Ancient Lineages Across The Drakensberg Alpine Centre Case Study
Ancient lineages across the Drakensberg Alpine Centre and their plight for conservation.
1. Introduction:
With many recent studies showing that the current global rates of biodiversity loss are cause for alarm, it is important to recognize regions in which biodiversity is especially high and under threat from human expansion and climate change. The combinations of biodiversity assemblages along the Escarpment form nodes of high local endemism that have contributed towards the concept of ‘centers of endemism’ in southern Africa (Morrone 2004; Van Wyk; Smith 2001and Maggs et al., 1998).The Drakensberg Alpine Centre (DAC) is known for its diversity of plant species, and, additionally, unusually high rates of floral and faunal endemism. This region has been censured as one of the most threatened regions of global biodiversity significance, because extinction risk of both plant and animal species is intense and increasing (Burgess et al., 1997). In fact, the DAC has the highest known ratio of endemic plant and animal species worldwide, making it …show more content…
Conversely, conservation planning methods focus on species based approaches (i.e. focusing on species for conservation action if they fall into either the category of being threatened or being ecologically important (Jenkins, 2002; Maddock and Du Plessis 1999 and Ormond et al., 1997). One of the most commonly used measures in conservation planning is species richness, which is simply the number of species present in a sample or community or taxonomic group (Padayachee and Prochess, 2014). The term ‘endemism’ refers to geographically restricted taxa that were not recorded outside a particular region relative to other regions investigated, at all spatial scales of diversity (Padayachee and Prochess, 2014). It does not necessarily imply a wider phylogenetic interpretation of
1. Introduction:
With many recent studies showing that the current global rates of biodiversity loss are cause for alarm, it is important to recognize regions in which biodiversity is especially high and under threat from human expansion and climate change. The combinations of biodiversity assemblages along the Escarpment form nodes of high local endemism that have contributed towards the concept of ‘centers of endemism’ in southern Africa (Morrone 2004; Van Wyk; Smith 2001and Maggs et al., 1998).The Drakensberg Alpine Centre (DAC) is known for its diversity of plant species, and, additionally, unusually high rates of floral and faunal endemism. This region has been censured as one of the most threatened regions of global biodiversity significance, because extinction risk of both plant and animal species is intense and increasing (Burgess et al., 1997). In fact, the DAC has the highest known ratio of endemic plant and animal species worldwide, making it …show more content…
Conversely, conservation planning methods focus on species based approaches (i.e. focusing on species for conservation action if they fall into either the category of being threatened or being ecologically important (Jenkins, 2002; Maddock and Du Plessis 1999 and Ormond et al., 1997). One of the most commonly used measures in conservation planning is species richness, which is simply the number of species present in a sample or community or taxonomic group (Padayachee and Prochess, 2014). The term ‘endemism’ refers to geographically restricted taxa that were not recorded outside a particular region relative to other regions investigated, at all spatial scales of diversity (Padayachee and Prochess, 2014). It does not necessarily imply a wider phylogenetic interpretation of