Temperature Changes in the Maloti-Drakensberg Region: An Analysis of Trends for the 1960–2016 Period

Mohamed, Abdelmoneim Abdelsalam; Mukwada, Geoffrey

doi:10.3390/atmos10080471

Cited by 11 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 31 publications

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“…Other important climate change drivers that could separately or interactively influence the dynamics of montane grassland and its fire management are rising levels of atmospheric CO 2 and other greenhouse gases, increased temperatures, and deposition of atmospheric nitrogen (Carbutt and Edwards 2015;Bentley and O'Connor 2018;Gibson and Newman 2019;Mohamed and Mukwada 2019). Grass fuel loads, weather conditions for burning, and the timing of burning in relation to plant growth will be altered by climate change.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Frequent burning maintained a stable grassland over four decades in the Drakensberg, South Africa

Morris

Everson

et al. 2020

African Journal of Range & Forage Science

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The mesic temperate montane grasslands of the Drakensberg, located within the broader Drakensberg Alpine Centre in southern Africa (Carbutt and Edwards 2003), are productive and ancient (Ellery and Mentis 1992; Bredenkamp et al. 2002; Bond and Parr 2010). Covering more than 42 000 km 2 of the upland area in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), with only >2 500 km 2 in formal protected areas (Carbutt et al 2011), these closed-canopy grasslands were shaped by conditions during the late Miocene, which facilitated the spread of grassland dominated by C 4 grasses that benefitted from increasing aridity, low atmospheric CO 2 concentrations, and recurrent natural fires (Manry and Knight 1986; Meadows and Linder 1993; Keeley and Rundel 2005; Scheiter et al. 2012). Fire has played an important role in the evolutionary development of the structure and floristic composition of the Drakensberg grassland, with constituent productive grasses that promote fire (Bond et al. 2003) and a diverse assemblage of endemic resprouting forbs with underground bud banks and energy storage units that allow them to withstand frequent burns (Uys 2006; Bond 2016). Fires also maintain the Drakensberg grassland largely free of trees, except for scattered protea species and woody plants in refugia (Adie et al. 2017). A pronounced dry winter together with slow decomposition rates of sourveld grass leaves, result in high loads of cured above-ground biomass (Everson et al. 1988a), which fuel the fires that remove accumulated moribund foliage and litter, allowing sufficient light to reach the soil surface to sustain basal-tillering caespitose grasses (Everson et al. 1985; Everson et al. 1988b; Bond et al. 2003; Neumann et al. 2014) and initiate spring flowering in numerous obligate fire-stimulated grassland forbs (Lamont and Downes 2011). Together, the afore-mentioned appear to indicate a fire regime naturally occurring outside the main growing season of montane grassland plants, but at a time when swards are most susceptible to fire. The frequency and seasonal timing of historical fire regimes in the Drakensberg is unknown and likely variable (Gordijn et al. 2018). Before San hunter-gatherers employed fire to attract wildlife after they settled in the Drakensberg approximately 8 000 to 5 000 BP (Hall 1984; Mazel 1989), lightning was the main natural source of ignition in the

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Frequent burning maintained a stable grassland over four decades in the Drakensberg, South Africa

Morris

Everson

et al. 2020

African Journal of Range & Forage Science

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SDGs as Indicators of Holistic Small Town Tourism Development. A Case for Phuthaditjhaba South Africa

Mutana

Geofrey

2023

Sustainable Development Goals Series

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Mountainous small towns are often geographically isolated, lack access to main decision making centres and are in many cases plagued by incessant weather related natural disasters. While these realities reduce the options for economic activities available in these towns, the lifestyles, cultures of their residents, as well as their communities’ close relations with nature, make them attractive and unique tourism destinations. Many local leaders advocate for the opening of these towns to tourism for the expected economic benefits. However, tourism should be developed in a holistic manner in order to bring benefits to the economy, the host communities and the environment these destinations. In this chapter, Sustainable Development Goals 1, 2, 5, 8, 11, 12 and 13 are used to demonstrate that the achievement of holistic tourism development in the small town of Phuthaditjhaba relies heavily on the manner of development of tourism that respects the interconnectedness of these SDGs. The authors used critical discourse analysis of available literature, to conclude that tourism development in Phuthaditjhaba currently lacks balance between economic, environmental and socio-cultural benefits to the community, and suggested practical steps for the use of SDGs in planning and implementing tourism development in the lead-up to the year 2030.

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Afromontane Community’s Dependence on the Water and Climate Change Nexus of the Maloti-Drakensberg Mountain Range: The Case of Phuthaditjhaba

Sekhele

Otomo

2023

Sustainable Development Goals Series

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Phuthaditjhaba is situated at the foothills of the Maloti-Drakensberg, one of southern Africa’s primary water-producing regions. Nevertheless, the region suffers from a recurring lack of sufficient water for domestic and agricultural use. Since 2015, this chronic water crisis has created a state of conflict between the inhabitants of the region and the local government. Against the backdrop of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, this paper provides a commentary on the contrasting realities of this town nestled within one of South Africa’s most biodiverse regions, yet lacking in the very resource for which it is supposedly famous. We identify both gross mismanagement and neglect by local municipal authorities and climate change as compounding factors leading to the recurring lack of sufficient good quality water in the region. These are some of the major threats to sustainable development in Phuthaditjhaba, which may exacerbate poverty and escalate social tensions that often burst into spontaneous social unrest in the town and its surroundings.

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Temperature Changes in the Maloti-Drakensberg Region: An Analysis of Trends for the 1960–2016 Period

Cited by 11 publications

References 31 publications

Frequent burning maintained a stable grassland over four decades in the Drakensberg, South Africa

Frequent burning maintained a stable grassland over four decades in the Drakensberg, South Africa

SDGs as Indicators of Holistic Small Town Tourism Development. A Case for Phuthaditjhaba South Africa

Afromontane Community’s Dependence on the Water and Climate Change Nexus of the Maloti-Drakensberg Mountain Range: The Case of Phuthaditjhaba

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