Karoo BioGaps: An environmental gradient analysis of the vegetation types of the Central Karoo

As part of her Master’s research, Plant Conservation Unit (PCU) MSc student Hana Petersen recently completed the first leg of her field work in the Central Karoo region. Hana’s project forms part of the South African National Biodiversity Institute’s (SANBI) Karoo BioGaps group of projects aimed at filling information gaps in the Karoo. Her project aims to measure species composition, species richness, species diversity and growth form diversity of the vegetation within the Upper Karoo Hardeveld and Besemkaree Koppies Shrubland. She will also investigate the key environmental, climatic, and land-use variables that potentially drive the changes in vegetation observed on the frequently-occurring rocky dolerite hills and their surrounding plains, as well as along an environmental gradient spanning the length of the Central Karoo. This study will aid the collection of critical baseline data for the Karoo region prior to the scheduled exploratory fracking. Hana’s MSc project is supervised by Prof. Timm Hoffman, Director of the PCU, and Simon Todd from SAEON’s Arid Lands Node, and is funded by SANBI and the National Research Foundation (NRF).

Below are some photographs from her field trip to the Karoo.