Abstract
ABSTRACT Eight sets of sequential aerial photographs taken between 1944 and 1992 were used to assess vegetation and erosion changes on the northern slopes of Table Mountain, Cape Town, South Africa. A vector-based Geographic Information System facilitated the generation of maps and statistical analysis of spatial data. The results show that over this 48 year period, the vegetation class shrubland without trees increased from 36% to 73% of the total area. By contrast, closed and open canopy plantations of alien trees decreased from 13% to 8%, and from 29% to 4% respectively. The time-series of erosion maps displayed a high degree of variability but revealed that certain areas of the mountain slopes are prone to accelerated soil erosion. Nonparametric statistical methods were used to ascertain whether certain erosion features have a predictive relationship with particular vegetation cover classes.
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