No Frosty Here...

Merry Christmas in summer?!?

Well, I am not a fan of snow so it will certainly be a merry one for me!

Christmas in South Africa (or at least in the Western Cape) consists of having braai's (barbecues) and relaxing on the beach. Simply put: eating and swimming.

I am ok with that.

(FYI: every holiday is celebrated with a braai. I really think that some holidays here were invented simply to have braai's. In fact, South Africa even has a National Braai Day (aka Heritage Day)! So in reality, it seems all holidays are exactly the same.)

Presents and Santa Claus are not much of a thing among the indigenous cultures here. Those with Western/European ties and white South Africans might buy into the Christmas tree and some other holiday aspects; but I learned from a few of my labmates that the hallmarks of Christmas for them are 1) getting a brand new outfit, 2) wearing it to church, and 3)eating LOTS of food.

I would also be very much okay with that!

And as the summer heat has broken upon us, I have become frequently sunburned while clambering over these mountain slopes collecting plants. Although the frogs are silent, the blooms are a never ending, overlapping sequence of comers and goers. It is wonderful to have so many species in the field (or "veld", pronounced "felt") because there is always something exploding with color!

 

Erica plukenetti

 

It's not always possible to identify species in the field (especially as I am still learning!) so I give a descriptive name to each unknown plant and press it in my "Bible":

 

 

So for each of the plots, I am developing a list of species and their abundances. As I mentioned in a previous lab note, the former plantations in this catchment were cleared, but less attention paid to areas that weren't planted, but that were often invaded.

 

You can see on the far mountain slope in the top right corner of this picture, a dark patch of pines. The slope below it, a former plantation, has been cleared. Also on the far mountain in the top left, there are pines all over the highest ragged slopes.

Is this a viable strategy for clearing catchments? Can we call it a success?

Comparing the vegetation in this catchment to that of a reference site can help us determine to what degree this approach is achieving vegetation restoration.

And guess what? If any of you botanists want to have a crack at helping me ID some vegetation, I've been posting photos on iSpot! (Go to "Explore Community" -> "Map"->zoom in to the Berg River dam area ( -33.926917, 19.060779) ->click on "show more observations"). Click on the glowing numbers and a list of images will come up; most if not all should be from user "JF" (me!)

...And for all you herp enthusiasts, look who crawled out of the dam one day: a parrot-beaked tortoise!