scholarly journals Species‐landscape interactions drive divergent population trajectories in four forest‐dependent Afromontane forest songbird species within a biodiversity hotspot in South Africa

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jake M. Mulvaney ◽  
Conrad A. Matthee ◽  
Michael I. Cherry
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Biodiversity Hotspot ◽  
Afromontane Forest

scholarly journals Species turnover in plants does not predict turnover in flower-visiting insects

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e6139 ◽  
Author(s):  
John P. Simaika ◽  
Michael Samways ◽  
Sven M. Vrdoljak
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Conservation Planning ◽  
Species Turnover ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Cape Floristic Region ◽  
Biodiversity Hotspot ◽  
Insect Diversity ◽  
Geographical Distance ◽  
Distribution Shape ◽  
Flower Visiting

Congruence between plant and insect diversity is considered possibly useful in conservation planning, as the better known plants could be surrogates for the lesser known insects. There has been little quantification of congruence across space, especially in biodiversity rich areas. We compare here species richness, and turnover relationships between plants and flower-visiting insects across space (0.5–80 km) in natural areas of a biodiversity hotspot, the Greater Cape Floristic Region, South Africa. A total of 22,352 anthophile individuals in 198 species and 348 plant species were sampled. A comparison between the plants and anthophiles suggest significant concordance between the two assemblages. However, turnover was weaker in plants than in anthophiles. Plant turnover decreased with greater geographical distance between plot pairs. In contrast, insect turnover remained high with increasing geographical distance between plot pairs. These findings suggest that while patterns of plant diversity and distribution shape flower-visiting insect assemblages, they are not reliable surrogates. The conservation significance of these results is that specialist mutualisms are at greatest risk, and that set-asides on farms would help improve the functional connectivity leading to the maintenance of the full range of mutualisms.

scholarly journals The vegetation of the southern Langeberg, Cape Province. 2. The plant communities of the Marloth Nature Reserve

Bothalia ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Mcdonald
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Nature Reserve ◽  
Hierarchical Classification ◽  
Forest Patches ◽  
Afromontane Forest ◽  
Lower South ◽  
Mature Stands

The Marloth Nature Reserve, encompassing the mountain catchments of the southern Langeberg immediately above Swellendam, Cape Province. South Africa, is described. The vegetation of the reserve was sampled along a transect representing the variation in plant communities over the range from the lower south to the lower north slopes. Eighty-three sample sites were subjectively located in mature stands of fynbos vegetation (10 years old). The relev£ data were initially classified using TWINSPAN and then refined by Braun-Blanquet (BB) phytosociological procedures. The Afromontane Forest patches which occur mainly on the lower south slopes were not sampled but are briefly discussed. The fynbos plant communities are described, based on tables, and a hierarchical classification is proposed.

Two new species of Acontias (Acontinae, Scincidae) from the Mpumalanga Highveld escarpment of South Africa

Zootaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4429 (1) ◽  
pp. 89 ◽  
Author(s):  
WERNER CONRADIE ◽  
THEO BUSSCHAU ◽  
SHELLEY EDWARDS
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
New Species ◽  
Cryptic Species ◽  
Biodiversity Hotspot ◽  
Two New Species ◽  
Disjunct Populations ◽  
African Genus ◽  
Distinguishing Character

The African genus of fossorial legless lizards (Acontias Cuvier) currently comprises 26 species and subspecies. In a recent study on the two disjunct populations of Acontias breviceps Essex, the presence of cryptic species was discovered. Here, we increase the sampling size and describe these disjunct populations from the Mpumalanga Escarpment of South Africa as new species. The new species differ from congeners based on a combination of factors, including the number of midbody, ventral, and subcaudal scale counts, ventral pigmentation, allopatric distributions, and genetic divergences. The new species are genetically distant from nominal A. breviceps, with which it shares overall pigmentation and scalation. The new description adds to the growing number of Mpumalanga escarpment endemic reptiles, and highlights the area as a biodiversity hotspot. The use of vertebral counts as a distinguishing character between species is briefly discussed. 

Diversity and seasonality of fungal communities in soil from the Succulent Karoo biodiversity hotspot, South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 172 ◽  
pp. 104020
Author(s):  
Zelda Pieterse ◽  
Theresa A.S. Aveling ◽  
Adriana Jacobs ◽  
Don A. Cowan
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Biodiversity Hotspot ◽  
Fungal Communities ◽  
Succulent Karoo

scholarly journals Deagrarianisation and Forest Revegetation in a Biodiversity Hotspot on the Wild Coast, South Africa

PLoS ONE ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. e76939 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ross Shackleton ◽  
Charlie Shackleton ◽  
Sheona Shackleton ◽  
James Gambiza
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Biodiversity Hotspot

Molecular phylogeny reveals strong biogeographic signal and two new species in a Cape Biodiversity Hotspot endemic mini-radiation, the pygmy geckos (Gekkonidae: Goggia)

Zootaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 4312 (3) ◽  
pp. 449 ◽  
Author(s):  
MATTHEW P. HEINICKE ◽  
DILARA TURK ◽  
AARON M. BAUER
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
New Species ◽  
Molecular Phylogeny ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Mitochondrial Gene ◽  
Biodiversity Hotspot ◽  
External Morphology ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
Allozyme Electrophoresis ◽  
Two New Species

The gekkonid genus Goggia includes eight described species of mostly small-bodied rock dwelling gecko endemic to the southwestern portion of southern Africa, in South Africa and extreme southern Namibia. Previous studies focused on Goggia have employed external morphology and allozyme electrophoresis, but no sequence-based molecular phylogeny of the group has been produced. We have generated a molecular phylogeny of Goggia including all named species and multiple individuals within each species, using sequences of the mitochondrial gene ND2 and nuclear genes RAG1 and PDC. The phylogeny depicts a basal divergence between eastern and western species of small-bodied Goggia, with additional divergences also showing structure strongly correlated with geography. Goggia lineata and G. rupicola are shown to be non-monophyletic, and examination of external morphology supports the distinctiveness of these lineages. We describe two new species to accommodate the southern lineages of “G. lineata” and “G. rupicola”: Goggia incognita sp. nov. and Goggia matzikamaensis sp. nov. Both new species are separated from their northern relatives by geographic barriers: the Knersvlakte plain for G. incognita sp. nov. and G. lineata, and the high Kamiesberg mountains for G. matzikamaensis sp. nov. and G. rupicola. The possible roles of geography, ecology, and climate in promoting diversification within Goggia are discussed. 

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