DESCRIPTION
The Swartbos site is a tiny fragment of critically endangered Woodbush Granite Grassland flanked by northern Afrotemperate Forest. The observatory was initiated in 2020 with the establishment of vegetation transects through open, grass-dominated areas and also areas heavily infested with Pteridium aquilinum, or bracken. Bracken is a global threat in higher-rainfall grassland and woodlands, where it reduces biodiversity, inhibits grazing, increases soil erosion, and increases soil and run-off toxicity. Bracken is being manually cleared through the growing season in selected parts of the observatory, providing the opportunity to test the feasibility of the control method against recovery of the vegetation. Vegetation monitoring is augmented by a fire-history reconstruction and high-resolution aerial photography.
DATASETS
- Vegetation composition and structure data, as transect point-intercepts
- Above ground biomass, vegetation height and above-canopy and ground-level photosynthetically active radiation
- Aerial photography (resolution: sub-decimeter)
- Burned area scars
LITERATURE
CONTACT
Dr. Dave Thompson