Flora Surveys
Flora surveys include baseline vegetation description and mapping, monitoring, and Red Data Flora surveys.
Capabilities
EkoInfo CC specialises in phytosociology (vegetation description and mapping) as part of baseline studies for EIAs and EMPRs, as well as for livestock (domestic/game) management reports. It primarily employs the Braun-Blanquet approach, which is internationally recognised and serves as a standard phytosociological method for South Africa.
For projects that require monitoring, scientifically recognised quantitative or qualitative methods are applied in conjunction with baseline surveys. The method will depend on the nature of the parameter(s) to be monitored.
Ecological Relevance
Vegetation represents the producers in the ecological food chain. Plants convert sun energy into a format accessible to millions of organisms (consumers – humans and animals). In addition, they shelter consumers. They vary in growth form and size and are found all over the world in both aquatic and terrestrial environments. Within the political boundaries of South Africa, approximately 23,420 species have been recorded, of which 948 species are listed as Red Data.
Vegetation represents the first level of remote sensing. Knowledgeable persons can derive from the plants they observe and determine what the environmental factors (climate, geology, topography, soil) are. These, in turn, influence the area and what organisms (micro and macro) could occur there.
Vegetation can be used as an indicator of environmental potential (tourism, agriculture, development), condition (pristine, transformed), and change (rehabilitation, degradation).
The large vertebrates (cattle, game, marine mammals) have economic value (food production, tourism, recreation) but cannot be sustainably managed in the absence of their less conspicuous, and sometimes less flamboyant, relatives (invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, small mammals, and birds).
Deliverables
- Ecosystem Identification
- Habitat Delineation
- Red Data Flora Identification
- Sensitive Areas
- Species Richness
- Ecological Status
- Conservation Importance
- Ecological Potential
- Vegetation Maps
