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

Abstract

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.

Pine Plantations and Invasion Alter Fuel Structure and Potential Fire Behavior in a Patagonian Forest-Steppe Ecotone

“…Clearly, increased warming in Patagonia promotes low fuel moisture levels, favoring extreme fire danger conditions, such as the scenario described in this work, which in turn may allow more intense and severe fires. These changes occur in synergy with land use trends, such as the expansion of the wildland-urban interface and the increase in non-native plantations, implying increased anthropogenic ignitions and greater exposure of societies to wildfire hazards [9,57,58]. Adaptation measures such as fuel reduction in both planted and incipiently invaded sites following adequate silvicultural practices may sensitively diminish ecological and socioeconomic vulnerability to these altered fire regimes.…”

Local Assessment of Cape Town: Navigating the Management Complexities of Urbanization, Biodiversity, and Ecosystem Services in the Cape Floristic Region

“…These ecosystem provisioning services support a large informal economy with signifi cant livelihood implications (Petersen et al 2012 ). With respect to the formal economy, it is conservatively estimated that for city natural assets, or green infrastructure, there is a fl ow of services valued at R4 billion per annum (de Wit et al 2009 ).…”

“…An overarching concern is the lack of a detailed understanding of the ecological functioning of species in the urban context. Species-specifi c studies (for example, among nectar feeding birds) that explore functioning ecology in relation to the confi guration of the urban space, suggest sensitivity and complex responses that caution against generalizations (Pauw and Louw 2012 ). Ongoing empirical research is needed to inform future policy and plans.…”

“…Attention needs to be given to the potentially unsustainable harvest of biodiversity resources (Petersen et al 2012 ). This is not just a simple issue of management and policing, but relates to poverty alleviation and livelihoods, as well as cultural practices and expectations.…”

Urban Ecology in Cape Town: South African Comparisons and Reflections

“…This is a huge asset but it also creates complexity and conflict unsurpassed by any other city or national park in South Africa. Two of the complex management issues facing the Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) are elaborately discussed by Van Wilgen (2012) and Van Wilgen et al (2012). The management of the fire-adapted and fire-prone fynbos ecosystem in the TMNP is loaded with conflict, due to the need for prescribed burning to achieve ecological goals versus prevention and suppression of wildfires for the safety of humans on the outer boundary of the Park ).…”