Effect of Land Cover and Ecosystem Mapping on Ecosystem‐Risk Assessment in the Little Karoo,South Africa |
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Authors: | KARINE PAYET MATHIEU ROUGET KAREN J ESLER BELINDA Reyers TONY REBELO MARK W THOMPSON JAN H J VLOK |
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Institution: | 1. Biodiversity Planning Unit, SANBI, , Pretoria 0001 South Africa;2. Department of Conservation Ecology & Entomology, Faculty of AgriSciences, Stellenbosch University, , Matieland,, 7602 South Africa;3. School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences, , Private Bag x001, Scottsville 3209 South Africa;4. Centre for Invasion Biology, Stellenbosch University, , South Africa;5. CSIR Natural Resources and the Environment, , P.O. Box 320, South Africa;6. Threatened Species and Ecosystems, SANBI, Kirstenbosch Research Centre, , Claremont, 7735 South Africa;7. GeoTerraImage (GTI) (Pty) Ltd, , P.O. Box 295 Pretoria 0020, South Africa;8. Regalis Environmental Services, , P.O. Box 1512, South Africa |
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Abstract: | Extinction‐risk assessments aim to identify biological diversity features threatened with extinction. Although largely developed at the species level, these assessments have recently been applied at the ecosystem level. In South Africa, national legislation provides for the listing and protection of threatened ecosystems. We assessed how land‐cover mapping and the detail of ecosystem classification affected the results of risk assessments that were based on extent of habitat loss. We tested 3 ecosystem classifications and 4 land‐cover data sets of the Little Karoo region, South Africa. Degraded land (in particular, overgrazed areas) was successfully mapped in just one of the land‐cover data sets. From <3% to 25% of the Little Karoo was classified as threatened, depending on the land‐cover data set and ecosystem classification applied. The full suite of threatened ecosystems on a fine‐scale map was never completely represented within the spatial boundaries of a coarse‐scale map of threatened ecosystems. Our assessments highlight the importance of land‐degradation mapping for the listing of threatened ecosystems. On the basis of our results, we recommend that when budgets are constrained priority be given to generating more‐detailed land‐cover data sets rather than more‐detailed ecosystem classifications for the assessment of threatened ecosystems. El Efecto de la Cobertura Terrestre y el Mapeo de Ecosistemas en la Valoración de Riesgos en los Ecosistemas en Little Karoo, Sudáfrica |
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Keywords: | conservation planning habitat loss land degradation red lists spatial scale threat status threatened ecosystem vegetation map degradació n de la tierra ecosistema amenazado escala espacial estado de amenaza listas rojas mapa de vegetació n pé rdida de há bitat planificació n de la conservació n |
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