The effects of recent landuse on a fynbos site

Bibliographical references.Landuse from 1920 to 1981 on the Fynbos Biome Research site at Pella, approximately 40 kilometres north of Cape Town, South Africa, and its immediate environs was studied to investigate possible causal relationships between Landuse and management practices and the resultant ecosystem. Fire has constituted the major perturbation in recent history. Prior to 1960 the Fynbos Site was intentionally fired on a 3 to 4 year rotation, possibly effecting net nutrient losses to the system. After 1960, unintentional burning occurred on average every 7 years. The Fynbos Site has been lightly browsed by livestock from 1920 to 1976 and bushcut between 1965 and 1970, with minimal long-term effects. Gravel quarry pits were dug in 1971 and subsequently abandoned, constituting disturbed soils prone to colonisation by invasive acacias. The increase in cultivated land surrounding the site after 1962 served to isolate the fynbos stand from nearby fynbos communities and exacerbate erosion of soils and their subsequent deposition on the Fynbos Site. Extraneous transformation of land has served to facilitate the progressive encroachment of pest plants, principally Acacia Saligna and A. cyclops, on the Fynbos Site. The uncontrolled spread of these plants poses severe threat to the persistence of this fynbos stand. The need to incorporate possible extraneous influences on potential conservation areas into management considerations is discussed, as is the importance of size and shape of a conservation-worthy area and the need to plan viable networks of reserves in the coastal lowlands of the Western Cape