Vegetation Map of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland 2009 and 2012: A description of changes from 2006

Anisha Dayaram,Andrew Skowno,Tony Rebelo,Leslie Powrie

doi:10.4102/abc.v47i1.2223

Abstract

Background: The variety of applications in which the Vegetation Map of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland (VEGMAP) is used requires the map to be continually updated and refined to reflect the latest available information. The VEGMAP has been updated twice, in 2009 and 2012, since its first release in 2006.Objectives: The first objective is to report on the motivations for changes in the 2009 and 2012 versions. The second objective is to describe new vegetation types and subtypes included in these versions.Method: Changes to the VEGMAP are implemented after a peer-review process that is managed by the National Vegetation Map Committee. Accepted changes are then incorporated into the VEGMAP using GIS software.Results: Seventy-one of the 449 vegetation types were affected by updates. Changes included the addition of new vegetation types and subtypes, modifications to the boundaries of types present in the 2006 VEGMAP and changes to the names of vegetation types.Conclusion: The updates have affected a small portion of the map but have reflected a progressive refinement in quality. Regions that are still mapped at a coarse scale, especially those earmarked for land-use development, should be prioritised for improved map accuracy and classification through a more proactive approach towards vegetation mapping, using guidelines that are under development.

Highlights

The National Vegetation Map of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland (VEGMAP) is a geographical classification of groups of plant communities across South Africa
The 2009 and 2012 versions of the VEGMAP have been progressive refinements in scale and accuracy compared to the 2006 version, these are limited to a few regions
A problem remains as when to allow subtypes in a way that prevents a proliferation of vegetation units that will compromise the national scale of VEGMAP

Summary

Introduction

The National Vegetation Map of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland (VEGMAP) (ed. Mucina & Rutherford 2006) is a geographical classification of groups of plant communities across South Africa. The National Vegetation Map of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland (VEGMAP) Similar to early versions of vegetation maps in other parts of the world (Barbour, Todd Keeler-Wolf & Schoenherr 2007), the first version of the VEGMAP was based on the best available data at the time and implemented through a largely top-down approach as vast regions of the country had been poorly sampled. The VEGMAP is effective in representing natural vegetation communities at the national scale, but the top-down classification is less effective at the local scale (Barbour et al 2007; Greenberg et al 2006). The variety of applications in which the Vegetation Map of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland (VEGMAP) is used requires the map to be continually updated and refined to reflect the latest available information. The VEGMAP has been updated twice, in 2009 and 2012, since its first release in 2006

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion