Exploring the biodiversity of the Grasslands National Park
In a remote mountainous area south of Lesotho, lies an amazing piece of South Africa, home to impressive biodiversity and landscapes, waiting to be discovered. Covering about 30 000ha, the soon to be proclaimed national park brought together a group of specialists from various taxonomic fields and institutions for a week. Besides admiring the gorgeous views and breath-taking landscapes, the group conducted a BioBlitz, an event focused on finding and identifying as many species as possible over a short period of time.
This waterfall on the Batlokoa Communal land near the Lesotho border, Eastern Cape, is one of many spectacular waterfalls to be found in the new proposed Grasslands National Park. © Melanie de Morney.
The aim of the Bioblitz was to understand more about species distributions and ecosystems in the park’s footprint. The new park will specifically protect grassland, one of South Africa’s least protected biomes. Not much biodiversity data exist for the area, so an event like this is a great way of quickly improving knowledge on biodiversity. It is important to know what there is to protect before it can be protected.
The BioBlitz event, jointly organized by SANBI, WWF-SA and SANParks, resulted in around 50 specialists from various universities, museums, conservation organisations and private consultancies, coming together in February of this year. Taxonomic expertise covered various insect groups from freshwater and terrestrial habitats, birds, amphibians, reptiles and spiders, as well as ecosystem specialists looking at the plant communities, wetlands and land degradation.
Dragonfly, beetle and spider “hunters” on Glen Avice, a private farm enroute to Maclear in the Eastern Cape. © Melanie de Morney.
The enthusiasm of the Bioblitz team was infectious and inspiring. All involved were eager to collect as many species as possible and took advantage of every available opportunity to sample. For once, a vehicle being stuck along the muddy and rocky roads, was not seen as a disaster but as a chance to collect. Once given the go ahead at the official stops, the experts dispersed and were not seen again for many hours. A summary of species data will be available in due course but there are sure to be many new species not found before.
At 2500m above sea level, the view from South Africa’s highest mountain pass, Naude’s Nek, shows the extensive grasslands that South Africa’s newest national park will protect. © Melanie de Morney.
The Grasslands National Park, once it is officially proclaimed, will be the result of a collaboration between SANParks and WWF-SA, and plans are to incorporate private land by establishing biodiversity stewardship agreements with various landowners. The region is one of South Africa’s key strategic water source areas and an important corridor that will help species to ‘weather’ climate change.
The experience left the SANParks team enthusiastic about the possibilities. The fresh air, pristine rivers and high paced field work, although exhausting, left the team exhilarated and eager to return. Unanimously, the interactions with so many scientists was brain food just as the amazing scenery was enriching.
Some of the Bioblitz members enroute to sample on the peak above the Rifle Spruit River near Rhodes. © Melanie de Morney.
SANParks invertebrate scientist Hendrik Sithole is showing Caswell Munyai (myrmecologist and senior lecturer, UKZN) and Nokubonga Thabethe (UKZN) the macroinvertebrates found in the Little Pot River, near Maclear. © Melanie de Morney.
The Bioblitz event brought together specialists from various universities, museums, conservation organisations and private consultancies. ©Angus Burns/WWF South Africa
Rhodes, a small town nestled in the Eastern Cape Highlands, hosted the first leg of the Bioblitz. © Wessel Vermeulen.
A true stonefly larva from the Perlidae family found in the Rifle Spruit River. The presence of this special insect indicates near-pristine water quality. © Melanie de Morney.
Hendrik Sithole busy conducting a SASS aquatic biomonitoring survey along the Rifle Spruit River. SASS (South African Scoring System) is used to gauge the health of freshwater systems. © Melanie de Morney.
The Little Pot River on the Woodcliffe Private Farm near Maclear appears to be in a near pristine condition at this site close to the headwaters of the stream. It is streams like this that makes the protection of the area so important, these streams eventually feed rivers downstream that provide water to the larger Eastern Cape cities. © Melanie de Morney.
A Minnow mayfly (Family: Baetidae) found in the Little Pot River. These mayflies were almost three times the size of those seen at other sites, which may indicate that they are very happy in this “healthy” river. © Melanie de Morney.
Some more examples of the “cute” insect larvae found in the Rifle Spruit River; stream mayflies (Heptageniidae, left) and net-spinning caddisflies (Hydropsychidae, right). © Melanie de Morney.
Melanie de Morney, fauna biotechnician, admiring the view on the way to the sample site on Woodcliffe Farm near Maclear. © Hendrik Sithole.
This story was also published in the 2021/2022 Research Report.
