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This work has drawn upon previous attempts to define geomorphic provinces, but also on more recent work on the geological and geomorphological evolution of southern African fluvial systems. It has also used Digital Terrain Model (DTM)-derived data and statistical techniques to determine 34 geomorphic provinces and 12 sub-provinces within SouthAfric...
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... is no clear trend from west to east or north to south, although in the extreme west of the basin, flatter slopes and broader valley crosssectional profiles are evident (Table 7). However, the rivers are uniform in their longitudinal profile (Figure 22), with flat or medium slopes and wide or broad valley cross-sectional profiles ( Table 5), so that the sediment storage surrogate descriptors are predominantly WF and BM (Table 7). However, there is significant heterogeneity in terms of the BFCs, with river longitudinal profiles displaying linear, logarithmic and exponential BFCs (Table 7). ...
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... In the KZN province, the most intensely studied sites are located in the Southeastern Coastal Platform geomorphic province (Partridge et al. 2010). Here, the Indian Ocean Coastal Belt Biome comprises dense subtropical vegetation or large areas of modern sugar-cane fields, complicating survey work. ...
... In eastern South Africa, Quaternary sheetwash and gully-infill sediments attributed to the Masotcheni Formation provide ideal conditions for open-air archaeological preservation and exploration. These sediments are widespread in the region and diverse in substrate material, often found in colluvial settings within the Ladysmith Basin and adjacent Southeastern Coastal Hinterland geomorphic provinces (Botha 1996;Partridge et al. 2010;Botha et al. 2016). The deposits are commonly stratified, coarse to medium-grade, sandy sheetwash, representing palaeo-gully infill alluvial sediments that accumulated throughout the Late Pleistocene and Holocene (Botha & Fedoroff 1995;Wintle et al. 1995;Clarke et al. 2003;Temme et al. 2008;Keen-Zebert et al. 2013;Lyons et al. 2013;Bosino et al. 2021). ...
... The study area is situated in the uppermost reaches of the Jojosi River Valley, a tributary to the White Mfolozi River, at elevations of 1160-1200 m (28°08'30" S, 30°39'01" E; Fig. 2). The Jojosi River springs from the flank of a sandstone and dolerite escarpment separating two geomorphic provinces, the elevated plateau of the Ladysmith Basin to the west and the lower Southeastern Coastal Hinterland to the east (Partridge et al. 2010). The escarpment comprises resistant sandstone of the Vryheid Formation which also underlies large parts of the plateau. ...
Hunter-gatherer groups conduct most of their activities in open landscapes as they provide drinking water, food, and raw materials, and offer spaces for social gatherings. The remains left behind at such sites allow for unique archaeological insights into the spatial patterning of prehistoric behaviour. The Stone Age record in southern Africa remains best-known from sheltered sites. A paucity of stratified open-air localities precludes understanding the full spectrum of past hominin activities. Here we introduce an interdisciplinary project in KwaZulu-Natal to study the evolution of human behaviour and landscape dynamics during the Pleistocene in the open-air context of a stratified hillslope with sediments exposed in so-called dongas, a landform created by gully erosion. The project encompasses field and laboratory approaches, combining archaeological, geographical, geological, chronometric, and palaeoenvironmental data. After reviewing relevant open-air research in archaeology and geography, we identify the Jojosi Dongas as a promising research area. Our fieldwork results from 2022-2023 demonstrate the high archaeological, geographical, and geological potential of this landscape. Foot surveys found abundant MSA artefacts spread throughout the dongas, one area with ESA tools, but little to no traces of LSA or later material. Most finds lie on the surface with rarer stratified material occurring in exposed profiles. The surface MSA material is characterised by almost exclusive hornfels use, frequent cortical pieces, many large blanks and cores, and rare retouched tools. These features differ markedly from lithic trends observed in well-known shelter sites, likely the result of differences in site function. Based on the nature of the surface assemblages and the presence of a large outcrop of high-quality hornfels, we hypothesise that the Jojosi Dongas may have been a specialised quarry and workshop area. The stratified MSA occupations are the focus of ongoing excavations and further studies will aim to test our preliminary interpretations provided here.
... However, the mean annual BSI or a mean BSI over several years (not shown) is not very selective. Instead, we provide in Fig. 29.5, showing an 85 km 2 section of the intensively utilized hilly Southern Coastal Lowlands (Partridge et al. 2010) northwest of Elim, the mean intra-annual range of the BSI, which is a proxy for the management intensity of the areas. Shrublands and wooded valley bottoms are characterized by rather continuous vegetation cover and a low range of BSI while harvest operations on cropland induce large changes in vegetation cover and the BSI. ...
South Africa is a vast, very diverse and dynamic country experiencing rapidly changing demands for the utilization of its natural resources. At the same time, global climate change and related processes affect the land’s agricultural utilization. The considerable expansion of high-resolution Earth observation systems providing high temporal resolution acquisitions of the land surface free of charge provides the opportunity to monitor land surface dynamics at an unprecedented temporal and spatial resolution. Based on the work in the SPACES II project South Africa Land Degradation Monitor (SALDi), we present examples highlighting the new observational opportunities potentially supporting regional policy implementation. Thus, the main objective of this chapter is to present applied examples from the six SALDi study sites spread across the country illustrating some of the new capabilities providing simultaneously a regional overview of land surface dynamics as well as high-resolution information on specific areas, for example a district, a municipality, a farm or a specific field plot.
... Often the nuclide concentration is well mixed in the soil by physical and biological processes (Schaller et al. 2018, Glotzbach et al. 2016, and therefore, recent human-induced increase in current soil erosion usually does not impact the cosmogenic nuclide concentration measured at the surface. South Africa is characterized by a wide variety of landforms, such as flat high plateaus, steep mountains and hilly to flat coastlines (Partridge et al. 2010). Despite these great landscape variability, long-term erosion rates derived from cosmogenic nuclides do not vary much and most rates are in the order of 1 to 10 mm kyr −1 with an average of 3.6 ± 3.1 mm kyr −1 (see Glotzbach et al. 2016 for a review and additional references). ...
Soil erosion has been identified as an issue in South African farming for more than a century. Erosion of land surfaces by water or wind is a natural process which might be accelerated directly by human impact on land surface properties, e.g., vegetation and soils. An assessment of soil erosion risk indicates average soil loss rates two orders of magnitude larger than long-term soil formation rates. This challenging condition clearly underlines the need for continuous application of established policies and principles as well as emerging modes of conservation agriculture in farming activities in most parts of South Africa. In addition, conservation agriculture has been shown to have positive effects on the cost–value ratio, but diffusion and adoption of this innovative approach still meet resistance often founded in traditional faith and belief systems. However, to cope with challenges from global climate change, e.g., intensified extreme weather conditions (droughts and flooding), strengthened resilience of farming systems is required to i) meet increased domestic and global demand for food and ii) to put into practice sustainable management to diminish on-site and off-site damages from soil erosion on the way to reach sustainable development goals.
... Abbreviations: KZN, KwaZulu-Natal; LMEE, Limpopo-Mpumalanga-Eswatini Escarpment; NG, Northern Group; CG, Central Group; SG, Southern Group. [37] and geomorphic provinces follow Partridge et al. [38]. Broad vegetation types follow Low and Rebelo [39]. ...
... Geological heterogeneity increases habitat diversity by facilitating specializations to a wider variety of soil types as they are exposed or created by erosion; it also results in a more complex landscape due to differences in erodibility [80]. The GMC occupies the South-eastern Coastal Hinterland Geomorphic Province, an area of considerable geological diversity [38] further characterized by a complex arrangement of highly variable terrain classes [37]. ...
... Its eastern margin is characterized by localized sandstone exposures of the Natal Group (490 Ma). The remainder of the GMC, accounting for its largest area geologically, is associated with the Karoo Supergroup (Dwyka, Ecca, Beaufort, Stormberg, and Drakensberg Groups) [38]. Overlying the Natal Group is a thick unit of Dwyka Group tillite (300 Ma) deposited in a glacial environment by retreating ice sheets [33,82]. ...
The Midlands region of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Province in South Africa was hitherto a putative centre of floristic endemism (CFE) based on conjecture. The aim of this study was to empirically explore this concept by delineating unambiguous boundaries for this CFE and documenting the endemic spermatophytes within a conservation framework. The Greater Midlands Centre of Floristic Endemism (GMCFE), a more expanded study area than the parochial Midlands region of KZN, is formally described as southern Africa’s 20th CFE. It is a mid-elevation region occupying the greater Midlands of KZN, with extensions of contiguous grasslands extending northwards into southern Mpumalanga and southwards into north-eastern Eastern Cape. This “foothills” CFE covers ca. 77,000 km2 of predominantly mesic C4 grassland, ranging in elevation from ca. 700–2200 m a.s.l. It is congruent with the “sub-escarpment ecoregion,” essentially a composite of the Sub-escarpment Grassland and Savanna Bioregions and the sub-escarpment grasslands of southern Mpumalanga and northern KZN. The GMCFE hosts at least 220 endemic spermatophytes, of which almost a fifth belong to the family Apocynaceae. Families Asteraceae, Asphodelaceae, Fabaceae, and Iridaceae also contribute significantly. Genera Ceropegia, Aloe, Dierama, Kniphofia, Helichrysum, and Streptocarpus contribute the most endemics. More than half are forbs, and almost three-quarters are confined to the Grassland Biome. Endemic radiations are attributed to geodiversity and geological complexity (especially the strong lithological influence of dolerite); physiographic heterogeneity (particularly elevation gradients and variable terrain units); strategic proximity to hyper-diverse temperate and subtropical “border floras”; and localized pollinator-driven adaptive radiations. Of alarming concern is the high number of threatened plant taxa, with ca. 60% of the endemic flora Red Listed in threat categories (CE, E, and VU) or considered “rare”. Extremely low levels of formal protection and poor ecological connectivity, coupled with high levels of land transformation and intensive utilization, render the GMCFE one of the most imperilled CFE in South Africa. Urgent conservation action is required to safeguard this unique and highly threatened “rangeland flora” and stem the biodiversity crisis gripping the region.
... These four geological types are significantly fewer than the 119 lithographies found in South Africa. This pattern is also reflected in the geomorpholgy, with only the Lesotho Highlands and Eastern Escarpment Hinterland geomorphic provinces represented in the country, compared to 43 geomorphic provinces in South Africa (Partridge et al. 2010). ...
The Kingdom of Lesotho in southern Africa is entirely bordered by South Africa, with which it shares many geological and vegetation types, but the vast extent of alpine vegetation and high altitudes suggests that differences in insect diversity should be expected. Globally, the Diptera are one of the most diverse orders of insects, though biodiversity estimates for the order are lacking for many regions. Here, we present a summary of the limited historical Diptera collections from Lesotho, summarise our collecting expeditions in 2021, 2022 and 2023, and provide photographs and descriptions of the collecting sites. This paper is the first of a series of papers in a Topical Collection of the Diptera of Lesotho in African Invertebrates. We hope to stimulate more research on Afrotropical Diptera and to improve their conservation in Lesotho in particular.
... Factors increasing the cost of flight include high wind speed, habitat fragmentation, low temperature and low air pressure (Hackman 1964;Leihy and Chown 2020). These factors are all present in the alpine zone of the Lesotho highlands (Partridge et al. 2010;Badger et al. 2015). Predator or competitor release, increased habitat stability, or increased habitat complexity can also drive decreased benefit from flight. ...
The genus Atherimorpha White, 1915 is a Gondwanan relic, occurring in South America, Southern Africa and Australia. Females are rarely collected, and are not described for more than half of the known species. The female of Atherimorpha latipennis Stuckenberg, 1956 was collected for the first time in 2021 and is described here, along with a redescription of the male. We describe the differences from the male, with the reduced wings and poorly defined scutellum the most noteworthy. The female of A. latipennis represents the first recorded case of brachyptery in the family Rhagionidae. Possible drivers of brachyptery in Afrotropical Diptera are briefly discussed.
... of the Sub-Escarpment Ecoregion and belongs to the geomorphic province of the Eastern Coastal Hinterland of KwaZulu-Natal (Partridge et al. 2010). Belonging to this warm temperate climate zone with dry winters and warm summers (Koeppen-Geiger classification Cwb) (Conradie 2012), it is characterized by a mean annual temperature of 14.9° C and annual precipitation of 788 mm. ...
Gully erosion affects the landscape and human life in many ways, including the destruction of agricultural land and infrastructures, altering the hydraulic potential of soils, as well as water availability. Due to climate change, more areas are expected to be affected by gully erosion in the future, threatening especially low-income agricultural regions. In the past decades, quantitative methods have been proposed to simulate and predict gully erosion at different scales. However, gully erosion is still underrepresented in modern GIS-based modeling and simulation approaches. Therefore, this study aims to develop a QGIS plugin using Python to assess gully erosion dynamics. We explain the preparation of the input data, the modeling procedure based on Sidorchuk’s (Sidorchuk A (1999) Dynamic and static models of gully erosion. CATENA 37:401–414.) gully simulation model, and perform a detailed sensitivity analysis of model parameters. The plugin uses topographical data, soil characteristics and discharge information as gully model input. The plugin was tested on a gully network in KwaThunzi, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The results and sensitivity analyses confirm Sidorchuck’s earlier observations that the critical runoff velocity is a main controlling parameter in gully erosion evolution, alongside with the slope stability threshold and the soil erodibility coefficient. The implemented QGIS plugin simplifies the gully model setup, the input parameter preparation as well as the post-processing and visualization of modelling results. The results are provided in different data formats to be visualized with different 3D visualization software tools. This enables a comprehensive gully assessment and the derivation of respective coping and mitigation strategies.
... The Southeastern Coastal Hinterland of South Africa is a geomorphic province that extends along ~1000 km of the ~150 km-wide eastern seaboard of southern Africa and is dissected by numerous drainage basins between the Great Escarpment and the Indian Ocean (Knight & Grab, 2015;Partridge et al., 2010). The geomorphic province experienced two uplift events since the breakup of Gondwana, the first being in the early Miocene (~20 million years ago, Ma) and the second in the late Miocene and early Pliocene (~5 Ma) (Partridge et al., 2010). ...
... The Southeastern Coastal Hinterland of South Africa is a geomorphic province that extends along ~1000 km of the ~150 km-wide eastern seaboard of southern Africa and is dissected by numerous drainage basins between the Great Escarpment and the Indian Ocean (Knight & Grab, 2015;Partridge et al., 2010). The geomorphic province experienced two uplift events since the breakup of Gondwana, the first being in the early Miocene (~20 million years ago, Ma) and the second in the late Miocene and early Pliocene (~5 Ma) (Partridge et al., 2010). As a result, the major rivers of the Southeastern Coastal Hinterland are deeply incised in their middle and lower reaches, instead of being incised in their upper reaches, as a direct result of the second uplift event (Partridge et al., 2010;Partridge & Maud, 1987). ...
... The geomorphic province experienced two uplift events since the breakup of Gondwana, the first being in the early Miocene (~20 million years ago, Ma) and the second in the late Miocene and early Pliocene (~5 Ma) (Partridge et al., 2010). As a result, the major rivers of the Southeastern Coastal Hinterland are deeply incised in their middle and lower reaches, instead of being incised in their upper reaches, as a direct result of the second uplift event (Partridge et al., 2010;Partridge & Maud, 1987). ...
The Southeastern Coastal Hinterland geomorphic province of South Africa is dissected by deep valleys created by tectonic uplift in the early Miocene and late Miocene/early Pliocene. We hypothesised that seedlings of Vachellia nilotica, V. tortilis and V. karroo grown from seeds from different valleys would differ in growth and spinescence because of geographical separation. Ninety seedlings (30 per species) were grown for three months in uniform conditions in a greenhouse. Mean height of V. nilotica and V. tortilis seedlings was greatest for the Phongolo populations and lowest for the Thukela populations. Maximum stem diameter of both species was attained by individuals from the Phongolo population. Mean spine dry mass of V. nilotica seedlings was greatest for the Phongolo population, suggesting a growth-defence trade-off, but did not differ for V. tortilis. Results suggested Phongolo populations of V. nilotica and V. tortilis maybe characterised by morphotypes clearly distinct from those in the other valleys. Unclear and inconsistent results for V. karroo in this study suggested subtly different morphotypes occur in each valley. We propose that distinct Phongolo morphotypes of V. nilotica and V. tortilis are explained as evolutionary adaptations to moderate fire and high browsing pressure compared to populations South of Phongolo.
... The Mpumalanga forestry region is topographically and climatically diverse and includes two regions, namely the Lowveld and Highveld (Louw et al. 2011;Muller et al. 2017;van der Merwe et al. 2022). The Lowveld region includes the Drakensberg mountain range where forestry sites are typically from 800 to 2000 m above sea level (Louw and Scholes, 2006;Muller et al. 2017;Partridge et al. 2010). Soils in this region are mostly formed from sedimentary rocks including Malmani and Timeball Hill shales (Campion 2008;Louw and Scholes 2006;Muller et al. 2017). ...
Plantation forest species were introduced into South Africa due to limited availability of native forests for wood-derived products. Currently, the Mexican pine species, Pinus patula, is the most widely planted softwood species in the country. To study the effect of growth environment on wood and processing properties for the species, sample plots were established in a 20-year rotation covering a wide range of soil geologies and altitudes in Mpumalanga, South Africa. Temperature and seasonal rainfall were also determined for the sample plots. Randomly selected sample trees were harvested from the plots and processed at a plywood plant to determine veneer recovery and quality. Trees grown on sites composed of granite soils, with higher annual maximum temperatures and less rainfall, found in the Highveld region, displayed superior tree size, slenderness, and volume growth, compared to trees grown on dolomite and shale soils common to the Lowveld region. Veneer derived from Lowveld trees had more splits which were largely related to defects. Larger trees also had a greater percentage volumetric heartwood and a smaller live crown, compared to smaller trees. Highveld trees had greater net veneer recovery and produced better quality veneer than trees grown on the Lowveld. In the Mpumalanga forestry region, strong co-relatedness exists between soil geology, altitude, and climate. Although tree form and wood properties were found to differ with varying soil geology and altitude, these differences were primarily related to climate rather than soil properties. These findings highlight the pitfalls associated with neglecting either climate or soil properties when analysing site-specific growing conditions on tree growth and form.
... Factors increasing the cost of flight including high wind speed, habitat fragmentation, low temperature and low air pressure (Leihy and Chown 2020). These area all present in the Alpine zone of the Lesotho highlands (Partridge et al. 2010, Badger et al. 2015. Predator or competitor release, increased habitat stability or increased habitat complexity can drive decreased benefit from flight. ...
The Genus Atherimorpha White 1915 is a Gondwanan relic, occurring in South America, Southern Africa and Australia. Females are rarely collected and in more than half of the known species are not described. The female of Atherimorpha latipennis Stuckenberg 1956 was collected for the first time in 2021 and is described here, along with a redescription of the male. We describe the differences from the male, with the reduced wings and poorly defined scutellum the most noteworthy. The female of A. latipennis represents the first recorded case of brachyptery in the Rhagionidae. Possible drivers of brachyptery in Afrotropical Diptera are briefly discussed.
