Karoo BioGaps
To document fauna and flora in the Greater Karoo region by participation
Currently the Karoo is poorly surveyed for biodiversity (indigenous animals and plants) and there are large gaps in our understanding of which species occur in which parts of the Karoo. There is a need for field surveys to be conducted to discover which plants and animals occur in which habitats.
Information gathered from the fieldwork in the Karoo will allow us to gain a clear understanding of species distribution patterns and allow us to determine which species are common and widespread and which are rare and restricted only to certain areas of the Karoo. Such assessments are critical to determine priority habitats that may be sensitive to future proposed changes in landuse. The collection of baseline information on animals and plants is therefore important to inform development planning
We strongly encourage people to go out into the Karoo landscape and document the biodiversity of the area.
PLEASE NOTE: Make an effort to get the permission of the landowners before going onto their land.
You can contact the CREW team for contact details we have available for landowners and sites. We can also give you a list of sites that we would like visited.
Contact: Gigi Laidler - G.Laidler@sanbi.org.za or Ismail Ebrahim - I.Ebrahim@sanbi.org.za
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iSpot Log:
20 April 2016 - 12:28PM Tony Rebelo
Kewl!!!
Over 3 400 observations and counting ...
15 August 2016 - 9:12PM Tony Rebelo
As of now: 3 758 Observations
18 January 2017 - 8:15AM Tony Rebelo
As of now: 4 271 observations
6 March 2017 - 6:36PM Tony Rebelo
Over 5 500 observations
1 December 2016 - 10:43PM Tony Rebelo
We have a number of projects:
PLEASE HELP WITH ID:
Note: this is just for observations without IDs, IDs to family or generic level need to be obtained from spreadsheets supplied by iSpot.
Note: the list tab is best for evaluating IDs, the map is best for zooming in on areas, the gallery for a quick scan
Numbers: (UnID is only from Biogaps)
Plants sA: 132 761 (14 795 taxa) BioGaps: 3617 unID: 655
Fungi and lichens sA: 6 112 (465 taxa) BioGaps: 284 unID: 8
Vertebrates: sA: BioGaps: 916 unID: 2 http://www.ispotnature..defunct
- Mammals sA: 6 200 (324 taxa) BioGaps: 350 UnID: 2 (one skull, one dung)
- Reptiles & Amphibians sA: 7 270 (518 taxa) BioGaps: 243 UnID: 0
- Freshwater fish (not easy to pull out) sA (all fish): 9 080 (941 taxa) BioGaps: 10 UnID: 0
Invertebrates sA: 7 162 (522 taxa), excl. arthr & moll) BioGaps: 654 unID: 18 (since curated = 0)
- Chelicerae sA: 5 475 (580 taxa)
Insects sA: 37 757 (4 061 taxa)
Scorpions (Scorpiones) sA: 538 BioGaps: 15
rank CountOfID
Family 1
Genus 29
Species 432
Grasshoppers (Orthoptera): sA: 1 975 BioGaps: 75
rank CountOfID
Order 68
Family 849
Genus 249
Species 748
Other 40
Butterflies (Papilionoidea) sA: 5 378 BioGaps: 129
Spiders (Araneae) sA: 4 087 BioGaps: 41
Dragonflies (Odonata) sA: 2 462 BioGaps: 25
rank CountOfID
Order 10
Family 65
Genus 89
Species 1914
Other 92
Bees (Apoidea) sA: 1 215 BioGaps: 14
rank CountOfID
Family 172
Tribe 75
Genus 283
Species 533
Other 168
Plants – Biogaps region only: observations: note 655 observations undidentified – http://www.ispotnature.org/projects/karoo-biogaps-help-with-ids
Asteraceae 499
Aizoaceae 379
Iridaceae 212
Crassulaceae 193
Poaceae 109
Euphorbiaceae 86
Compiled for the BioGaps team for planning the 2017 field season.
18 May 2017 - 10:57PM Tony Rebelo
Summary as of now (May 1):
The numbers are observations.
Shown in brackets is proportion ID to species; for those groups that species ID is problematic, proportion to genus+species is also shown).
518 Observations with no identification, so could belong below - mainly to plants.
For groups the number of species recorded to date is also noted.
VERTEBRATES
BIRDS (508) (99% spp) 188 species recorded
Family: 2; Genus: 3; Species: 503
FISH (6) (100% spp) 4 species recorded
Species 6
HERPS (257) (93% spp). 83 species recorded
Amphibia (48) (88% spp)
Order 2; Genus 4; Species 42
Snakes & LIzards (Lepidosauromorpha) (165) (92% spp)
Order 2; Family 3: Genus 4; Species 156
Tortoises (Anapsida) (50) (100% spp)
Species 50
MAMMALS (357) (97% spp) 73 species recorded
Order 1; Family 5; Genus 1; Species 350
INVERTEBRATES
INSECTS: (1087) (39% spp) 215 species recorded
Higher 181; Family 264; Below 41; Genus 171; Species 428
Grasshoppers (Orthoptera): (108) (30% spp; 51% genspp)
Order 1; Family 46: Subfamily 6; Genus 23; Species 32
Butterflies (Papilionoidea) (141) (93% spp)
Superfamily 2; Subfamily 1; Genus 7; Species 131
Dragonflies (Odonata) (26) (93% spp)
Order 1; Genus 1; Species 24
Bees (Apoidea) (22) (41% sppl 64% genspp)
Superfamily 2; Family 6; Genus 5; Species 9
CHELICERATES: (89) (39% spp) 23 species recorded
Above 16; Family 14; Genus 24; Species 35
Spiders (Araneae) (38) (47% spp; 79%; genspp)
Order 2; Family: 6; Genus: 12; Species: 18
Scorpions (Scorpiones) (20) (75% spp)
Order 1; Genus 4; Species 15
CRUSTACEA (11) (55% spp) 3 species recorded
Above 3; Family 1; Genus 1; Species 6
FUNGI: (367) (10% spp) 21 species recorded
Class 271; Family 6; Genus 54; Species 37
PLANTS: (6861) (59% spp) 1445 species recorded
Above 73; Family 820; Subfamily 5; Genus 1900; Species 4063
Asteraceae (1472) (53% spp)
Family: 280; Genus: 419; Species: 773
Poaceae (429) (38% spp)
Family 210; Genus 56; Species 163
Crassulaceae (356) (90% spp)
Family 19; Genus 18; Species 319
Aizoaceae (586) (55% spp)
Family 116; Subfamily 1; Genus 146; Species 323
Iridaceae (230) (82% spp)
Family 2; Subfamily: 1; Genus 39; Species 188
Euphorbiaceae (181) (86% spp)
Family 0; Genus 26; Species 155
31 May 2017 - 1:26PM Tony Rebelo
Currently 9 153 observations.
2 June 2017 - 11:27AM Tony Rebelo
current status: 9 817 observations
vertebrates: 1 117 observations
invertebrates: 1 236 observations
fungi and lichens: 518 observations
22 August 2017 - 3:17PM miked
12 970 observations 22/8/2017
Hi all!
Rookie question: would you consider Tankwa Karoo part of Nama Karoo? If not, why? (More than one year and a half in SA and I'm still struggling with the Karoo subdividions).
Thanks!
Marco
Is it dominated by succulents and daisies (SK) or grasses and daisies (NK)?
Briefly:
the winter rainfall area is Succulent Karoo dominated by succulents
the summer rainfall area is Nama Karoo dominated by summer-growing grasses.
So there is no issue for the Great Karoo on the escarpment (apart from a small area around Sutherland that gets winter rainfall): it is all Nama Karoo.
Similarly, Richtersveld, Kamiesberg, Knersvlakte, Tankwa, Little and Robertson Karoo are all Succulent Karoo.
The problem is the lowland Karoo from Touwsrivier to Laingsburg to Beaufort West (and perhaps to Camdeboo: but there we get into Albany Thicket): is it Nama or Succulent Karoo? The three units group into the "Lower Nama Karoo". I think mostly Succulent, but Mucino thinks Nama. It does have more grass than most Succulent Karoo, but it has more succulents than most Nama Karoo. I guess the bottom line is when does it recruit and flower: and like most semi-desert systems the answer is "after rains" which is most unhelpful.
Thanks! A friend suggested to do my homework by reading Mucina and Rutherford's "The vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland" (Strelitzia 19, 2006). I'm sure you know it already but here is the link: http://biodiversityadvisor.sanbi.org/literature/4327-2/strelitzia/
Cheers!
Marco
ID status report: June 2018
Taxon ID Family to > Genus ID Genus ID Species TOTAL Taxa
Total 3 705 4 609 7 990 17 175 2 592
PLANTS 1 727 (470 above) 4 095 5 361 11 716 1 632
Iridaceae 12 75 227 314 81
Apocynaceae 8 42 117 167 27
Crassulaceae 25 75 205 303 55
Geraniaceae 7 70 167 247 46
Fabaceae 113 151 221 485 73
Aizoaceae 186 370 458 1 014 143
Asteraceae 552 960 835 2 346 244
Poaceae 569 112 294 975 88
Taxon ID Family to > Genus ID Genus ID Species
Total 21.6% 26.8% 46.5%
PLANTS 14.7% 35.0% 45.8%
Iridaceae 3.8% 23.9% 72.3%
Apocynaceae 4.8% 25.1% 70.1%
Crassulaceae 8.3% 24.8% 67.7%
Geraniaceae 2.8% 28.3% 67.6%
Fabaceae 23.3% 31.1% 45.6%
Aizoaceae 18.3% 36.5% 45.2%
Asteraceae 23.5% 40.9% 35.6%
Poaceae 58.4% 11.5% 30.2%
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