Despite the freezing cold wind and the low temperature there was an air of excitement and anticipation amongst all. Today was the last day of the 2013 Toyota Enviro Outreach and everybody wanted to collect that one special species.
 |
| Hantam mountains |
Access to the Hantam Mountains is restricted and therefore it is a privilege to be able to collect samples in the Renosterveld, a biome of the fynbos. After the recent rains on the plateau the bulbs has started to flower and sampling was excellent. About 70 species were collected and all involved were thrilled. Hantam is the Khoi word for “mountain where the bulbs grow” and we experienced it today.
 |
| Hendrik & Robin on the Hamtam mountains over looking Calvinia |
 |
| Lots of water and animal life on top of the Hantam mountains |
The plant of the day is the pienk poeierkwassie haemciathus backerae.
 |
| Pienk Poeierkwassie (Haemciathus backerae) |
 |
| Cliffortia arborea_Sterboom |
Dr Marianne le Roux is a researcher at the South African National Biodiversity Institute in Pretoria. She is the coordinator for the “e-flora of South Africa” project. This is a worldwide initiative governed by the Global Plant Conservation Strategy to record information about all species across the world by 2020. Information of plants in South Africa will be made available online and will include descriptions, distribution maps and photos. The collecting trip to the Northern Cape Province was an opportunity to collect information for the Flora of the Nama Karoo. This will also be incorporated in e-flora of South Africa.
 |
| Pressing the plant samples |
Dr Kowiyou Yessoufou is a postdoctoral researcher at the African Centre for DNA Barcoding (ACDB) located at the Department of Botany, University of Johannesburg. His research interests include phylogenetic ecology, extinction biology, invasion ecology and DNA barcoding.
This was his second experience with the Toyota Enviro Outreach team. His first experience was last year in the fynbos, the unique biome well-known for its high level of endemism and extraordinary species diversity. This year the Northern Cape Province provided a different but also unique biome of the succulent karoo. He confesses: “I have never seen such a diversity of succulent plants in my life. I was amazed not only by the diversity of succulent plants found in very small geographic areas, but also by the beauty of the flowers and the landscape.”
 |
| Dr Kowiyou Yessoufou |
Since day one, he has been working closely with some of the best taxonomists of our time and learned a lot from the various and unique experiences they accumulated over years regarding the mega-diverse South African flora. One of the most exciting findings this year is a new species that was photographed seven years ago but never found again. He asserts: “I am extremely proud to be part of the team (Toyota Outreach 2013) that refound the same plant seven years later, and this will help taxonomists to describe the plant and thus add to our knowledge of South African flora.”
His concluding remarks: “I’d really like to thank Toyota, the Klipbokop team, all the participants, and taxonomists who help me improve my knowledge in taxonomy during this Toyota Outreach version 2013. I am looking forward to the next year experience.”
No comments:
Post a Comment