Biodiversity through the eyes of surrogates in South Africa’s Seventh World Heritage Site, Vredefort Dome
Introduction
Birds and insects, mammals and reptiles, plants and microorganisms, none of these organisms have any relation to one another but they are all unique and different, and they can all be found within a savanna. They all play a vital role in maintaining a balanced ecosystem by interacting with one another and due to the differences between them, are all diverse. It is this point that led the Savanna Diversity students to conduct a study on the Biodiversity of a Savanna biome in the Vredefort Dome, South Africa’s seventh World Heritage Site.
In order to carry out a study on the diversity of a savanna biome we needed first to have an understanding on what makes up a savanna and the distribution, both world wide and locally, of such a biome. The definition of a savanna according to Collins (2001) is an area that “is characterized by a grassy ground layer and a distinct upper layer of woody plants. Where this upper layer is near the ground the vegetation may be referred to as Shrubveld, where it is dense as Woodland, and the intermediate stages are locally known as Bushveld.” Looking world wide at areas that fit such a description one can pick out a pattern of where they occur, namely along a broad band on either side of the equator where temperatures are warmer and seasonal rains occur. Savanna biomes are thus found on three continents, which include Australia, Africa and Central and South America (Biodiversity Savanna, Global Environment web site). To understand what makes a South African savanna different to the others we need to investigate the differences between them.
A brief look at an Australian savanna will r...
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... and using an insect net collect as many insects as you can, placing them in labeled jars with ethyl acetate
• Repeat the collecting method a total of three times giving you a total of forty five minutes of sweeping
Singling:
• Singling is done throughout the total sampling time i.e. from when you arrive at a sampling site to when you leave
• Any insect that is caught by hand or not by any of the above mentioned collecting methods is considered to have been singled and should be placed in an appropriate labeled jar with ethyl acetate
2. Passive collecting Technique:
Coloured Pan Traps:
• Place two different coloured (yellow and white) cat litter boxes out in an open area
• Place a mixture (1 centimetre deep) of dish washing liquid and water in both pan traps
• Leave pan traps out for a few hours
• Collect all insects that get caught in the pan trap in a labeled jar
The experiment was a three week long experiment. Prior to fully engaging in the experiment, it was important to sort out the flies. In order to separate out the flies, they had to be put to sleep. The blue caps were removed first and then put to sleep. Using the Triethylamine anesthetic fly nap, the vials were placed horizontally on their side so that the side without any netting was at the top, the swab once submerged into the fly nap was then inserted into the vials containing the flies. It was important to make sure the fly nap applicator did not touch the flies and did not stay in the vial for too long because it would kill them. Once the flies were asleep, they were emptied out onto index cards with the help of a paint brush; of course
Peairs, Leonard Marion. Insect Pests of Farm, Garden, and Orchard. New York: John Wiley Sons, 1941.
Landscape fragmentation contributes to loss of migratory corridors, loss of connectivity and natural communities, which all lead to a loss of biodiversity for a region. Conservation of biodiversity must include all levels of diversity: genetic, species, community, and landscape (CNHP 1995). Each complex level is dependent upon and linked to the other levels. In addition, humans are linked to all levels of this hierarchy. A healthy natural and human environment go hand in hand (CNHP 1995). An important step in conservation planning, in order to guarantee both a healthy natural environment as well as a healthy human environment, is recognizing the most endangered elements.
Temperate grassland biomes can be found in North America, Africa, the pampas of South America and many parts of Eurasia. Grass is the main plant in Temperate Grassland biomes, trees and shrubs are rare to see in this type of biome. Temperate grasslands also have an extremely high abundance of wildlife. The wildlife living in this biome includes bison and pronghorn sheep, but mainly the animals most affected were the cattle and horses that lived on the surrounding farms.
Click on mating jar to view under a microscope. The simulation will knock out the flies with a chemical called ether
The first of these is to anesthetize the entire culture and dispose of the adult generation in the fly morgue. The second is to transfer all adults to a new culture vial while recording the phenotypes and sex of the flies. These steps will be done in alternating weeks ending on week seven in which the final observation is recorded and the adult flies as well as culture vial is discarded. In between weeks the flies should be kept in a warmer with a temperature that ranges from 20℃ to 25℃ (University of South Florida, 2017, Biodiversity Lab Manual).
Rubin, B. C. (2006). Tracking and detracking: Debates, evidence, and pest Practices for a heterogeneous world. Theory Into Practice, 45(1), 4-14. Retrieved from ERIC.
The major biomes are the tundra, taiga, tropical rain forest, temperate forests, desert, grassland, savanna, chaparral, and marine. Each biome has it’s own characteristics, such as the tundra. The tundra is a biome that is located in the Northern Hemisphere of the world. It circles the North Pole and reaches down to the Taiga. The tundra has a very cold and harsh climate, especially in the winters.
Within the urban area it mainly focuses on insects in human dwellings such as homes and businesses. Scientists that work in this urban area will enjoy
NEED AND PURPOSE FOR CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY Biodiversity conservation is about saving life on Earth in all its forms and keeping natural ecosystems functioning and healthy. Biodiversity is being depleted by the loss of habitat, fragmentation of habitat, over exploitation of resources, human sponsored ecosystems, climatic changes, pollution, invasive exotic species, diseases, shifting cultivation, poaching of wildlife etc. Since the human beings are enjoying all the benefits from biodiversity, they should take proper care for the preservation of biodiversity in all its forms and should prevent the degradation as well as the destruction of the habitats, thereby maintaining the biodiversity at its optimum level which will ultimately conserve the biodiversity for the future generation. The United Nations designated 2011-2020 as the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity. In biodiversity, each species, no matter how big or small, has an important role to play in ecosystems.
World Commission on Protected Areas (1995-2006) WCPA West and Central Africa Region Key Issues The World Conservation Union
One of the reasons for loss in biodiversity is alteration of habitats. A habitat is the natural environment in which a species of living organism lives. If the habitat of a species is changed, it will cause the species to die or migrate to other places where it can find its natural habitat. There are many ways in which the habitat of plants and animals can be altered. One of them is land use changes. Since the beginning of human life, human beings have been changing land use for farming. Large areas of forests have been cleared by humans to increase the area of farming to satisfy their growing needs. Many biodiversity-rich landscape characteristics have been lost due to intensive farming (Young, Richards, Fischer, Halada, Kull, Kuzniar, Tartes, Uzunov & Watt, 2007). For example, traditional farming was replaced by private farms in Europe after the First World War causing an immense change in land use patterns. Another major proble...
Most of the species from habitat one are Diptera. There was a total of thirteen Diptera’s in habitat one. Cup one had the least amount of individual species with four. Habitat two had more individual species than habitat one. There was a total of seventy-nine species from habitat two. Like in habitat one most of of the arthropods from habitat two were Diptera. The was a total of eighteen Diptera’s in habitat two. Cup six had most of the Diptera’s with thirteen. Orthoptera was second in the number of individuals with sixteen. Orthoporea’s are crickets and
Biodiversity is so important that if any chain or link is disturbed then the whole system will come to a halt. Biodiversity also boosts ecosystem productivity and if it declines automatically our ecosystem also declines as both are interdependent upon each other, where all the species play an essential role in the way ecosystem functions, so local and global species loss could threaten the stability of the ecosystem services on which humans depend. This is an interesting topic as well as a global issue concerning the whole human civilization and their existence. . The said issue as well as many other issues regarding our natural processes cannot be neglected as our present and future depends entirely on the sustainability and growth of this ecosystem and biodiversity. Our ecosystem completely depends on the way biodiversity functions. This is the reason I have chosen this topic and gathered information about how it e...
NEED AND PURPOSE FOR CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY: Biodiversity, a contraction of “biological diversity,” generally refers to the variety and variability of life on Earth. The very existence of human species and sustainable development depend on biodiversity conservation, therefore the need for conservation of biodiversity is basically for this reason that all living creatures need other creatures and plants in one way or the other. At least 40 per cent of the world’s economy and 80 per cent of the needs of the poor are mainly derived from biological resources. Biodiversity is necessary for our existence as well as valuable in its own right as it provides the fundamental building blocks for the many goods and services which are essential