16.2 Rangelands in South Africa
16.2.1 Types of Rangelands in South Africa
South African biomes serving as rangeland include parts of the Grassland, NamaKaroo, Succulent Karoo, Savanna, and Albany Thicket Biomes, and the Indian
Ocean Coastal Belt, but not the Fynbos Biome (although lowland fynbos was once
rangeland it has largely been transformed), Desert or Forest Biomes (Table 16.1).
Dominant plant growth forms characterising each biome reflect climatic differences
between the biomes (Mucina and Rutherford 2006). Grassland is dominated by
perennial C 4 grasses at low altitude and C 3 grasses above 2700 m above sea level,
a mixture of woody plants and perennial C 4 grasses characterise the Savanna Biome,
the Karoo Biomes are dominated by dwarf shrubs, especially by succulent dwarf
shrubs in the Succulent Karoo Biome, with greater abundance of grasses in the
eastern Nama-Karoo Biome, a mix of succulent and woody trees dominate the
Albany Thicket Biome, whilst the Indian Ocean Coastal Belt Biome is a mosaic of
grassland, wetland, forest and savanna.
Climate, vegetation, and historical human occupation have influenced the manner
in which biomes have been used as rangeland. The San peoples who originally
occupied parts of southern Africa were hunter-gatherers who did not keep domestic
livestock. The first livestock in South African biomes, principally the Nama-Karoo
and Succulent Karoo, arrived when the Khoekhoen immigrated into South Africa
together with their herds of fat-tailed sheep (Ovis aries) about 4000 years ago
(Elphick 1985). Next, Bantu peoples with their herds of cattle (Bos indicus) commenced colonising South Africa from about 1700 years ago (Huffman 2007), and
Khoekhoen had also acquired cattle by 500 AD (Orton et al. 2013). The Bantu
peoples occupied well-watered and wooded areas along the eastern and northern
regions of the country at the time European settlement commenced during the
mid-seventeenth century. Commencing in the south-west (Karoo) region,
European colonists decimated wildlife by hunting and by the rapid introduction of
barbed-wire fencing in the late 1800s that led to population collapses of migratory
animals such as springbuck (Antidorcas marsupialis; Dean et al. 2018). Following
European colonisation, a spatial pattern of land access based on race was initiated
that developed into the template for land tenure and use which remains evident
today. Most land was under private tenure for commercial agricultural use by white
people; other ethnic groups were consolidated into blocks of land of which
non-arable portions were used as communal rangeland for livestock. Currently,
commercial producers use grazing systems with fenced paddocks that constrain
movement of livestock (O’Reagain and Turner 1992).
Biomes differ in the type of livestock carried and the importance of wildlife.
Small stock (sheep and goats) have been farmed in watered regions of the Succulent
and Nama-Karoo Biomes for 4000 years, and intensely across this region over the
past two centuries, ostrich farming was developed in the Little Karoo during the late
nineteenth century, and springbuck farming developed from the 1960s onward
(Beinart 2003). Communal land accounts for 3% of the Succulent and Nama
16 The Impact of Invasive Alien Plants on Rangelands in South Africa
461
16.2.1 Types of Rangelands in South Africa
South African biomes serving as rangeland include parts of the Grassland, NamaKaroo, Succulent Karoo, Savanna, and Albany Thicket Biomes, and the Indian
Ocean Coastal Belt, but not the Fynbos Biome (although lowland fynbos was once
rangeland it has largely been transformed), Desert or Forest Biomes (Table 16.1).
Dominant plant growth forms characterising each biome reflect climatic differences
between the biomes (Mucina and Rutherford 2006). Grassland is dominated by
perennial C 4 grasses at low altitude and C 3 grasses above 2700 m above sea level,
a mixture of woody plants and perennial C 4 grasses characterise the Savanna Biome,
the Karoo Biomes are dominated by dwarf shrubs, especially by succulent dwarf
shrubs in the Succulent Karoo Biome, with greater abundance of grasses in the
eastern Nama-Karoo Biome, a mix of succulent and woody trees dominate the
Albany Thicket Biome, whilst the Indian Ocean Coastal Belt Biome is a mosaic of
grassland, wetland, forest and savanna.
Climate, vegetation, and historical human occupation have influenced the manner
in which biomes have been used as rangeland. The San peoples who originally
occupied parts of southern Africa were hunter-gatherers who did not keep domestic
livestock. The first livestock in South African biomes, principally the Nama-Karoo
and Succulent Karoo, arrived when the Khoekhoen immigrated into South Africa
together with their herds of fat-tailed sheep (Ovis aries) about 4000 years ago
(Elphick 1985). Next, Bantu peoples with their herds of cattle (Bos indicus) commenced colonising South Africa from about 1700 years ago (Huffman 2007), and
Khoekhoen had also acquired cattle by 500 AD (Orton et al. 2013). The Bantu
peoples occupied well-watered and wooded areas along the eastern and northern
regions of the country at the time European settlement commenced during the
mid-seventeenth century. Commencing in the south-west (Karoo) region,
European colonists decimated wildlife by hunting and by the rapid introduction of
barbed-wire fencing in the late 1800s that led to population collapses of migratory
animals such as springbuck (Antidorcas marsupialis; Dean et al. 2018). Following
European colonisation, a spatial pattern of land access based on race was initiated
that developed into the template for land tenure and use which remains evident
today. Most land was under private tenure for commercial agricultural use by white
people; other ethnic groups were consolidated into blocks of land of which
non-arable portions were used as communal rangeland for livestock. Currently,
commercial producers use grazing systems with fenced paddocks that constrain
movement of livestock (O’Reagain and Turner 1992).
Biomes differ in the type of livestock carried and the importance of wildlife.
Small stock (sheep and goats) have been farmed in watered regions of the Succulent
and Nama-Karoo Biomes for 4000 years, and intensely across this region over the
past two centuries, ostrich farming was developed in the Little Karoo during the late
nineteenth century, and springbuck farming developed from the 1960s onward
(Beinart 2003). Communal land accounts for 3% of the Succulent and Nama
16 The Impact of Invasive Alien Plants on Rangelands in South Africa
461