Abstract
Natural peatlands occur on the Rietvlei Nature Reserve. Before the Pretoria City Council acquired the land, these peatlands were mined by private land-owners. Ditches were constructed to drain the area for mining and the peatlands became desicrated. Later the area was proclaimed as a nature reserve and has since then been managed as such. Rehabilitation of the drained peatland on Rietvlei Nature Reserve first started in 2000 as a Working for Water project. The aim of the rehabilitation was to close the ditches and rewet the peatland, to enable possible revival of the peatland. A baseline vegetation survey was undertaken during the summer (March to April) of 2001 to determine the nature of the pioneer communities that established on the rehabilitated area. This survey was repeated during the summer (March to April) of 2002 to detect changes in the vegetation. The same sample plots were used on both occasions. The initial pioneer vegetation was mostly composed of weedy annuals.
Highlights
Wetlands are very important in nature, because they form unique habitats for certain aquatic and hydrophilic plant species and result in an increase in the number of waterfowl and other fauna typically associated with wetlands
The peatland area was stratified into the following units: ditches filled with peat; ditches filled with soil; sloped main channel edges; reed areas on old peatdeposits; and the mined area east of the main channel
The classification of the plant communities found in the baseline survey (2001 data set) is as follows: 1. Amaranthus hibridus - Setaria ustilata Community on filled ditches
Summary
Wetlands are very important in nature, because they form unique habitats for certain aquatic and hydrophilic plant species and result in an increase in the number of waterfowl and other fauna typically associated with wetlands. Wetlands in South Africa do not have high plant species diversity but some of the species that do occur in wetlands are restricted to these habitats (Bloem et al 1993; Myburgh et al 1995; Eckhardt et al 1993; Smit et al 1995). Additional to these functional and biological values, wetlands have consumptive uses, e.g. they provide water to man and animals, they generate energy and can be used for fish farming. Non-consumptive uses include recreation, tourism and transport (Rand Water Scientific Services 1998)
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