Kruger Park on climate watch

2008-04-16 14:00

Gcina Ntsaluba

Phalaborwa - Ninety people from Mpumalanga have volunteered to help monitor climate changes in the Kruger National Park.

The South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON) has started a citizen science project to help map the location of mopane trees in the southern and western parts of the park.

Currently, mopane trees dominate the northern half of the Kruger National Park and much of Limpopo. Their distribution is believed to be influenced by temperature changes.

"Our request for help has received a tremendous response from students to high-powered executives to retirees," said SAEON data manager Nikki Stevens on Wednesday.

"We've had about 90 people volunteering and we were looking for about 60 people."

Stevens said the temperature in the lowveld is expected to get warmer and wetter.

"The higher temperatures will lead to more favourable growing conditions to the south and west of the mopanes' current distribution, therefore causing a shift in the species," explained Stevens.

The volunteers will be accompanied by experienced field rangers when walking through the Kruger National Park and adjacent private nature reserves.

The distribution and location of the mopane trees will be recorded on handheld GPS satellite equipment.

Stevens said the results of the project would be used to set a baseline from which future changes in mopane distribution can be measured.

"It will provide important information on how quickly changes will occur in a changing environment," she said.

SAEON is a research organisation that establishes and maintains environmental observatories, field stations or sites.

It serves as a research and education platform for long-term studies of ecosystems that will provide a better understanding of the ecosystems to be able to detect, predict and react to environmental changes.

- African Eye