Ecosystem Guidelines for Environmental Assessment

COASTAL
Strandveld is also increasingly under pressure from urbanisation, especially southwards from
Lambert’s Bay.
There is a relatively low diversity of habitat endemics and rare species in West Coast Strandveld.
Rare species tend to be concentrated in specific habitats (often in rocky areas) hence their vulnerability
to mining and quarrying. Grazing is seldom of sufficient intensity to be a major threat. Wetland areas
are very sensitive to lowered water tables, hence their vulnerability to over-utilisation of aquifers (see
Guideline 7, Freshwater Ecosystems p.68).
In Strandveld, alien plant invasion is largely unimportant, except for old man saltbush Atriplex spp.
However, in the southern and eastern coastal areas, disturbed Dune Thicket is very vulnerable to
invasion by woody alien plant species such as rooikrans Acacia cyclops.
Dune Thicket in the southern and south-eastern coastal regions usually supports high densities of
small animals and birds, but few rare or local plant species.
This vegetation type is very vulnerable to altered natural fire regimes, especially fire frequency. In
the absence of fire, fynbos elements in dune thicket can become senescent and prone to colonisation
by thicket vegetation.
Strandveld and Dune Thicket close to settlements can be vulnerable to hunting and very few game
species such as porcupine or antelope are left in these areas.
Resort and urban development poses the main threat to Strandveld, along with associated impacts
such as hunting, fires, dumping and trampling.
Uncontrolled driving by off-road
vehicles is a major problem in certain areas.
Dune Thicket is one of the vegetation types
most heavily impacted by rapidly expanding
coastal developments, and its conservation
status will have to be revised regularly.
Coastal dune systems are vulnerable to
“blowouts” when the vegetation cover is
disturbed.
Migration corridors of certain bird
species can be fragmented when Dune
Thicket is lost or a connective matrix of non-
Thicket vegetation is transformed.
Once disturbed, Dune Thicket is prone to
Ecological corridors should be at least 20 m wide in Dune Thicket,
invasion by woody alien plants such as
and development must be well set back from estuaries and wetlands.
Acacia cyclops.
ANDREW BROWN
What are the “bottom lines” and non-negotiables
In the West Coast and Namaqualand regions, it is important to keep coastal/ inland (west-east)
gradients intact.
In the south-western area (Cape Town-Lambert’s Bay), at least 80% of the remaining Strandveld
should be retained. All special habitats should be conserved, e.g. unique mineral-rich dunes, Odysseadominated
grasslands and rocky outcrops.
Due to its aridity Strandveld is slow to recover after physical disturbance and fires. Physical
disturbance and fires therefore should be limited to the minimum in Strandveld.
As a general rule, connectivity must be maintained and fragmentation of habitat actively avoided.
This is particularly relevant in Dune Thicket and Dune Fynbos. Remnants can be very small and remain
34 : STRANDVELD, DUNE THICKET & DUNE FYNBOS