The Race for Space: Tracking Land-Cover Transformation in a Socio-ecological Landscape, South Africa

Abstract

Biosphere Reserves attempt to align existing biodiversity conservation with sustainable resource use, specifically for improving socio-economic circumstances of resident communities. Typically, the Biosphere Reserve model is applied to an established landscape mosaic of existing land uses; these are often socio-ecological systems where strict environmental protection and community livelihoods are in conflict, and environmental degradation frequently accompanies "use". This raises challenges for successful implementation of the model, as the reality of the existing land-use mosaic undermines the theoretical aspirations of the Biosphere concept. This study focuses on the Kruger to Canyons Biosphere Reserve (K2C), South Africa; a socio-ecological landscape where formal conservation is juxtaposed against extensive impoverished rural communities. We focus on land-cover changes of the existing land-use mosaic (1993-2006), specifically selected land-cover classes identified as important for biodiversity conservation and local-level resource utilization. We discuss the implications of transformation for conservation, sustainable resource-use, and K2C's functioning as a "Biosphere Reserve". Spatially, changes radiated outward from the settlement expanse, with little regard for the theoretical land-use zonation of the Biosphere Reserve. Settlement growth tracked transport routes, transforming cohesive areas of communal-use rangelands. Given the interdependencies between the settlement population and local environmental resources, the Impacted Vegetation class expanded accordingly, fragmenting the Intact Vegetation class, and merging rangelands. This has serious implications for sustainability of communal harvesting areas, and further transformation of intact habitat. The distribution and magnitude of Intact Vegetation losses raise concerns around connectivity and edge effects, with long-term consequences for ecological integrity of remnant habitat, and K2C's existing network of protected areas.

Humans and elephants as treefall drivers in African savannas

“… 15 treefall ha -1 ) coalescing adjacent to settlements (Fig. 4c, e) -areas being clear-cut for settlementassociated expansion (Coetzer et al 2013) -or on communal land boundaries to reinforce land ownership under perceived with more fire ignitions, but less intense fires over smaller extents (Archibald et al 2009), we can only speculate on possible mechanisms for the association with more frequent burns and increased treefall in the communal lands. Tall trees with hard wood which are difficult to cut by hand are often burned for clearing agricultural fields, which can result in spreading fires and tree mortality (Luoga et al 2000).…”

“…> 15 treefall ha –1 ) coalescing adjacent to settlements (Fig. c, e) – areas being clear‐cut for settlement‐associated expansion (Coetzer et al ) – or on communal land boundaries to reinforce land ownership under perceived land claim threats. Communal land B 's treefall occurred in the low height class (Fig.…”

“…The high market-share of households purchasing wood in this area (Madubansi and Shackleton 2007) supports this finding. Despite both communal lands having similar human population densities (Table 1), Communal land B is a highly utilized area, accessible to other settlements as it borders a main road and neighbors the more urbanized sections of Bushbuckridge where communal lands have been subsumed by settlement expansion (Coetzer et al 2013). Communal land A is a rare example of exclusive use by one settlement as it is fenced on Shannon et al's (2008) transect study, we also do not have a clear 'elephant trap' in the 5-9 m height as per Asner and Levick's (2012) findings.…”

Recent ecological transitions in China: greening, browning and influential factors

“…Correlation analyses between the percentage coverage of significant vegetation browning or greening and the percentage change in socioeconomic variables at the provincial level implied that population pressure could be a general significant influential factor for vegetation browning, which is very common in developing countries. For example, Bangladesh has experienced landscape fragmentation and the loss of landscape structural and functional diversity caused by population growth, economic development, and rapid urban expansion3839, South Africa has incurred ecological degradation due to the development of extensive impoverished rural communities40, and in southern Brazil, the significant contributions of age structure and population density are the most important driving factor for ecological degradation41. However, regional economic vitality in general and agriculture vitality in particular, and improvements in the economic welfare and quality of life, especially in rural areas, could potentially exert significant positive effects on vegetation greening (Table 2).…”

Gobernanza adaptativa en construcción: Personas, prácticas y políticas en una reserva de biosfera de la UNESCO

“…Si estas homelands fueron abolidas con la llegada de la democracia en 1994, su legado permanece impreso en el paisaje. La población de los antiguos homelands en esta región suma unos 1,5 millones de habitantes y está en aumento, con una densidad que a veces supera las 300 personas por km 2 (Pollard et al 2003;Pool-Stanvliet 2013), y un paisaje formado por asentamientos situados entre pastizales comunales -incluidas las ciudades de Bushbuckridge y Acornhoek (Coetzer et al 2013). La región más extensa también contiene asentamientos más ricos, como Hoedspruit, que atienden al turismo relacionada con las áreas protegidas, y se relaciona con la agricultura comercial, la minería y -hacia el Drakensberg Escarpment-las áreas de plantaciones forestales (Coetzer et al 2013).…”