within a city of 3.5 million people. The highly diverse and unique vegetation of the park is both fire prone and fire adapted, and the use of fire forms an integral part of the ecological management of the park. Because fires are both necessary and dangerous, fire management is characterized by uncertainty and conflict. The response of vegetation to fire is reasonably well understood, but the use of fire for conservation purposes remains controversial because of key gaps in understanding. These gaps include whether or not the vegetation is resilient to increases in fire frequency, how to deal with fire-sensitive forests embedded in fire-prone shrublands, and how to integrate fire and invasive alien plant control. National legislation emphasizes the need to protect communities from dangerous wildfires, and this compels fire managers to adopt a cautious approach to the application of fire. Ecological outcomes are optimized under a fire regime of relatively high-intensity, dry-season fires. Obtaining permission to burn under such conditions is not possible, and so the practice of prescribed burning is constrained, and this results in a fire regime dominated by wildfires. Ecological uncertainties, and the divergent requirements for maintaining healthy ecosystems on the one hand, and ensuring human safety on the other, result in a complex fire management environment. These complexities could be, and in some cases are being, alleviated by raising awareness, increasing fire management capacity, improving ecological monitoring of the effects of fire, and prioritizing areas for integrated fire and invasive alien plant management.

show abstract

“…Also in JH the rainfall varies considerably. At the valley bottom the annual precipitation is 1,078 mm (Weather SA), but more than double has been recorded deeper in the valley at higher altitude (305 m asl) (Swartboskloof; Versfeld et al 1992). The summer temperature is higher in JH than at TM (27°C vs. 24°C; average Nov.-March).…”

Section: Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…The mountains surrounding JH have peaks that rise 1,200 m asl whilst the valley bottom is situated at 244 m asl. Like TM, the dominant vegetation type in JH is fynbos (Versfeld et al 1992). The ravine forests, which in most cases are sharply delineated from the fynbos, are dominated by the same tree species as at TM and have creeks in the bottom.…”

Section: Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 98%

Does the width of isolated ravine forests influence moss and liverwort diversity and composition?—A study of temperate forests in South Africa

Hylander

Hedderson

2006

Biodivers Conserv

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The evidence of microclimatic edge effects through forest/open area ecotones is firm. How this affects the species composition near edges is less well understood and documented. In south-western South Africa shrub-dominated regularly burnt vegetation (i.e. fynbos) is the most common vegetation with indigenous temperate forests naturally occurring mostly in ravines on mountain slopes. The size and width of these forest patches varies considerably. In order to understand how the width of forest patches affects species composition of mosses and liverworts we investigated 20 forest patches of different width. In each forest patch we compiled a total species list, and collected data on selected environmental variables, for a plot of 10·20 m. No significant relationship was found between patch width and the number of either moss or liverwort species. However, the species composition of mosses (but not liverworts) changed along the gradient of patch width. The variation in number of species was large (8-29 mosses and 11-33 liverworts) among the plots and we propose that factors other than distance to the forest edge may be more important in structuring the bryophyte community of these ravine forests. One such factor that is likely to be important is the climatic difference among the plots. There is variation in features, such as precipitation, summer temperature, cloudiness, and the amount of fog, for which we do not have data but that could overrule the microclimatic differences due to edge effects.

show abstract

The Climate of Swartboskloof

Cited by 13 publications

References 0 publications

Seed-Germination Patterns in Fire-Prone Mediterranean-Climate Regions

Seed-Germination Patterns in Fire-Prone Mediterranean-Climate Regions

The Management of Fire-Adapted Ecosystems in an Urban Setting: the Case of Table Mountain National Park, South Africa

Does the width of isolated ravine forests influence moss and liverwort diversity and composition?—A study of temperate forests in South Africa

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About