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08 September 2020 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Falko Buschke
Dr Falko Buschke says the iconic sandstone cliffs of the eastern Free State are key to protecting wild plants and animals from climate change.
The iconic sandstone cliffs of the eastern Free State are often the focus of paintings and postcards. Now, new research shows they also protect wild plants and animals from climate change. This finding is the outcome of a collaborative research effort by the University of the Free State (UFS); BirdLife South Africa; the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and KU Leuven, Belgium, which has recently been published in the journal Biological Conservation.

Mountains key for climate change mitigation

The study, led by Dr Falko Buschke from the Centre for Environmental Management UFS, used satellite data from NASA to track the ecological effects of wet and dry seasons, including the record drought of 2015/16. This showed how vegetation on the cool and moist mountain slopes was less affected by dry spells.

The complex physical terrain allows moisture to accumulate in the shaded parts of the south-facing slopes and ravines. This creates cool and moist habitats for plants and animals that wouldn’t survive in the rest of the hotter and drier landscape.

The team also discovered that these positive effects of mountains do not end at the foot of the mountain, but extend at least 500m into the flatter lowlands. “Presumably because water and nutrients accumulate in these surrounding buffers due to run-off,” says Dr Buschke.

Butterflies find safety on mountains

In addition to their high-tech analysis of the area, the team also relied on old-fashioned fieldwork to monitor butterflies over two years. “The data showed us how these insects find safety on mountains during harsh climate conditions and can then recolonise the rest of the landscape after conditions improve,” explains Dr Buschke. “This gives us clues on the best way to protect nature,” he adds. 

This study took place in the Rooiberge-Riemland Key Biodiversity Area (KBA), an area significant for maintaining global biodiversity. Several species of insects, reptiles, birds and mammals here occur nowhere else on earth. “If they disappear here, they will go extinct from the whole planet forever,” says Dr Falko Buschke. 

Despite its ecological significance, most of the area is covered by commercial farmland. So, the next stage of the project is exploring ways of protecting these important habitats while ensuring that farmers can continue producing food and supporting rural livelihoods. 

“Farmers hold the key to preserving biodiversity,” says Dr Buschke, “so conservation scientists need to work closely with them to ensure that we protect species for future generations.” 

News Archive

Professor’s research part of major global programme
2011-04-04

 

Prof. Zakkie Pretorius, professor in Plant Pathology in the Department of Plant Sciences at our university

Research by Zakkie Pretorius, professor in Plant Pathology in the Department of Plant Sciences at our university, has become part of Phase II of a mayor global project to combat deadly strains of a wheat pathogen that poses a threat to global food security.

Prof. Pretorius focuses on the identification of resistance in wheat to the stem rust disease and will assist breeders and geneticists in the accurate phenotyping of international breeding lines and mapping populations. In addition, Prof. Pretorius will support scientists from Africa with critical skills development through training programmes. During Phase I, which ends in 2011, he was involved in pathogen surveillance in Southern Africa and South Asia.
 
The Department of International Development (DFID) in the United Kingdom and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will invest $40 million over the next five years in the global project led by the Cornell University. The project is aimed at combating deadly strains of Ug99, an evolving wheat pathogen that is a dangerous threat to global food security, especially in the poorest nations. 
 
The Cornell University said in a statement, the grant made to the Durable Rust Resistance in Wheat (DRRW) project at Cornell will support efforts to identify new stem-rust resistant genes in wheat, improve surveillance, and multiply and distribute rust-resistant wheat seed to farmers and their families.
 
Researchers worldwide will be able to play an increasingly vital role in protecting wheat fields from dangerous new forms of stem rust, particularly in countries whose people can ill afford the economic impact of damage to this vital crop.
 
The Ug99 strain was discovered in Kenya in 1998, but are now also threatening major wheat-growing areas of Southern and Eastern Africa, the Central Asian Republics, the Caucasus, the Indian subcontinent, South America, Australia and North America.
 
Prof. Pretorius was responsible for the first description of this strain in 1999.
 
Among Cornell’s partners are national research centres in Kenya and Ethiopia, and scientists at two international agricultural research centres that focus on wheat, the Mexico-based International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (known by its Spanish acronym as CIMMYT), and the International Center  for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), in Syria. Advanced research laboratories in the United States, Canada, China, Australia, Denmark and South Africa also collaborate on the project. The DRRW project now involves more than 20 leading universities and research institutes throughout the world, and scientists and farmers from more than 40 countries.


Media Release
28 March 2011
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: news@ufs.ac.za

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