The vegetation of grass lawn wetlands of floodplains and pans in semi-arid regions of South Africa: Description, classification and explanatory environmental factors

Sieben, E.J.J.; Collins, Nacelle; Corry, F.T.J.; Kotze, Donovan C.; Job, Nancy; Muasya, A. Muthama; Venter, C.E.; Mtshali, H.; Zondo, S.A.; Janks, M.; Pretorius, L.

doi:10.1016/j.sajb.2015.11.003

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Grassy pans are often dominated by lawn grasses, particularly Cynodon dactylon , tufted sedges and shorter shrubs (Sieben et al . ) and are crucial breeding grounds for amphibians (Cowan & van Riet ). Similarly, the only remaining population of the critically endangered Micro frog Microbatrachella capensis in the Cape Flats is housed in the grassy pans of KRCA (de Villiers ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The negative impacts of fire on the resurrection ecology of invertebrates from temporary wetlands in Cape Flats Sand Fynbos in the Western Cape, South Africa

et al. 2019

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Fire is an important environmental disturbance in Mediterranean-climate regions; however, its intensity and frequency are predicted to increase under climate change scenarios with unknown implications for ecosystems in these regions. Temporary wetlands, with their periodic wet and dry phases, are considered one of the most productive systems in the world and their invertebrate communities form a crucial diet component for higher trophic levels. The effect of fire on the hatching success of invertebrate propagules from temporary wetlands in the Cape Flats Sand Fynbos (Cape Town, South Africa) was investigated. Homogenised soil samples from these wetlands were either experimentally subjected to vegetation fires (treatment samples) or were left as is (control samples). The results revealed that fire had a significant negative impact on invertebrate hatching success, as revealed by analyses of the different diversity measures (e.g. taxon richness, Shannon diversity and Pielou's evenness) and community composition. Proper management of fire, especially in the Mediterraneanclimate regions, which replicates the natural fire intervals typical of the area (10-15 years) and avoids unregulated or accidental fires, is essential to ensuring future protection of these critical biodiversity hotspots created by the temporary wetlands.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The negative impacts of fire on the resurrection ecology of invertebrates from temporary wetlands in Cape Flats Sand Fynbos in the Western Cape, South Africa

et al. 2019

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“…The study area lies within the Grassland Biome on the high central plateau of South Africa and at the confluence of three vegetation types: the Carletonville Dolomite Grassland, the Rand Highveld Grassland, and the Andesite Mountain Bushveld (Mucina et al 2006). The wetlands in the study area are classified as grass lawn wetland vegetation (Sieben et al 2016) and temperate grassy wetland vegetation (Sieben et al 2017).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant diversity and conservation value of wetlands along a rural–urban gradient

Toit¹,

Preez²,

Cilliers³

2021

BothaliaABC

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Background: Wetlands are the most threatened ecosystem in South Africa despite the range of ecosystem goods and services they provide. A significant cause of wetland destruction and degradation is a lack of understanding, by planners, policymakers and developers, of their ecological and socio-economic importance.Objectives: This study assessed the floristic composition and diversity of wetlands in the former Tlokwe Municipal area along a rural–urban gradient.Methods: Fourteen wetland sites were surveyed along an urbanisation gradient. Vegetation surveys were done in quadrats along transects in each wetland recording the cover-abundance of each species. The data were analysed by using ordinations, similarity percentages, and the adjusted Floristic Quality Assessment Index.Results: Overall, the proportional species composition of urban and rural wetlands was mainly similar. Trends indicated that the alpha diversity increased with both habitat size and heterogeneity along a rural–urban gradient. In all wetlands, indigenous species were the most abundant, with the highest score in the largest urban wetland. The floristic quality varied widely along the gradient with none of the sites in pristine condition.Conclusion: The similarity in species composition and floristic quality of the wetlands, as well as the high levels of indigenous species richness, indicated that urban wetlands are worthy of conservation. However, the signs of disturbances and the presence of alien species means that restoration strategies need to be implemented to improve the quality of the wetlands.

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“…The semi-arid and arid wetlands soils tend to be oxygenated in some seasons due to the episodic inundation nature. For that reason, these wetlands tend to host more animal species than other wetlands that are permanently inundated [7,33,34].…”

Section: Semi-arid and Arid Wetlands Characteristics And Key Monitoring And Management Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Changes in the conditions of wetland vegetation can be used as a proxy for early signs of any chemical and physical wetland degradation [41]. The assessment of wetlands vegetation is considered an important aspect for evaluating the ecological status of a particular wetland [47][48][49], and management of wetland biodiversity relies heavily on accurate assessment of wetland vegetation [33]. The assessment of wetland vegetation includes an understanding of wetland vegetation components such as structure, species type and composition.…”

Section: Mapping Semi-arid and Arid Wetland Vegetation Using Freely Available Multispectral Imagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multispectral Remote Sensing of Wetlands in Semi-Arid and Arid Areas: A Review on Applications, Challenges and Possible Future Research Directions

2020

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Wetlands are ranked as very diverse ecosystems, covering about 4–6% of the global land surface. They occupy the transition zones between aquatic and terrestrial environments, and share characteristics of both zones. Wetlands play critical roles in the hydrological cycle, sustaining livelihoods and aquatic life, and biodiversity. Poor management of wetlands results in the loss of critical ecosystems goods and services. Globally, wetlands are degrading at a fast rate due to global environmental change and anthropogenic activities. This requires holistic monitoring, assessment, and management of wetlands to prevent further degradation and losses. Remote-sensing data offer an opportunity to assess changes in the status of wetlands including their spatial coverage. So far, a number of studies have been conducted using remotely sensed data to assess and monitor wetland status in semi-arid and arid regions. A literature search shows a significant increase in the number of papers published during the 2000–2020 period, with most of these studies being in semi-arid regions in Australia and China, and few in the sub-Saharan Africa. This paper reviews progress made in the use of remote sensing in detecting and monitoring of the semi-arid and arid wetlands, and focuses particularly on new insights in detection and monitoring of wetlands using freely available multispectral sensors. The paper firstly describes important characteristics of wetlands in semi-arid and arid regions that require monitoring in order to improve their management. Secondly, the use of freely available multispectral imagery for compiling wetland inventories is reviewed. Thirdly, the challenges of using freely available multispectral imagery in mapping and monitoring wetlands dynamics like inundation, vegetation cover and extent, are examined. Lastly, algorithms for image classification as well as challenges associated with their uses and possible future research are summarised. However, there are concerns regarding whether the spatial and temporal resolutions of some of the remote-sensing data enable accurate monitoring of wetlands of varying sizes. Furthermore, it was noted that there were challenges associated with the both spatial and spectral resolutions of data used when mapping and monitoring wetlands. However, advancements in remote-sensing and data analytics provides new opportunities for further research on wetland monitoring and assessment across various scales.

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The vegetation of grass lawn wetlands of floodplains and pans in semi-arid regions of South Africa: Description, classification and explanatory environmental factors

Cited by 6 publications

References 24 publications

The negative impacts of fire on the resurrection ecology of invertebrates from temporary wetlands in Cape Flats Sand Fynbos in the Western Cape, South Africa

The negative impacts of fire on the resurrection ecology of invertebrates from temporary wetlands in Cape Flats Sand Fynbos in the Western Cape, South Africa

Plant diversity and conservation value of wetlands along a rural–urban gradient

Multispectral Remote Sensing of Wetlands in Semi-Arid and Arid Areas: A Review on Applications, Challenges and Possible Future Research Directions

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