Karoo Of South Africa Research Articles

Environmentalism Emboldened? Exploring the Effectiveness of Anti-Fracking Groups in the Fracking Struggle in the Karoo of South Africa, 2008–2022

ABSTRACT In 2008, the South African government started to discuss the possibility of utilising shale gas in the energy mix to produce cleaner, cheaper, and more reliable electricity. Shale gas was to be used as a ‘bridge fuel’ in the envisaged transition to renewables. Since 2010, anti-fracking groups and other environmentalists have been at loggerheads with the state and fracking companies. This paper focuses on the effectiveness and role of anti-fracking groups and the wider environmentalism apparatus to stall fracking plans. Data for this paper is based on qualitative research in the Central Karoo between 2019 and 2022. Fieldwork involved in-depth interviews with various stakeholders, observation, documentary study, critical engagement with literature, case law and media analysis. Although the previous literature demonstrated limited power of anti-fracking groups, these groups have set boundaries and gained strides in frustrating fracking processes and conscientising communities about the dangers of fracking. Using the case of fracking, I argue that environmentalists in South Africa have been emboldened by the legal precedents they have created at courts, the secretive and elusive culture of the state, and the global dynamics against fossil fuels, especially in 2021 onwards. If it were not for their activism, fracking would have started earlier. Environmentalists have also been emboldened by global awareness of carbon emissions, especially in 2021. The victories by anti-fracking groups lend support for the argument that civil society movements are central in lobbying governments to embrace good governance, quality democracy and human rights and environmental protection.

Carbon Assimilation and Storage in Intact Versus Cultivated Fields of the Karoo in South Africa

Carbon Assimilation and Storage in Intact Versus Cultivated Fields of the Karoo in South Africa

Rainfall and Soils, Not Grazing Intensity, Determine the Composition and Productivity of Annual Plants in a Biodiverse Arid Winter Rainfall Region

Concentration of grazer activity around watering points and stock posts has led to well-documented vegetation impacts in arid and semi-arid rangelands. Effect of grazing and abiotic factors on perennial plant diversity have been reported in the bio-diverse winter rainfall vegetation of the Succulent Karoo in South Africa, but the impact on annuals had not been investigated. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of rainfall, soil nutrients, land forms and grazing on forage depletion, soil chemistry and the composition, diversity, richness and biomass production of annual plants in the Richtersveld National park, which is a contractual national park used by semi-nomadic pastoralists to herd goats and sheep. A grazing gradient away from stock posts at 100m, 500m and 1000m on sandy plains and rocky foothills at five study sites with different mean annual rainfall and vegetation types were used. Distance from stock posts corresponded to a gradient of forage depletion and resulted in changes in soil chemistry with distance. Biomass production, richness and diversity of annuals were correlated with rainfall but not significantly affected by landform or distance from stock posts. Rainfall and soil variables had a greater influence on species composition than grazing in this arid ecosystem. The decrease in perennial cover and richness near the stock posts was not accompanied by increase in biomass production or richness of annuals, which is expected to have adverse effects on overall plant diversity and forage availability. Keywords: Piosphere, Pastoralists, Rangeland, Succulent Karoo DOI: 10.7176/JNSR/12-10-04 Publication date: May 31 st 2021

Trend analysis of long-term rainfall data in the Upper Karoo of South Africa

Rainfall and stocking densities are key drivers of vegetation functioning and productivity in semi-arid regions. Below-average rainfall is of particular importance in the agricultural sector as it limits fodder availability for livestock in the short term, and can influence potential agricultural productivity through inducing the mortality of palatable perennial plant species in the long term. Changes in rainfall trends are not equal for all regions and must be quantified locally to sustainably manage natural grazing resources. The Upper Karoo has experienced considerable fluctuations in rainfall for many thousands of years, with relatively wetter and drier phases. This study analysed farm records from the past eight decades at eight sites in the Upper Karoo. The aim was to provide detailed and comparable descriptions to generate a more general understanding of rainfall at a spatial scale over this entire bioregion and to assess recent farming conditions within a historical rainfall context. A steadily increasing trend in rainfall of approximately 10 mm per decade has been observed in the Upper Karoo over the past eight decades, and the 30-year period from 1989 to 2018 was generally characterised by above-average rainfall. Presently, the farming conditions are more favourable compared to historical rainfall recorded before the year 1989.

Taxonomic revision of the assassin-fly genus Microphontes Londt, 1994 (Insecta, Diptera, Asilidae)

The genus Microphontes Londt, 1994 (Diptera: Asilidae: Brachyrhopalinae) is revised. Currently, three species are known from Namibia and western South Africa, i.e. Microphontesmegoura Londt, 1994 from north-western South Africa, Microphontessafra Londt, 1994 from Namibia and Microphonteswhittingtoni Londt, 1994 from western South Africa. Four new species, Microphontesericfisherisp. n. from the Little Karoo of South Africa, Microphontesgaiophanessp. n. from the Namib desert of Namibia and Microphontesjasonlondtisp. n. and Microphonteskryphiossp. n. from western South Africa, are described. Distribution, occurrence in biodiversity hotspots sensu Conservation International and seasonal incidence are discussed. Descriptions/redescriptions, photographs and identification keys are provided and made openly accessible in data repositories to support future studies of the included taxa. An unusual flight pattern of male Microphontesgaiophanessp. n. is discussed. A unique morphological feature on tergite 8 of Microphontes females, termed postero-paramedian T8 pores, is described, illustrated and discussed.

Vegetation responses to seasonal weather conditions and decreasing grazing pressure in the arid Succulent Karoo of South Africa

The Succulent Karoo biome is a renowned centre of biodiversity and endemism in the arid winter rainfall region of South Africa that is threatened by climate change. On 20 permanently marked plots within a biodiversity observatory, species richness and cover were assessed annually from 2002 to 2017 during the growing season. We were interested, firstly, in whether the vegetation showed any trends in response to the strong decrease in grazing pressure, which occurred at the beginning of the monitoring period, and secondly, in the effect of seasonal climate on the vegetation. We analysed the responses of species richness and cover in four life forms to seasonal rainfall and the standardised precipitation–evapotranspiration index (SPEI) using linear mixed-effect models. Time had a positive effect on richness of annual species and a negative effect on cover of shrubs and annuals, which increased in response to SPEI and less strongly to rainfall during autumn and winter. Habitat did not have any effect and geophytes and perennial herbs did not show any significant response. The importance of SPEI during autumn and winter is discussed in relation to potential germination cues and the projected decrease in rainfall and increase in temperature during these seasons.

Seasonal variability in fungal endophytes from Aizoaceae plants in the Succulent Karoo biodiversity hotspot, South Africa

All ten species of Aizoaceae screened in this study were populated with endophytes. Fifty nine fungal species from 25 genera, including fourteen rare species, were identified. Seasonal specificity was observed; with 32 and 21 fungal endophytes isolated only during the flowering and dry seasons, respectively. The genus Fusarium was the most abundant in samples from the flowering season, whilst Alternaria and Cladosporium were equally abundant in the dry season. Rarely isolated genera included Neophaeosphaeria, Periconia, Preussia, Schizothecium and Truncatella. Fusarium oxysporum, Paecilomyces victoriae and Talaromyces pinophilus were the largest contributors to the differences in community structure observed for fungal endophytes from the different seasons. Endophytic fungal richness was very high in comparison to other global arid regions. This is the first record of all these fungal species isolated from Aizoaceae plants in their endemic environment in the most biodiverse arid region in the world, the Succulent Karoo in South Africa.

Quantitative medicinal ethnobotany of Kannaland (western Little Karoo, South Africa): Non-homogeneity amongst villages

A detailed quantitative ethnobotanical study of the western part of the Little Karoo of South Africa (known as Kannaland), revealed a wealth of traditional medicinal plants and their uses that have hitherto remained unrecorded. The Matrix Method was used as experimental approach and for quantification and analysis of the data. The results showed a total of 196 medicinal plant species, 5300 medicinal anecdotes and 664 vernacular names, of which 53 species, 3323 anecdotes and 136 vernacular names have been recorded for the first for the Little Karoo. A summary of 120 ailments, together with the most popular remedy (or remedies) for each, is provided. Comparisons of the four study sites (villages) namely Barrydale, Zoar, Calitzdorp and Vanwyksdorp, revealed noteworthy differences, especially in the vernacular names that are used and in the total number of species and medicinal anecdotes. Vanwyksdorp (the most isolated village, without easy access to formal health care) provided the richest data, with a total of 290 vernacular names (of which 48 were newly recorded) and 2105 anecdotes (of which 1328 were newly recorded). A new quantitative index, the Homogeneity Index (HI) is proposed in order to evaluate the uniformity of data collected in different villages of a study area (or to compare different study areas). The HI values for Kannaland (for shared species, shared vernacular names and shared uses) were consistently below 0.5, thus supporting the notion that indigenous knowledge is not uniformly distributed. The study provides quantitative medicinal ethnobotanical data of high quality that will not only preserve indigenous knowledge for future generations but that can also be used in future comparative studies. It provides new insights into Cape Herbal Medicine, a medicinal system that had its origins in the poorly recorded Khoi-San and Cape Dutch medicinal traditions.

Revision of the ?Permian-Triassic Tetrapod Ichnogenus Procolophonichnium Nopcsa 1923 with Description of the New Ichnospecies P. lockleyi

Procolophonichnium is a globally distributed but rare tetrapod ichnogenus ranging from the ?Late Permian/Early Triassic through the Late Triassic. A Permian age of the holotype from the Karoo of South Africa, as has been proclaimed by some workers, is doubtful. Descriptions lack coordinates of the type locality but suggest instead a position in Lower Triassic strata. Procolophonichnium material from North and South Africa, central Europe, North and South America is re-evaluated. Furthermore, the new ichnospecies Procolophonichnium lockleyi from the Upper Triassic of the Germanic Basin is introduced, based on material with well-preserved trackways that show distinct morphological features, such as an extended “heel” behind digit V. Five ichnospecies are considered as valid: P. nopcsai (type ichnospecies), P. haarmuehlensis, P. nectouxi (new comb.) and P. polonicum as Procolophonichnium tracks from ?Upper Permian, Lower and Middle Triassic strata, and P. lockleyi ichnosp. nov. from the Upper Triassic. Trackmakers of Procolophonichnium were most likely therapsids based on the digit configuration and the phalangeal formula derived from preserved pads. A prococolophonid affinity, as was generally proclaimed, or the attribution to other groups such as captorhinids, is less probable.

A 13‐year record of erosion on badland sites in the Karoo, South Africa

AbstractLand degradation in South Africa has been of concern for more than 100 years with both climate change and inappropriate land management (overgrazing) being proposed as primary drivers. However, there are few quantitative studies of degradation and, in particular, few of erosion by water. Badlands, taken here to be the landform which results from extreme erosion, have been notably neglected. We report on 13 consecutive years of erosion pin measurements of badland erosion on 10 study sites in the Sneeuberg uplands of the eastern Karoo in South Africa. The study sites are on Holocene colluvium which mantles footslopes. They have been subject to overgrazing for at least 100 years, c. 1850–1950. Currently they are lightly grazed by sheep. The area receives about 500 mm rainfall per year. The sites are remote, with only informal, farmer‐operated, daily raingauges nearby. The nearest sub‐daily raingauge is c. 55 km distant. Also we report on an analysis of the erosion pin data which focuses on establishing the origins and context of the badlands, including the relationship between study sites and adjacent valley‐bottom gully systems; compare erosion rates on our study sites with rates determined by erosion pins on other badland sites; and discuss the implications of these erosion rates for landscape development and off‐site impacts. Net erosion rates on the study sites are relatively high compared with global badland rates and range from 3.1 to 8.5 mm yr‐1 which may be extrapolated to 53 to 145 t ha yr‐1 (using a measured bulk density of 1.7 g cm‐3). However, comparisons with badland sites elsewhere are difficult because of different measuring methodologies, lithologies, climate and dominant processes. Erosion rates on the study sites are strongly influenced by rainfall amounts and, in particular, by daily rainfall events which exceed ~10 mm: this is the threshold intensity at which runoff has been observed to commence on badlands. Of significance, but of lesser influence, is weathering, mainly by wetting and drying: this prepares bare surfaces for erosion. However, questions remain regarding the role of site characteristics, and of processes at each site, in determining between‐site differences in erosion rate. Crude extrapolation of current rates of erosion, in conjunction with depths of incision into the badlands, suggests that badland development started around 200 years ago, probably as a response to the introduction of European‐style stock farming which resulted in overgrazing. We assume, but cannot quantify, the additional influence of periods of drought and burning in the erosional history of the area. Intermittent connection of these badlands to valley‐bottom gullies and therefore to small farm dams and ultimately to large water storage reservoirs increases their impact on local water resources. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Life of a Story: Upper Karoo, South Africa, and Newark, New Jersey: A Conversation between a Folklorist and a Storyteller

Spanish folklorist Jose Manuel de Prada-Samper and I have been in conversation about stories and storytelling for many years. Recently, while working with descendants of Bushmen who had been considered no longer present in the Karoo of South Africa,1 Jose sent me a version of a story told by a woman named Katriena Swartz in 2011. Jose's work revealed the continuous existence of the |xam Bushmen of that area. version of the story he sent, called The Lion and the Boy, moved me deeply.I had been working with a community health clinic in Newark, New Jersey, under the auspices of Rutgers University. I was the outreach aspect of a violence prevention and health program. I created projects using storytelling for youth in the inner city. One afternoon, I retold The Lion and the Boy to twenty-three young people. It was a way of instigating focus, dialogue, and imaginative thinking in the group. girls sat on one side of a classroom with barred windows, arms akimbo. boys sat legs outstretched, leaning back, across the room. Other than a few black-and-white cartoon pictures, depicting generic emotions on round genderless faces, a red flower lay on a desk-found by a boy on his way to the class. It was the only living color in the room.The story of The Lion and the Boy felt related to their lives. I hoped that the dilemma in the tale would draw them into curiosity, concern, and association. I could not assume that those listening knew anything about Bushmen, their history, or way of thinking. So I gave a few details about the cultural origin of the tale. Speaking into the room the names of the Bushmen, of their Upper Karoo homeland, and of Africa itself evoked a sense of the past, of wonder, and of other worlds. As I began the story I had the sensation of words lifted from a page coming alive between us. As the group of young people listened, they also came to life. They leaned forward and relaxed their folded arms and legs as the story washed through them.My telling was in service of allowing each participant to respond to the story imaginatively, emotionally and physically, and to mirror violence-prevention techniques for the visiting staff. I reflected that engendering the audience's intense engagement retold the backstory's fundamental function: When we listen, we become that story. It is a moment-by-moment re-creation in minds and imaginations drawn out of self-preoccupation into the fullness of communal listening.The engaged storyteller, telling a cultural story as a shared experience, has respect for the text and its sources. But her primary responsibility is to those who listen. Jose, as a folklorist, has a primary responsibility to the one who has told the story as part of his or her ancestral heritage. His priority is to record, document, and preserve the unique performance and experience of the teller for the benefit of a culture and for research. What is important to both of us is a deep regard for the power of story, in the past and in the present. We are both invested in recognizing how stories transform in different situations, times of history, and places of telling.The tale began.Apoorfamily, who workedfor a wealthyfarmer, had one son. Thefarmer sometimes gave food to the family when it was needed.My audience, mainly children of immigrants, displaced persons, and minority families, had parents working for others, often doing menial jobs. They were dependent on meager salaries for survival. Many were undocumented. More than half of the youth grew up in homes where no English was spoken. setup of the story was familiar.Jose described the history of the tale as told by Katriena Swartz to her South African audience:The historical situation that informs the story (which most likely took form when the |xam hunter-gatherers were being forced to abandon their traditional lifestyle and become servants-or rather serfs-in the farms) would suggest that the farmer, rather than being kind and altruistic, was fostering a relationship of dependence with his laborers. …

‘Different people’ coming together: representations of alterity in ∣Xam Bushman (San) narrative

Colonial processes around the world had major impacts on the indigenous populations with whom colonists interacted – this is particularly true for small-scale populations that relied heavily on foraging subsistence practices. Historical sources that document these impacts are in the main highly skewed toward representations made by colonial populations themselves. The dominance of these representations forms a major challenge to attempts to reinterrogate colonial historical accounts of the processes of colonisation, and renders opaque the ways in which indigenous populations themselves understood and manipulated their historical interactions with ‘Others’. The Bleek–Lloyd archive – focusing on the ∣Xam Bushmen of the arid interior Karoo of South Africa – offers the opportunity both to question colonial presentations of ‘Bushman’ identities, and to explore Bushman representations of their 19th-century situation. This article discusses one aspect of these representations, focusing on the way in which ∣Xam individuals constructed ‘alien’ identities, and how these were manipulated in social discourse.

<I>Nicipe rosulata</I> (Ornithogaloideae, Hyacinthaceae), a New Species from the Little Karoo in South Africa, with a New Combination in the Genus

A new species of Nicipe from the Little Karoo in South Africa is here described. Nicipe rosulata sp. nov. is characterized by its (3-)5-8 short and broad, somewhat leathery leaves disposed in a basal rosette, its narrowly ovate, acute-apiculate capsules, and its long papillate-echinulate seeds. This species is at first sight related to Nicipe britteniae and Ornithogalum lithopsoides based on their short leaves with ciliate to fimbriate margins, but it differs in floral and vegetative characters that clearly support its recognition as a distinct species. Nicipe britteniae differs from N. rosulata by the hard, distichous, ensiform, conduplicate, and densely fimbriate leaves and the rugose seeds. Ornithogalum lithopsoides clearly differs by the more numerous and much thinner leaves, and the rugose seeds, among other characters. Here we provide a detailed morphological description for Nicipe rosulata, including ecological and chorological data, and discuss relationships with its close allies. Finally, the recently described Ornithogalum lithopsoides, also from the Little Karoo, clearly belongs to Nicipe based on the leathery rosulate leaves all arising nearly at the same level, the relatively small flowers, the tepals with a dark longitudinal band mostly visible on the abaxial side, and the small capsules and seeds. This new combination in the latter genus is also presented here.

<i>Ethesia tanquana</i> (Ornithogaloideae, Hyacinthaceae), a new species from the Tanqua Karoo (South Africa), with notes on <i>E. haalenbergensis</i>

Martinez-Azorin, M. & Crespo, M.B. 2012. Ethesia tanquana (Ornithogaloideae, Hyacinthaceae), a new species from the Tanqua Karoo (South Africa), with notes on E. haalenbergensis. Anales Jard. Bot. Madrid 69(2): 201-208. As a part of a taxonomic revision of Ethesia Raf., a new species, E. tanquana Mart.-Azorin & M.B.Crespo, is described from the Tanqua Karoo in South Africa. This new species is at first sight similar to E. haalenbergensis (U.Mull.-Doblies & D.Mull.-Doblies) Mart.-Azorin, M.B.Crespo & Juan and also E. xanthochlora (Baker) Mart.-Azorin, M.B.Crespo & Juan, but it differs in floral and vegetative characters as well as in its ecology and isolated distribution. A complete description, data on biology, habitat, and distribution of the new species are presented. An identification key for Ethesia and new data on the rare Namibian E. haalenbergensis are also given.

Sediment yield changes in the semi-arid Karoo: a palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of sediments accumulating in Cranemere Reservoir, Eastern Cape, South Africa

The history of sediment yield from a 57 km 2 catchment in the semi-arid Karoo of South Africa was reconstructed from the sediment stored in a reservoir at Cranemere dating back to 1843. The volume of sediment accumulating in the reservoir between different dates was estimated firstly by developing a core chronology based on Cs-137 and Pb-210 using gamma spectrometry and secondly by estimating volumetric changes from the depth of 17 cores located across the dry reservoir surface. The variation in sediment yield was interpreted in relation to historical changes in livestock management, rainfall patterns and catchment connectivity. Daily rainfall data were available from 1891. The results indicated low sediment yields until the 1950s, after which they increased rapidly up to the 1970s before declining gradually to the present day. There is historical evidence that accelerated erosion was initiated before the turn of the 19th Century due to high stock numbers and poor stock management until soil conservation practices were put in place during the 1950s. However, there is little evidence of this increase in erosion in the sedimentary record indicating that there were considerable lags between the onset of erosion and the sediment reaching the reservoir. The rapid increase in sedimentation after the 1950s is explained as a result of increased connectivity between the local sediment sinks and the reservoir following the construction of new culverts under a major road less than a kilometre upstream of the reservoir in the 1950s. Peak sediment yields of the 1970s coincide with high daily rainfalls and widespread flooding. The rainfall record indicates that daily rainfall maxima have increased since 1950, leading to potentially more erodible conditions. Our explanation of the increased sediment yields suggests that we need to examine more closely the links between catchment sources, local sinks within drainage lines and the final sink, the reservoir.

Expanding the conservation toolbox: conservation planning of multifunctional landscapes

An area of convergence appears to be emerging between the approaches of conservation planning and the concepts of multifunctional landscapes, which if exploited correctly may assist in overcoming the resource and other constraints faced by biodiversity conservation, while at the same time furthering the aims of multifunctional landscapes to improve production abilities and overall sustainability. Using a multi-zone conservation planning approach, we explore the conservation costs, benefits to biodiversity conservation and possible ecosystem service payments associated with various land-use configurations, in the Little Karoo of South Africa, in order to develop and showcase a multifunctional landscape planning approach and its data requirements, as well as the possible cost savings to conservation agencies. The study uses four conservation planning scenarios, five land-use types, their conservation costs and biodiversity benefits, as well as possible payments from carbon sequestration and tourism. We find that the costs and biodiversity benefits associated with different land-uses varies substantially between land-uses, and also spatially within a land-use type. By incorporating this variation into a multi-zone conservation planning approach land-uses can be allocated in a way that achieves biodiversity targets while at the same time reducing costs by up to 50 % when compared with traditional binary approaches to conservation. Despite some challenges presented by cost and ecosystem service value data and the determination of land-use impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services, the ability of conservation planning approaches to reflect differential contributions of particular land-uses to biodiversity targets and ecosystem services holds much potential for conservation planning, for multifunctional landscape objectives and for growing the resources and partnerships available to the establishment of sustainable and resilient landscapes.

The terrestrial Permian–Triassic boundary event bed is a nonevent: COMMENT

We welcome the fact that [Gastaldo et al. (2009)][1] have been continuing research in the Karoo of South Africa; those of us who have worked there know how important new research in this area is if we are to ever understand the causes of the Permian–Triassic mass extinction on land. However, here

Different contributions of ancient mitochondrial and Y-chromosomal lineages in ‘Karretjie people’ of the Great Karoo in South Africa

The Karretjie people of the South African Great Karoo are itinerants who subsist by sheep shearing. Although officially classified 'Coloured', they are aware of their Khoe and San roots. To investigate the maternal and paternal ancestries of the Karretjie people we analyzed their mitochondrial and Y-chromosome DNA variation. Their genetic ancestry was compared with a neighboring group of 'Coloured' individuals. We found that the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroup L0d was present in all the Karretjie people examined, suggesting a maternal contribution, exclusively from the Khoe and San, whereas the paternal ancestry in males was more heterogeneous. The Coloured sample, on the other hand, were found to have a lower frequency of L0d (64.5%), but did harbor other African (27.6%) and non-African (7.9%) mtDNA haplogroups. Similar to the Karretjie people, the Y-chromosome lineages identified in the Coloured group had heterogeneous origins. This study also enabled an assessment of mtDNA variation within L0d sub-haplogroups. All seven of the L0d sub-clades were identified in the combined sample and were used to construct an L0d network.

Generic Delimitations and Relationships of the Cape Genera Capnophyllum, Dasispermum, and Sonderina, the North African Genera Krubera and Stoibrax, and a New Monotypic Genus of the Subfamily Apioideae (Apiaceae)

Generic circumscriptions and phylogenetic relationships of the Cape genera Capnophyllum, Dasispermum, and Sonderina are explored through parsimony and Bayesian inference analyses of nrDNA ITS and cpDNA rps16 intron sequences, morphology, and combined molecular and morphological data. The relationship of these genera with the North African genera Krubera and Stoibrax is also assessed. Analyses of both molecular data sets place Capnophyllum, Dasispermum, Sonderina, and the only southern African species of Stoibrax (S. capense) within the newly recognized Lefebvrea clade of tribe Tordylieae. Capnophyllum is strongly supported as monophyletic and is distantly related to Krubera. The monotypic genus Dasispermum and Stoibrax capense are embedded within a paraphyletic Sonderina. This complex is distantly related to the North African species of Stoibrax in tribe Apieae, in which the type species, Stoibrax dichotomum, occurs. Consequently, Dasispermum is expanded to include both Sonderina and Stoibrax capense. New combinations are formalized for Dasispermum capense, D. hispidum, D. humile, and D. tenue. An undescribed species from the Tanqua Karoo in South Africa is also closely related to Capnophyllum and the Dasispermum–Sonderina complex. The genus Scaraboides is described herein to accommodate the new species, S. manningii. This monotypic genus shares the dorsally compressed fruit and involute marginal wings with Capnophyllum, but is easily distinguished by its erect branching habit, green leaves, scabrous umbels, and fruit with indistinct median and lateral ribs, additional solitary vittae in each marginal wing, and parallel, closely spaced commissural vittae. Despite the marked fruit similarities with Capnophyllum, analyses of DNA sequence data place Scaraboides closer to the Dasispermum–Sonderina complex, with which it shares the erect habit, green (nonglaucous) leaves, and scabrous umbels.

Small and sensitive to drought: consequences of aridifiation to the conservation of Homopus signatus signatus

Several climate models predict that the western Succulent Karoo in South Africa will aridi-fy. This region includes the range of the smallest tortoise, Homopus signatus signatus. Although the effects of rainfall on the physiology and ecology of H. s. signatus received attention in recent years, the results of these studies have not been integrated to facilitate conservation planning. Here we evaluate the importance of body size and the responses of H. s. signatus to rainfall variation to make recommendations for the taxon's conservation. The small body of H. s. signatus offers one solution to its habitat of low primary productivity and rocky slopes. Nevertheless, female fecundity and egg size increase with female size, and large eggs result in large hatchlings capable of surviving their harsh environment. Females accumulate nutrients in the rainfall season, winter, but also in the dry season, to enable the production of large eggs. Egg production decreases during drought, although some females continue to channel resources to reproduction, apparently at the cost of their own growth. Reduced fecundity and growth, a result of aridification, would likely lower the production of large eggs and hatchlings. Therefore, conservation measures that reduce the mortality of large females may aid population sus-tainability. Because egg and hatchling size might drop below a minimum viable size in an aridified environment, H. s. signatus conservation would benefit from the development of suitable habitat corridors to enable tortoise movements to regions that will receive sufficient rainfall in the future.