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This paper focuses upon the role that science-based interventions allied to effective regulatory regimes can play in reducing the threat posed by inappropriate harvesting of wild flora. A Vulnerability Index (VI) has been developed for 150 natural fynbos species that exist on South Africa's Agulhas Plain, where intensive wildflower harvesting occurs. The methodology underpinning the generation of the VI is outlined and justified in this paper. The VI comprises a range of characteristics relating to species distribution and biology that are likely to influence vulnerability to harvesting. The VI is proving to be an important tool for regulating the harvesting of wild fynbos and maintaining the resilience of natural ecosystems threatened by climate change. Furthermore, economic development and livelihood stability are promoted by protecting the resource base of marketable species. The paper discusses issues that have arisen relating to the application and rollout of the VI in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research identified viable target markets at two national parks in South Africa, using market segmentation based on motives to travel to the parks during the flower season. We surveyed international, domestic, and local wildflower-viewing visitors and labeled three distinct clusters based on their level of interest in the event: appreciators, observers, and admirers. Our results show that such clustering is a useful research tool for producing a clear visitor profile. It enabled us to provide strategic insights for managing wildflower viewing, and similar natural events, according to the preferences of specific market segments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Corporate efforts to demonstrate ‘sustainability’ within production networks are driving a continued demand for new metrics. This raises questions concerning which experts will be enlisted in their creation, what data and calculative methods they will draw on, and how and whether different publics will be convinced of the rigour of these metrics and their ethical purpose. Debates about futures and expectations tend to be western-centric; in response, this paper highlights the sophisticated environmental science and knowledges in a global South context where politics and uncertainty are of utmost importance. It draws on research into sustainable wild flower harvesting in the Cape Floral Kingdom (CFK), in the Western Cape province of South Africa, to explore the politics of expectation and future-making driving debates about biodiversity conservation and socio-economic empowerment within rural communities. It focuses specifically on how expectations of technologies, databases, knowledge and the environment play out in this particular site of production, influencing debates about sustainability, but also perspectives on what is ethical. The case study demonstrates that expectations are neither uniform nor uncontested, but bound up with inequities of power and authority in defining futures. The paper draws on postcolonial approaches to conclude that a radical opening of databases and knowledge production might challenge these asymmetries, but that constraints exist because of external pressures and expectations that arise from the political economy of biodiversity conservation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This research identified viable target markets at two national parks in South Africa, using market segmentation based on demographic characteristics. We surveyed international, domestic and local wildflower-viewing visitors and labelled three distinct demographic clusters with appropriate flower names: Namaqualand Daisies, Gazanias and Wild Flaxes. Our results show that such clustering is a useful research tool for producing a clear visitor profile. It enabled us to provide strategic insights for managing wildflower viewing and similar natural events, according to the preferences of specific market segments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author provides a personal account of his interaction with Amaryllidaceae bulb genus Haemanthus. He shares his interest in exploring and recording wild flowers in South Africa which is concentrated chiefly on the Eastern summer rainfall region. His first encounter with Haemanthus was on a farm in the Cathcart district wherein he spied some small pink brush-type flowers clinging to a steep cliff. He also described the 22 known Haemanthus.

Abstract: The genus Plectranthus (Lamiaceae) is a significant, prolific and extensively used genus in southern Africa. It plays a dominant role in both horticulture and traditional medicine. Some 12 species are documented for their use in treating ailments by various indigenous peoples of southern Africa. It is a firm favourite in gardens and Plectranthus has been bred to further utilise the remarkable diversity of indigenous South African wildflowers with amenity horticultural potential. Although previously subjected to both horticultural (Van Jaarsveld, 2006) and ethnobotanical (Lukhoba et al., 2006) review, Plectranthus is a genus with economic potential in various sectors, and this article aims to review this potential of southern African species. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Southern African grasslands harbour diverse plant communities, and recent studies have revealed remarkable plant–pollinator interactions in this biome. However, there has been no attempt to study community-wide patterns in breeding systems or plant–pollinator mutualisms. Here, we present the results of extensive field work on twenty-one wildflower species with large, showy flowers, belonging to a broad range of angiosperm families. Most of the plant species investigated were found to be self-incompatible and therefore completely dependent on pollinators. Based on over 250 h of field observations during which we recorded over 1000 individual insects, 368 of which were examined for pollen loads, we identified pollination systems involving, inter alia, bees and flies (both short- and long-tongued), wasps, butterflies, hawkmoths, beetles, and sunbirds. The most important pollinators of the wildflowers investigated in the community were long-tongued solitary bees. Several plant species appear to be dependent on a single or a few pollinator species, and few are true generalists. This high degree of specialisation indicates a well-structured pollination landscape, suggesting both a history of climatic and ecological stability and potential sensitivity to human disturbance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In an attempt to reconcile wildflower cultivation with plant diversity conservation, we investigate the effect that different augmentation techniques (including ploughing and burning) have on the plant diversity of the Fynbos Biome. We evaluated the effects of two ploughing intensities followed by augmentation at one site, and augmentation without ploughing at another on the plant diversity in Overberg Sandstone fynbos on the Agulhas Plain, South Africa. Results showed that plant diversity was the highest in areas which were either shallow-ploughed and augmented or augmented only; thus these treatments appear not to have a significant negative effect on plant diversity at least in the short-term. Deep ploughing, however, was detrimental to plant diversity. Results could be explained by the intermediate disturbance hypothesis i.e. intermediate levels of disturbance prevent the competitive exclusion of subdominant species. The conclusion drawn from this study is that low-intensity cultivation of commercial fynbos species can be diversity-friendly, but high-intensity disturbance practices should be avoided. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Namaqualand is world-renowned for its mass springtime wildflower displays, common in highly disturbed areas. Leysera gnaphalodes is a short-lived perennial shrub that encroaches on these wildflower displays, lessening their aesthetic appeal. For this reason, populations of L. gnaphalodes need to be kept as small as possible. This is usually achieved by tilling the area regularly, but a less disruptive method would be preferable. Alternatives to this approach were explored. An eight-year study was conducted to determine the effects of tilling, grazing and other environmental factors, including rainfall and temperature, on seedbank and population sizes of L. gnaphalodes. Multivariate statistical models were developed to determine the effects of all of these factors on L. gnaphalodes populations. Tilling was confirmed to be effective in reducing population size, but grazing had no effect. Low rainfall was also effective in controlling population size but had the disadvantage of being out of management control and deleterious to desirable wildflowers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Springtime mass displays of wild flowers are especially prominent on old fields and other disturbed sites in Namaqualand, an arid region in the north–western part of South Africa. This springtime floral spectacle draws thousands of tourists annually. However, there is a potential conflict between biodiversity conservation and the mass flowering that is a valuable source of income to the region. To develop a management plan for the old field vegetation in the Namaqua National Park, the questions of whether to disturb or not, how often to disturb and what type of disturbance should be applied are of vital importance. The aim of this paper is to report on experimental work to determine the impact of disturbance on mass flowering displays and biodiversity. Results show that although species diversity increased with time since last cultivation, the mass effect of the flowering display diminished. The loss of the mass effect appears to be primarily caused by the increased abundance of a short–lived perennial species (Leysera gnaphalodes) that suppressed the flowering display of the prominent annual species. To maintain mass displays as a tourist attraction, regular disturbance by tilling therefore seems essential. Initially, a four–year rotational tilling programme is proposed to produce a mosaic of fields of different ages to ensure that there will always be some old fields producing a spectacular and uncluttered display. Frequency of disturbance should thereafter be determined by an adaptive management policy. If the management of the old field vegetation is seen in the context of conserving total landscape ecodiversity, this includes conserving cultural bio–landscapes and their intrinsic values. Viewed in this context, human–induced disturbance in the small area set aside for mass displays in the Namaqua National Park (less than 0.05% of the park) becomes justified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]