Field Guide to the Clarens Village Conservancy, A

Rodney Moffett

Description

With the scenic village of Clarens located on the western edge of the Maloti-Drakensberg, the Clarens Village Conservancy offers a taste of biodiversity quite special to this region: it forms an area of overlap between western arid elements, moist eastern elements, Afromontane elements, and Drakensberg alpine elements. As such, there is a treat for adventurers around every corner in this rugged environment. Thanks to active and well-managed civic organisations such as the Clarens Village Conservancy, this natural heritage will not go unappreciated. We are truly privileged to live and work in this environment, and hope that this Field Guide will inspire many visitors to come to marvel at our mountains and its treasures.

Sujets

• Littérature Sud-Africaine
• Littérature sud-africaine
• Lichen
• HIStory
• Mycota
• FISH
• Végétation
• Formation
• Flora
• The Frogs
• Molteno
• Snake
• Flowers
• Clarens
• Climber
• Drakensberg
• Trees
• Climbing
• Climate
• Geology
• Mammal
• Weather
• Frog
• Bulb
• Shrub
• Ferns
• Topography
• Grassland
• Vegetation
• HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I
• Colluvium
• Fish (disambiguation)
• Golden Gate Highlands National Park
• Succulent plant
• Fungus
• Elliot Formation
• Fungi
• Hibridación fluorescente in situ
• Ranas
• Bulbs
• Lizards
• Frogs
• Mammals
• Shrubs
• Succulents

Informations

• Publié par: UJ Press
• Date de parution: 01 décembre 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781928424215
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 7 Mo

Extrait

A FIELD GUIDE TO THE CLARENS VILLAGE CONSERVANCY

RODNEY MOFFETT

A FIELD GUIDE TO THE CLARENS VILLAGE CONSERVANCY

Wim Wynbenga

Cotyledon orbiculata |

RODNEY MOFFETT

A Field Guide to the Clarens Village Conservancy

Published by Sun Media Bloemfontein (Pty) Ltd.

Imprint: SunBonani Scholar

All rights reserved

Copyright © 2018Sun Media Bloemfontein and the author.

This publication was subjected to an independent double-blind peer evaluation by the publisher.

Theauthor and the publisher have made every effort to obtain permission for and acknowledge the use of copyrighted material. Refer all inquiries to the publisher.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic, photographic or mechanical means, including photocopying and recording on record, tape or laser disk, on microfilm, via the Internet, by e-mail, or by any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission by the publisher.

Views reected in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher.

ISBN 978-1-928424-20-8 ISBN 978-1-928424-21-5 (e-book) https://doi.org/10.18820/9781928424215

Set in Segoe UI 9/12.5 pt Cover design, typesetting and production by Sun Media Bloemfontein Cover image: Red hairy heath,Erica cerinthoides. © Photo by Wim Wybenga

Research, academic and reference works are published under this imprint in print and electronic format.

This printed copy can be ordered directly from: [e-mail] The e-book is available at the following link:https://doi. org/10.18820/9781928424215

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Disclaimer .......................................................................................................... 1

Message from the Chairman, Clarens Village Conser vancy .................... 3

Foreword ........................................................................................................... 5

Acknowledgements ......................................................................................... 7

Introduction ...................................................................................................... 9

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CLARENS HISTORY.................................................. 11

CONSERVANCIES & THE CLARENS VILLAGE CONSERVANCY.......................14................

CLIMATE & WEATHER............................................ 16

TOPOGRAPHY & GEOLOGY.................................. 20

Molteno Formation ....................................................... 21 Elliot Formation .............................................................. 21 Clarens Formation ......................................................... 22 Drakensberg Formation ............................................... 23 Colluvium ........................................................................ 23

VEGETATION............................................................... 24

Slopes: Gm 5: Basotho Montane Shrubland ............. 24 Higher Grassland: Gd 5. Northern Drakensberg Highland Grassland ....................................................... 27

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

REFERENCES

APPENDIX 1

APPENDIX 2

APPENDIX 3

FLORA........................................................................... 29

6.1 Trees and shrubs ................................................... 29 6.2 Flowers ................................................................... 42  White owers................................................... 42  Yellow owers46...................................................  Blue owers...................................................... 52  Brown to pink and red owers...................... 55 6.3 Climbers ................................................................. 59 6.4 Succulents .............................................................. 63 6.5 Bulbs ....................................................................... 67 6.6 Grasses and grass-like ......................................... 72 6.7 Prominent alien invaders .................................... 79 6.8 Ferns ....................................................................... 84 6.9 Fungi ....................................................................... 87 6.10 Lichens ................................................................... 89

ANIMALS......................................................................

7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7

91

Frogs ....................................................................... 91 Snakes .................................................................... 97 Lizards .................................................................... 99 Fish .......................................................................... 102 Birds ......................................................................... 104 Mammals ............................................................... 115 Other mammals which are known to be in the area and which may be seen or heard ............. 122

........................................................................................... 124

A checkli of ferns and seed plants of Golden Gate Highlands National Park ....................... 128

A li of birds for the Clarens area, recorded by the bird atlas project .............................. 145

Emergency telephone numbers .................................. 150

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In some inances a description of a plant will include its use by the Basotho. These uses, and especially those used medicinally, have been sourced from the literature, and not tried or teed by the author. Persons sampling them do so at their own risk.

A Field Guide to the Clarens Village Conservancy 1

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN, CLARENS VILLAGE CONSERVANCY

It gives me great pleasure to recommend this Field Guide to theClarens Village Conservancy. Having an accurate description of the environment and ora and fauna of the conser vancy will make a visit to it far more meaningful.

At this time, with ever-increasing pressure by burgeoning populations to utilise vacant land, the residents of, and visitors to Clarens, are fortunate to have the beneît of almo 800 ha of unspoilt countr yside to enjoy. It is a landscape and environment of great beauty with many wild owers and attractive shrubs in the shrub- and grassland vegetation, providing a haven for wild life ranging from the smalle insects to frogs, lizards, snakes, birds and mammals as large as the Grey Rhebuck, as well as providing a refuge for rare and endangered plants, such as the rare pink Hesperantha schelpeana.

A total of 20 km of walking and cycling trails, var ying from easy level walks to slightly more diïcult ones, oer the added attraction of unsurpassed views of the Maloti mountains across the Little Caledon and Caledon River valleys.

The conser vancy, eablished in 2004, is a Non-Governmental Organization managed by a voluntar y committee, and incorporates the Clarens Nature Reser ve, proclaimed in 1984. It has a good working relationship with the Dihlabeng Municipality, which body also makes a înancial contribution to the running cos needed to maintain the conser vancy. These cos include the wages of full-time and part-time rangers. Further contributions are received from membership fees, donations and fundraising events.

A Field Guide to the Clarens Village Conservancy 3

An unforeseen major expense, for which considerable funding is required, is the repair to the Kloof dam in the weern part of the conser vancy, and I am grateful to Prof Moett for compiling this îeld guide, the proceeds of which will contribute in a small way to the required funds.

Dr William Mülders

Chairman Clarens Village Conser vancy Management Committee.

Clarens Village Conservancy

4 A Field Guide to the Clarens Village Conservancy

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Field guides have become the foremo means of representing our invaluable natural heritage in formats easy to access for both the layman and the academic. As such they are a vital means of conveying to us glimmers of the biodiversity richness of our countr y. As South Africa is one of the top ten mo biodiverse countries in the World, the value of our high quality, world leading îeld guides will never be exhaued. Field guides also oer a means to help bridge age, social, cultural, racial and economic divides through inspiring a common love for the land and its creatures that God has entrued us to look after.

With the scenic village of Clarens located on the weern edge of the Maloti-Drakensberg, the Clarens Village Conser vancy oers a tae of biodiversity quite special to this region: it forms an area of overlap between weern arid elements, moi eaern elements, Afromontane elements, and Drakensberg alpine elements. As such, there is a treat for adventurers around ever y corner in this rugged environment. Thanks to active and well- managed civic organisations such as the Clarens Village Conser vancy, this natural heritage will not go unappreciated. As the Afromontane Research Unit we salute such endeavours.

In thisField Guide to the Clarens Village ConservancyMoett has Prof produced a labour of love that embodies both his love for detail and his love for the practical. Having experienced îr-hand the generous sharing of his knowledge in an academic context, it is a privilege to compile a Foreword for a book that exempliîes this sharing in a community context. He has been a member of our academic and eaern Free State community for many years, and we honour the years of wisdom and experience he holds.

A Field Guide to the Clarens Village Conservancy 5