New paper: A hotter and drier Fynbos is reducing biodiversity

Jasper Slingsby, a SEEC honorary research associate and SAEON biodiversity scientist, has just published a paper on how climate change is leading to biodiversity decline in the Fynbos.

In the longest running permanent vegetation plot study in the Fynbos, Jasper and his co-authors found that an increasing frequency of consecutive dry and hot days is leading to lower plant diversity as a result of higher plant mortality in the first year after fires. They also found that there is a legacy effect of plant invasions, even after these are cleared, as plots that had previously been invaded exhibited a decline in plant diversity over time.

You can read his paper here.