New plant records for Tankwa Karoo National Park, South Africa

Stoffel P Bester,Hugo Bezuidenhout,Hester M Steyn,Ronell R Klopper

doi:10.4102/koedoe.v54i1.1066

Abstract

The Tankwa Karoo National Park has been enlarged from 27 064 ha to 143 600 ha. This whole area is severely under-collected for plants in general and therefore it was an obvious target for the South African National Parks (SANParks) Programme, a component of the Pretoria National Herbarium (PRE) Plant Collecting Programme. This programme not only aims to survey national parks that have been poorly surveyed, but also inadequately known taxa, unique habitats, remote and inaccessible areas and plant species flowering at irregular times, especially after events such as fire or unusual timing of, or high, rainfall. General collecting in the Tankwa Karoo National Park has already led to the description of two new taxa, from two families. It furthermore resulted in new distribution records for the park and for the Northern Cape Province. These are reported on here.Conservation implications: Although the Tankwa Karoo National Park falls within the Succulent Karoo Biome (a biodiversity hotspot of international importance), information on its plant diversity is insufficient because it is an under-collected area. Results of this study will guide conservation and supply occurrence and distribution data required to compile management plans for the park.

Highlights

The Tankwa Karoo National Park (TKNP) is a relatively new addition to South Africa’s treasure of National Parks and was only declared a national park in 1986 (Rubin 1998)
The South Africa National Parks (SANParks) plant collection programme is a facet of the larger National Herbarium (PRE) Plant Collecting Programme, where priority is given to collecting in national parks that contain under-collected areas
During recent field trips targeting the Tankwa Karoo region and especially the TKNP, approximately 1500 specimens were collected by staff from the National Herbarium (PRE)

Summary

Introduction

The Tankwa Karoo National Park (TKNP) is a relatively new addition to South Africa’s treasure of National Parks and was only declared a national park in 1986 (Rubin 1998). This programme officially started in 2005 with collecting efforts in the Tankwa Karoo and Namaqua National Parks. The work within these parks targets the under-collected areas, and inadequately known taxa, unique habitats, remote and inaccessible areas and plant species flowering at irregular times, especially after events such as fire or unusually high rainfall.

Results

Conclusion