Afro-Alpine Plant Diversity in the Tropical Mountains of Africa

Vidal, João de Deus; Clark, Vincent Ralph

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-409548-9.11885-8

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…1). The area lies within the Bale Mountains and covers 25 % of the afro-alpine ecosystem of Africa (de Deus Vidal and Clark, 2020;Carbutt, 2020;Gehrke and Linder, 2014). The Bale Mountains were formed by lava outpourings of the Trappean series, which created a vast lava plateau considerably eroded and flattened by later glaciations (Berhe et al, 1987;Williams, 2017).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

High-resolution digital elevation models and orthomosaics generated from historical aerial photographs (since the 1960s) of the Bale Mountains in Ethiopia

Muhammed

Hailu

Miehe

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Abstract. The natural resources of Ethiopian high-altitude ecosystems are commonly perceived as increasingly threatened by devastating land-use practices owing to decreasing lowland resources. Quantified time-series data of the course of land-use cover changes are still needed. Very high-resolution digital data on the historical landscape over the recent decades are needed for determining the impacts of changes in afro-alpine ecosystems. However, digital elevation models (DEMs) and orthomosaics do not exist for most afro-alpine ecosystems of Africa. We processed the only available and oldest historical aerial photographs for Ethiopia and, to the best of our knowledge, for any afro-alpine ecosystem. Here, we provide both DEM and orthomosaic images for the years 1967 and 1984 for the Bale Mountains in Ethiopia, which comprise the largest afro-alpine ecosystem in Africa. We used 298 historical aerial photographs captured in 1967 and 1984 for generating DEMs and orthomosaics with Structure from Motion Multi View Stereo Photogrammetry along an elevation gradient from 977 to 4377 m above sea level (asl) at spatial resolutions of 0.84 m and 0.98 m for the years 1967 and 1984, respectively. Our datasets can be used by researchers and policymakers for (1) watershed management, as the area provides water for more than 30 million people; (2) landscape management; (3) detailed mapping and analysis of geological and archaeological features, as well as natural resources; (4) analyses of geomorphological processes; and (5) biodiversity research.

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Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

High-resolution digital elevation models and orthomosaics generated from historical aerial photographs (since the 1960s) of the Bale Mountains in Ethiopia

Muhammed

Hailu

Miehe

et al. 2023

Preprint

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“…The Afro‐alpine zone of eastern Africa adapted from de Deus Vidal & Clark (2020) [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The tropical Afro‐alpine environment found in Eastern Africa covers an area between 3500 and 4525 km 2 (de Deus Vidal & Clark, 2020). The largest Afro‐alpine areas located in the Ethiopian Highlands with estimated area coverage of 2200 km 2 (Gehrke & Linder, 2014).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Modelling spatial relationships between land cover change and its drivers in the Afro‐alpine belt of Mount Guna (Ethiopia)

et al. 2021

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This study examines the spatial relationship between land cover change and its drivers at varying scale in Mt. Guna. The recent land cover map was generated from Google Earth Image (2018), and the historical land cover map generated from the 1957 and 1980 aerial photos. Multi‐scale geographically weighted regression (GWR) and ordinary least square (OLS) were used to model the spatial relationship between land cover change and its drivers at varying scale. The change analysis revealed that Mt. Guna showed a dynamic land cover change between 1957 and 2018 dominated by conversions into cropland. Overall, 69% of the land cover change shows gains and losses, while 31% of the land cover of Mt. Guna showed persistence over 61 years. Furthermore, 77% of land cover was swapped and changed from its initial state. The result of modelling the spatial relationship between land cover change and its drivers showed that population density, slope gradient and clustered homestead density increases the likelihood of land cover change, while higher elevation, water source density and precipitation reduces the likelihood of land cover change. However, the spatial scale comparison indicated that the influence is stronger in large spatial scales than in small scales.

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“…Joubert et al, 2017;Lodder et al, 2018;Breman et al, 2019;Morris et al, 2021) and Afroalpine grasslands found in East and Central Africa (e.g. Gehrke & Linder, 2014;Johansson et al, 2018;Lézine et al, 2019;Vidal & Clark, 2020). A recent overview of all Afroalpine vegetation (Carbutt, 2020) found it to be currently under significant threat from human-induced land transformation, degradation and unsustainable use and recommended large-scale policy shifts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Limits to resilience of Afroalpine vegetation to grazing and burning: a case study of grasses from the Drakensberg Mountain Centre, southern Africa

et al. 2021

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High-elevation Afroalpine ecosystems of the Drakensberg Mountain Centre (DMC) of Lesotho and South Africa, renowned for their high endemism and key ecosystem services, are socio-ecological systems that have seen human activity for millennia. However, their responses to land management practices are understudied. Controversy over their natural state has also led to conflicting policies and management emphases. Focusing on the crucial ecosystem-modulating component, grasses (Poaceae), we evaluate the response of DMC Afroalpine vegetation to human impact through grazing and burning. Grass species associations were recorded from grassland, shrubland and wetland-riparian-seep ecotypes across a range of grazing and fire regimes to document relationships between abiotic conditions, disturbance, and taxonomic diversity and composition. CCA of grass community composition retrieved a large cluster of plots of mixed grazing and burning regimes with no particular environmental vector correlated with them. Other smaller groups of plots separated from these were associated to heavy grazing, bioclimatic variables, slope gradient, and aspect. Indicator species analyses found DMC endemic grasses were associated to low grazing, while alien grasses were associated to heavy grazing. GLMs found little difference between ecotype-disturbance categories with regards plant species richness, mean alpha hull=2 range-size of native and sub-Saharan endemic grasses, and site-level Sorensen beta diversity (βsor). Some differences were noted, including the highest cover and proportion of DMC endemics being found in low-grazed grassland, and highest cover and proportion of alien grasses and highest plot-level βsor being found in heavily grazed ecotypes. Relative importance analyses found grazing regime to be the main influence on cover and proportion of DMC endemic and alien grasses. Partial Mantel tests found mean annual temperature and grazing regime to be the main influence on plot-level βsor. Synthesis: Taxonomic diversity and composition of DMC Afroalpine grasslands was relatively unaffected by moderate grazing and intense burning, although heavy grazing had a largely detrimental impact, with its ubiquity across the DMC a major cause for concern. High levels of endemism, coupled with the above data emphasizing the robustness of DMC grasslands to disturbance, also supports Afroalpine grasslands as a natural component of the DMC. This research reinforces the natural grass-dominated nature of the DMC as a social-ecological system where sustainable management is possible thanks to its resilience to grazing and burning, although current widespread overgrazing requires urgent attention.

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Afro-Alpine Plant Diversity in the Tropical Mountains of Africa

Cited by 9 publications

References 49 publications

High-resolution digital elevation models and orthomosaics generated from historical aerial photographs (since the 1960s) of the Bale Mountains in Ethiopia

High-resolution digital elevation models and orthomosaics generated from historical aerial photographs (since the 1960s) of the Bale Mountains in Ethiopia

Modelling spatial relationships between land cover change and its drivers in the Afro‐alpine belt of Mount Guna (Ethiopia)

Limits to resilience of Afroalpine vegetation to grazing and burning: a case study of grasses from the Drakensberg Mountain Centre, southern Africa

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