Mpumalanga Biodiversity Conservation Plan Handbook - bgis-sanbi

MPUMALANGA BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION PLAN HANDBOOK
Axvi
order to ensure sustainable benefits.
In this handbook this refers to areas
outside the formal protected area
network.
CONSERVANCY
A usually contiguous, privately owned
land area (including water) linked by
voluntary agreement between participating
owners, to cooperate in
protecting aspects of their shared
natural resources, including wildlife,
biodiversity and landscapes.
DEFOLIATION
The periodic loss of most of the
leaves from a live plant, which are
normally replaced through seasonal
regrowth. Many plant species,
especially shrubs, grasses and
herbaceous plants, are well adapted
to regular defoliation, total or partial.
Defoliation takes place by means of
grazing, fire, frost, hail, drought and
human harvesting.
ECOLOGICAL RESERVE
(water flow in rivers)
The quality and quantity of water
flow required in a river to allow it to
function ecologically and its aquatic
biodiversity to persist. This minimum
flow must also be sufficient to meet
basic human needs and to secure
ecologically sustainable development
in terms of the National Water Act.
ECOLOGICAL
(and evolutionary) processes
These are the processes that operate
to generate and maintain biodiversity.
Ecological drivers of change operate
over relatively short time scales, while
evolutionary processes operate over
much longer time scales. Biodiversity
assessment includes mapping and
setting targets for the spatial
components of these processes,
namely the areas of land or water
required to ensure the processes
continue to function. For examples
see Box on page 17.
ECOREGION LEVEL 2
A river classification that is based on
the premise that ecosystems and their
components display repeating regional
patterns. These exist in varied combinations
of causal factors such as
climate, mineral availability (soils and
geology), vegetation and physiography.
This classification is expert
based and the purpose is to identify
regions of relative homogeneity in
ecological characteristics or in
relationships between organisms and
their environments.
ECOSYSTEM
A dynamic complex of plant, animal
and microorganism communities and
their nonliving environment, interacting
as a functional unit.
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
The goods and services provided to
society by well functioning ecosystems,
such as food, clean water, carbon
storage, climate regulation, disease
management, spiritual fulfillment and
aesthetic enjoyment.
ENDEMIC SPECIES
A plant or animal species, naturally
confined to or exclusive to, a specified
habitat or geographic area.
HABITAT LOSS
Loss of natural habitat occurs with
most forms of development. It is
sometimes referred to as habitat
transformation. Habitat loss may be
irreversible, meaning that biodiversity
patterns and processes can never be
restored, such as with urban development,
crop agriculture and most
forms of mining. In other cases,
habitat loss is more-or-less reversible,
meaning that local biodiversity
features may be restored to some
extent. For example, overgrazed veld
in some ecosystems can recover if the
grazers are reduced and managed.
Habitat loss in South Africa, as well as
world-wide, is the single biggest
cause of biodiversity loss. Halting
biodiversity loss depends on avoiding
habitat loss in areas that are important
for achieving biodiversity targets
and slowing the rate of loss in all
other areas.
INTEGRITY
(ecological)
The integrity of an ecosystem refers
to its functional completeness,
including its components (species) its
patterns (distribution) and its processes
(see above).
LANDSCAPE SCALE
Large scale applications of a concept
or a characteristic at the level of
geographic landscape units, such as a
mountain range, a valley, foothill
formations or a plateau.
MAINSTREAMING
The integration of an understanding
of biodiversity and the functioning of
ecosystems into all human activities
at all levels of organization in society.
In particular the integration of biodiversity
values into land-use
planning and decision making within
structures of Local Government at all
levels.
PROTECTED AREA
The IUCN defines a protected area as
an area of land and/or sea especially
dedicated to the protection and
maintenance of biological diversity
and of natural and associated cultural
resources, and managed through legal
or other effective means. This
implies an area of natural or seminatural
habitat with some form of
conservation management that is
secure for the foreseeable future. A
protected area does not need to be
owned by the state.
QUATERNARY CATCHMENT
A subdivision of a broader catchment
classification system. A catchment
includes all the land area from
mountain top to seashore which is
drained by a single river and its
tributaries. Each catchment is then
subdivided into secondary catch-