1. From insular protected areas to prioritised biodiversity networks at a landscape level

2. On National Parks…they… "have not drawn us into a more thoughtful relationship with our habitat, They have not taught us that land is to be used frugally and with good sense. They have encouraged us to believe that conservation is merely a system of trading environmental write-offs against large protected areas. They more than failed; in fact they have become a symptom of the problem" (Van Tighem 1986). This approach was paralleled by an approach where a single umbrella, or charismatic species, was identified, and natural areas put aside for its conservation

3. Ecosystems are now seen as producing indispensable benefits for the economy, public health and general welfare of human beings 1)regulation of the composition of atmospheric gases 2)regulation of the hydrological cycle 3)control of erosion 4)maintenance of the energy flow through the ecosystem 5)maintenance of biogeochemical cycles 6)transfer of nutrients 7)pollination of plants 8)biological control of populations 9)preservation of biological diversity 10)storage and supply of water 11)production of food and animal materials, and 12)development of human habitat for leisure and culture. 1)regulation of the composition of atmospheric gases 2)regulation of the hydrological cycle 3)control of erosion 4)maintenance of the energy flow through the ecosystem 5)maintenance of biogeochemical cycles 6)transfer of nutrients 7)pollination of plants 8)biological control of populations 9)preservation of biological diversity 10)storage and supply of water 11)production of food and animal materials, and 12)development of human habitat for leisure and culture.

4. The role of Landscape Ecology in biodiversity Networks? Landscape ecology has contributed to conservation biology and can be considered as the study of interactions between landscape pattern and ecological processes.  Seeks to identify relationships so as to maintain delivery of environmental goods and services.  Provides a hierarchical framework to interpret structure, function, change and stability of systems.  Also seeks to access the integrity of ecosystems i.e. connectivity, heterogeneity and fragmentation.

5. 1. Unfragmented stage (<10% destroyed) 1. Unfragmented stage (<10% destroyed) Meta-population Theory Island Biogeography Fragmentation Fragmentation associated with Urban and Agricultural expansion and catogorised into four stages: 2. Variegated stage (10 – 40% destroyed) 2. Variegated stage (10 – 40% destroyed) 4. Relict stage (> 90% destroyed) 4. Relict stage (> 90% destroyed) 3. Fragmented stage (40 – 60% destroyed) 3. Fragmented stage (40 – 60% destroyed)

6.  Maintenance of ecosystem processes requires the flow of energy, matter, information, physical factors and biotic factors  Corridors maintain ecological flows and are divided into: Structural Functional Legal Connectivity Size, shape and habitat Size, shape and habitat Stakeholders physical linear elements physical linear elements Dispersal and/or Migration Dispersal and/or Migration Policy and law

7. Prioritization Of Corridors  Actual or historical presence of species dispersion  Actual or historical presence of species migration routes  Actual, historical or proposed presence of movements of individual  Actual or historical presence of species dispersion  Actual or historical presence of species migration routes  Actual, historical or proposed presence of movements of individual

8. Biodiversity or ecological networks?  Biodiversity vs. ecological network...  Dichotomy between species criteria and habitat criteria when reviewing biodiversity networks  Role of systematic conservation planning? Species-based conservation  Each species distribution is known  Uses one or few target Species identified as key or flagship species Species-based conservation  Each species distribution is known  Uses one or few target Species identified as key or flagship species Habitat-based conservation  Secures ecological processes and services  Buffers against extinction  Includes immigration and emigration processes Habitat-based conservation  Secures ecological processes and services  Buffers against extinction  Includes immigration and emigration processes

9.  Rarity or endemism is critical for systematic conservation  Concept of complementarity  Planning using keystone species – biodiversity species approach  Planning for fragmentation and habitat loss  Sensitivity and habitat loss  Prioritization-linked implementation Cont...

11.  2001/2002 a project aimed at identifying a representative conservation network initiated by the Environmental Management, CCT.  Representative of biodiversity  Scientifically rigorous (Systematic Conservation Prioritization principles)  Approach used similar to that used for the C.A.P.E. and SKEP projects  Established Conservation Targets using vegetation types and species.  Vegetation types identified and used as the primary biodiversity layer. Low 2000  Vegetation layer was based on the combined use of geology, rainfall and landscape form.  Floral data complemented this from the Protea Atlas and Species and Sites data base (Coastec)

12. Shales Granites Sandstones CalcareousSubstrates AcidSands Precipitation>700 mm p.a. Precipitation<700 mm p.a. DuneThicket Sand Plain Fynbos MountainFynbos Dune Thicket-Sandplain Fynbos Transition DS Ms Dc Sand Limestone Dl Marine Sm Recent Inland Sq Older Inland Si Mq Recent Inland Koppies Mgk Mountains Mg Koppies Mshk Mountains Msh West Coast Renosterveld Wsh Recent Inland Wq

13. Mountain Fynbos  on granite  on granite koppies  on Shale  on on Shale >80mm Rainfall  on Sandstone  non-marine derived acid sands

14. Sand Plain Fynbos  on inland, non- marine-derived (older) acid sands  on marine-derived acid sands  non-marine- derived recent acid sands

15.  on calcareous sand  on limestone  transition with dune thicket Dune Thicket

16. Renosterveld  on granite  on shale  inland, non- marine-derived  clay/loam sandy loam

17.  An initial set of 886 remnants were identified from high resolution imagery  This study identified a set of 261 remnants (32 262ha) – C-Plan analysis  This complemented an existing protected areas representing about 54 293 ha  Corridors were then identified, which linked the following significant areas; Zandvlei, Macassar, Gordons Bay, Cape Point, Noordhoek Wetlands, West Coast, Mamre and Paardeberg  Ecological gradients are conserved, and to account for the predicted impacts of global climate change  Nineteen corridors were identified, along with 18 nodes  Nodes were originally seen as areas where the corridors intersect but has been re-interpreted as remnants or groups of remnants (“biodiversity  Nodes were originally seen as areas where the corridors intersect but has been re-interpreted as remnants or groups of remnants (“biodiversity hubs”)

18.  All Natural Habitat Remnants Identified  886 Sites

19.  Existing Reserves and Floral Core Sites  186 Sites

20.  Candidate Sites  738 Sites

21.  221 sites selected from the vegetation types  5 sites selected from Protea Atlas data  35 Sites selected from Coastec SaS database 261 Sites identified

22.  Least Resistance pathway based on Cost Surface models which represent biodiversity compatibility  Need a starting POINT  Need a target LINE Use a Bi-directional Pathway

23. All sites selected by the Biodiversity analysis and within the Major Corridors = 86 sites

24. Critical Vegetation Types  Initial prioritisation of the selected remnants was based on remnant size and the conservation of three critical vegetation types  Secondary prioritisation on whether the remnants were located in nodes or corridors 1.Sand plain fynbos on inland 2.Older non-marine derived acid sands, 3.West coast renosterveld on shale west coast renosterveld on granite 1.71 sites identified that were larger than 10ha 2.97 sites identified conserving at least one of the three critical vegetation types 3.69 sites identified to include remaining remnants greater than 10ha 4.25 sites left over from the selected set of 261 sites 5.86 selected sites in corridors

25. From insular protected areas to prioritised biodiversity networks at a landscape level Richard Knight, Fabian Schories & Lorraine Gerrans

26. What is Systematic Conservation Planning? A rigorous procedure for identifying a network of habitats to ensure the maximization of a biodiversity conservation. GIS-based Repeatable Iterative Minimum Sets Irreplaceability Let there be C-Plan! (the first tool) Species or Habitats? Rarity

27. C-Plan seems to be the only solution used in SA? C-Plan has been used extensively for conservation planning in South Africa. WHY? Is it the only one? Is it a good algorithm? What are its limitations? MARXANSimulatedAnnealing Genetic Algorithms

28. Overall Objective Plan regions into a series of planning units, listing the distribution of the conservation features found in each planning units, setting targets for the amount of each feature to be included in the conservation landscape and using computer software to identify portfolios of units that best meet these targets. CLUZ on-screen planning and also acts as a link for the Marxan conservation planning software.

29. What is a Simulated Annealing? Borrowed from Physic to explain different thermal conductivities... It is spatial explicit …. optimizes clusters of sites according to proximity and geometry such as perimeter to area ratios MARXAN is being included within C-Plan software for reserve selection.

30. What is a Genetic Algorithm? Selection…..usually a randomly selected pair Crossover Parent AParent B Mutation For Reserve Selection a group of sites will represent a chromosome

31. Advantages of a Genetic Algorithm? GAs are far faster to process ` Candidate Sites Forward Direction Forward and Reverse Direction Genetic Algorithms GAs allow both forward and backward processing whereas iterative technique is a forward only process

32. Description of the Data used for the Web Approach Data obtained from Coastec “Species and Sites” data base and includes 93 sites represented by >3000 plant species. Apache Tomcat 5.0 server MySQL Database Server ARC IMS server

33. Functionality of the Application? Allows users to build their own database based on selection of both species and sites. Database can be added to or subtracted from for species and sites and name changes undertaken for species. Gives a choice of Iterative and Genetic Algorithms as well as how many sites represent a minimum number of sites (1~5) for conservation as well as the proportion of species to be conserved (all, 95%, 90%, 80% or 66%). Produces full documentation and hyperlinked list to the mapserver, manage results and to zip result files.