the richtersveld cultural and botanical landscape - SAHRA

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Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape World Heritage Site Nomination 31 Rainfall between 40 and 60 mm per year tending to peak in late summer, but very variable. However, some localised winter water input is received through drainage from the winter rainfall area to the south. Summers are very hot, often more than 40 °C and occasionally reaching 50°C, and the winters are mild. The bottom of the canyon is one of the hottest environments in the Richtersveld. Small sparse trees like Schotia afra, Maerua gilgii, Maerua schinzii and Adenolobus gariepensis are found in the dry river beds. In the debris and washes of the canyon bottom trees such as Schotia afra, Boscia foetida and Parkinsonia africana, or shrubs such as Sisyndite spartea, Calicorema capitata and Gaillonia crocyllis are frequently found. On the rocky slopes, scattered populations of succulents of, for example, Aloe dichotoma, Brownanthus ciliatus, Brownanthus nucifer, Ceraria namaquensis, Euphorbia gariepina, Euphorbia phylloclada, Euphorbia virosa, Ruschia paucipetala and Zygophyllum microcarpum occur. Other nonsucculent species found include Hermbstaedtia glauca, Fagonia capensis, Kissenia capensis, Monechma mollissimum, Codon royenii, Pharnaceum croceum, Sesuvium sesuvioides, Trichodesma africanum and Odyssea paucinervis. There are no known species strictly restricted to this unit. However, Helskloof Canyon Desert has a high number of endemic elements of the East Gariep Centre sheet-wash valleys (e.g. Maerua gilgii), and of the narrower East Gariep Centre mountain deserts (Brownanthus nucifer, Mesembryanthemum gariusanum, Schwantesia herrei, Tylecodon hallii). On some rocky slopes large creeping individuals of Bowiea gariepensis occur. The unit is protected in the form of the provincial Nababiep (Helskloof) Reserve as well as the Conservancy. Kahams Mountain Desert 59449.6899 total ha 52292.1305 ha in Richtersveld Community Conservancy = 87.96% This highly dissected landscape with rugged mountains and bare rock is located between the Stinkfonteinberge basal apron in the west and the Orange River and
Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape World Heritage Site Nomination 32 Hellskloof Canyon in the east, between the Rosyntjieberge Mountains in the north and the Rooiberg in the south and includes Gorgon’s Head, Mount Stewart and Black Face Mountain. Altitudes vary from about 200 to 800 m. The granodiorite, adamellite, leucogranite, tonalite and diorite of the Vioolsdrif Suite are intruded by syenites and granites of the Richtersveld Suite and together account for three quarters of the area; Calc-alkaline, acid and metavolcanic rocks and quartzitic metasediments of the De Hoop Subgroup, Orange River Group are also significant. The area is very rocky with little to no soils. There is a steep gradient of increasing aridity from west to east, in the east, hot and dry conditions are typical for the low altitudes along the Orange River, while in the western parts at higher elevations, nearer the foothills of the Stinkfonteinberge Range, the climate is relatively more humid and cooler. Rainfall between 45 to 70 mm per year falls both in the winter and summer with more dominant summer rainfall tending in the east. Fog is absent. Maximum summer temperatures reach up to 50°C. The vegetation is very sparse becoming somewhat less sparse to the west. Species found in the plains, often in dry river beds include tall shrubs like Zygophyllum prismatocarpum, Sisyndite spartea, Nymannia capensis. Tall succulent shrubs (Aloe dichotoma, Ceraria namaquensis and Euphorbia virosa) as well as succulent dwarf shrubs (Brownanthus nucifer, Brownanthus ciliatus, Brownanthus pseudoschlichtianus, Euphorbia gariepina, Euphorbia gummifera, Hereroa hesperantha, Petalidium parvifolium, Trianthema triquetra) are mostly found on slopes and quartz patches. No strict endemics to this vegetation unit are known but the unit contains a number of endemics of the East Gariep Centre, such as Brownanthus nucifer, Euphorbia gariepina, Lithops meyeri, Mesembryanthemum gariusanum, Pelargonium desertorum, Sarcocaulon herrei, Schwantesia herrei and Tylecodon hallii. The unit borders on units of the Succulent Karoo Biome to the north, south and west. In the far north of the unit, 6% is protected within the Richtersveld National Park and to the east 16% is found in the Nababiep Nature Reserve. Parts of this
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the richtersveld cultural and botanical landscape - SAHRA

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