Land use, rangeland degradation and ecological changes in the southern Kalahari, Botswana

Dual-scale analyses assessing farm-scale patterns of ecological change and landscape-scale patterns of change in vegetation cover and animal distribution are presented from ecological transect studies away from waterpoints, regional remotely sensed analysis of vegetation cover and animal numbers across the southern Kalahari, Botswana. Bush encroachment is prevalent in semi-arid sites where Acacia mellifera Benth. is widespread in communal areas and private ranches, showing that land tenure changes over the last 40 years have not avoided rangeland degradation. Herbaceous cover is dominated in intensively grazed areas by the annual grass Schmidtia kalahariensis Stent and in moderately grazed areas by the perennial grass Eragrostis lehmanniana Nees. Nutritious perennial grass species including Eragrostis pallens Hack. Ex Schinz remain prevalent in Wildlife Management Areas. Other ecological changes include the invasion of the exotic Prosopis glandulosa Torr. and dense stands of Rhigozum trichotomum Kuntze. in the arid southwest. Regional patterns of wildlife species show that the expansion of cattleposts and fenced ranches has led to large areas of low wildlife conservation value even in areas where cattle production is not practiced. Findings show the need for integrated landscape-scale planning of land use if the ecological value and biodiversity of the southern Kalahari is to be retained

Symbiodinium Transcriptomes: Genome Insights into the Dinoflagellate Symbionts of Reef-Building Corals

Dinoflagellates are unicellular algae that are ubiquitously abundant in aquatic environments. Species of the genus Symbiodinium form symbiotic relationships with reef-building corals and other marine invertebrates. Despite their ecologic importance, little is known about the genetics of dinoflagellates in general and Symbiodinium in particular. Here, we used 454 sequencing to generate transcriptome data from two Symbiodinium species from different clades (clade A and clade B). With more than 56,000 assembled sequences per species, these data represent the largest transcriptomic resource for dinoflagellates to date. Our results corroborate previous observations that dinoflagellates possess the complete nucleosome machinery. We found a complete set of core histones as well as several H3 variants and H2A.Z in one species. Furthermore, transcriptome analysis points toward a low number of transcription factors in Symbiodinium spp. that also differ in the distribution of DNA-binding domains relative to other eukaryotes. In particular the cold shock domain was predominant among transcription factors. Additionally, we found a high number of antioxidative genes in comparison to non-symbiotic but evolutionary related organisms. These findings might be of relevance in the context of the role that Symbiodinium spp. play as coral symbionts

The evolution and ages of Makgadikgadi palaeo-lakes: Consilient evidence from Kalahari drainage evolution south-central Africa

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Landsat identifies aeolian dust emission dynamics at the landform scale

The modelling of windblown mineral dust emissions remains a challenge. This is in part due to the coarse spatial and temporal resolution of the data on which these models are based, but also because the processes and mechanisms of aeolian dust emission are not well understood. Satellite imagery has been used extensively in the study of dust from the late 1990s with important contributions being made in terms of sources, transport pathways and deposition areas. Using MODIS imagery, the Namib Desert has been identified as one of the largest sources of dust in southern Africa. The recent opening of the Landsat archive presents the opportunity to investigate these events at a higher spatial resolution (up to 15 X 15 m) than previously possible. Despite the low temporal resolution, we used Landsat imagery to identify 40 major dust episodes over the last 25 years that originated primarily from the ephemeral river valleys and pan complexes, providing new insight into the spatial and temporal evolution of the dust sources from the Namib Desert. Examination of the imagery enabled the identification of local-scale landform source points to direct ground based testing of the surfaces responsible for dust emission. Emissivity tests were undertaken using a PI-SWERL portable wind tunnel in three of the major dust producing river systems along the Namib coast, namely the Kuiseb, Omaruru and Huab Rivers. Preliminary observations suggest that human impact on the hydrological systems in two of the river basins, to cater for the increasing demand of water, have dramatically altered the emission of dust. The source areas of greatest dust emission are found to be located on recently deposited fluvial surfaces which are not active in the contemporary environment

Assessing landscape dust emission potential using combined ground‐based measurements and remote sensing data

Modeled estimates of eolian dust emission can vary by an order of magnitude due to the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of emissions. To better constrain location and magnitude of emissions, a surface erodibility factor is typically employed in models. Several landscape‐scale schemes representing surface dust emission potential for use in models have recently been proposed, but validation of such schemes has only been attempted indirectly with medium‐resolution remote sensing of mineral aerosol loadings and high‐resolution land surface mapping. In this study, we used dust emission source points identified in Namibia with Landsat imagery together with field‐based dust emission measurements using a Portable In‐situ Wind Erosion Laboratory wind tunnel to assess the performance of schemes aiming to represent erodibility in global dust cycle modeling. From analyses of the surface and samples taken at the time of wind tunnel testing, a Boosted Regression Tree analysis identified the significant factors controlling erodibility based on Portable In‐situ Wind Erosion Laboratory dust flux measurements and various surface characteristics, such as soil moisture, particle size, crusting degree, and mineralogy. Despite recent attention to improving the characterization of surface dust emission potential, our assessment indicates a high level of variability in the measured fluxes within similar geomorphologic classes. This variability poses challenges to dust modeling attempts based on geomorphology and/or spectral‐defined classes. Our approach using high‐resolution identification of dust sources to guide ground‐based testing of emissivity offers a valuable means to help constrain and validate dust emission schemes. Detailed determination of the relative strength of factors controlling emission can provide further improvement to regional and global dust cycle modeling

High-frequency monitoring of stream water physicochemistry on sub-Antarctic Marion Island

Given the remoteness and challenging environmental conditions on sub-Antarctic Marion Island, continuous high-resolution studies of the island’s natural water systems are rare. Subsequently, current understanding of the island’s hydrochemistry is based entirely on manual point-based measurements. To address this research gap we analysed continuous, in-situ high-frequency physicochemical measurements (pH, water temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO), and electrical conductivity (EC)) from the Soft Plume River over the period 21 April 2015–26 April 2015. We observed a sharp, short-term response from all measurements to a precipitation event that was superimposed on consistent but subtle diel (i.e. 24 h) cycles throughout the study. Total variation in pH and electrical conductivity amounted to 1.3 units and 27.7 μS/cm respectively. Stream water temperature was less variable (6.2°C) than air surface temperature (14.2°C). Total variation in DO was 2.0 mg/L. Aside from the precipitation-induced response, diel oscillations were small and only visible through the use of continuous, high-resolution monitoring. Findings highlight the advantages of continuous high-frequency monitoring in capturing the range of daily variation and elucidating diel cycles in stream water physicochemistry on sub-Antarctic Marion Island that have not previously been accounted for

Assessing landscape dust emission potential using combined ground‐based measurements and remote sensing data

Modeled estimates of eolian dust emission can vary by an order of magnitude due to the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of emissions. To better constrain location and magnitude of emissions, a surface erodibility factor is typically employed in models. Several landscape‐scale schemes representing surface dust emission potential for use in models have recently been proposed, but validation of such schemes has only been attempted indirectly with medium‐resolution remote sensing of mineral aerosol loadings and high‐resolution land surface mapping. In this study, we used dust emission source points identified in Namibia with Landsat imagery together with field‐based dust emission measurements using a Portable In‐situ Wind Erosion Laboratory wind tunnel to assess the performance of schemes aiming to represent erodibility in global dust cycle modeling. From analyses of the surface and samples taken at the time of wind tunnel testing, a Boosted Regression Tree analysis identified the significant factors controlling erodibility based on Portable In‐situ Wind Erosion Laboratory dust flux measurements and various surface characteristics, such as soil moisture, particle size, crusting degree, and mineralogy. Despite recent attention to improving the characterization of surface dust emission potential, our assessment indicates a high level of variability in the measured fluxes within similar geomorphologic classes. This variability poses challenges to dust modeling attempts based on geomorphology and/or spectral‐defined classes. Our approach using high‐resolution identification of dust sources to guide ground‐based testing of emissivity offers a valuable means to help constrain and validate dust emission schemes. Detailed determination of the relative strength of factors controlling emission can provide further improvement to regional and global dust cycle modeling

The dynamism of salt crust patterns on playas

Playas are common in arid environments and can be major sources of mineral dust that can influence global climate. These landforms typically form crusts that limit evaporation and dust emission, modify surface erosivity and erodibility, and can lead to over prediction or underprediction of (1) dust-emission potential and (2) water and heat fluxes in energy-balance modeling. Through terrestrial laser scanning measurements of part of the Makgadikgadi Pans of Botswana (a Southern Hemisphere playa that emits significant amounts of dust), we show that over weeks, months, and a year, the shapes of these surfaces change considerably (ridge thrusting of >30 mm/week) and can switch among continuous, ridged, and degraded patterns. Ridged pattern development changes the measured aerodynamic roughness of the surface (as much as 3 mm/week). The dynamic nature of these crusted surfaces must be accounted for in dust entrainment and moisture balance formulae to improve regional and global climate models