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Mapping landscape beta diversity of plants across KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, for aiding conservation planning

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Abstract

Collective properties of biodiversity, such as beta diversity, are suggested as complementary measures of species richness to guide the prioritisation and selection of important biodiversity areas in regional conservation planning. We assessed variation in the rate of plant species turnover along and between environmental gradients in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa using generalised dissimilarity modelling, in order to map landscape levels of floristic beta diversity. Our dataset consisted of 434 plots (1000 m2) containing 997 grassland and savanna matrix species. Our model explained 79 % of the null deviance observed in floristic dissimilarities. Variable rates of turnover existed along the major environmental gradients of mean annual temperature, median rainfall in February, and soil cation exchange capacity, as well as along gradients of geographical distance. Beta diversity was highest in relatively warm, drier summer regions and on dystrophic soils. Areas of high beta diversity identify areas that should be included in conservation plans to maximise representation of diversity and highlight areas best suited to protected area expansion. Biome transition areas in high beta diversity areas may be susceptible to climate variability. Including beta diversity turnover rates in regional conservation plans will help to preserve evolutionary and ecological processes that create and maintain diversity.

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Acknowledgments

Assistance from Matthew Lisk and Matthew Fitzpatrick on the R GDM package and code is gratefully acknowledged. Bursary funding for DJ was gratefully received from SAEON and supported by grant B8749.R01 from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, to the Global Change and Sustainability Research Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand. BFNE is supported by the Exxaro Company of South Africa.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag X3, Johannesburg, WITS 2050, South Africa

    Debbie Jewitt, Peter S. Goodman, Timothy G. O’Connor & Ed T. F. Witkowski

  2. Biodiversity Research and Assessment, Scientific Services, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, PO Box 13053, Cascades, 3202, South Africa

    Debbie Jewitt

  3. SAEON, PO Box 2600, Pretoria, 0001, South Africa

    Timothy G. O’Connor

  4. Global Change and Sustainability Research Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag X3, Johannesburg, WITS 2050, South Africa

    Barend F. N. Erasmus

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  1. Debbie Jewitt
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  2. Peter S. Goodman
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  3. Timothy G. O’Connor
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  4. Barend F. N. Erasmus
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  5. Ed T. F. Witkowski
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Correspondence to Debbie Jewitt.

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Additional information

Communicated by Daniel Sanchez Mata.

Electronic supplementary material

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Map of the grassland and savanna vegetation types of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) (DOCX 854 kb)

10531_2016_1190_MOESM2_ESM.docx

Fig. 1 with the species richness values shown in colour (DOCX 495 kb)

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Jewitt, D., Goodman, P.S., O’Connor, T.G. et al. Mapping landscape beta diversity of plants across KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, for aiding conservation planning. Biodivers Conserv 25, 2641–2654 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-016-1190-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-016-1190-y

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