Snapshots of Recovery
A picture paints a thousand words. As part of their efforts to document post-fire recovery of the fynbos landscape, the conservation team on Grootbos Private Nature Reserve selected sites for fixed-point photography and have already witnessed a striking transformation.
From bare, sandy soil dusted with ash in mid December, to the first signs of fresh new life in January, to a soft carpet of green draped over charred branches by May, these images capture the vital relationship between fynbos and fire. This project will demonstrate which plant species respond strongest to the burn and how community composition changes over time.
Related Discoveries
A Weekend Walk at Bhungani
It’s barely been 9 months since the veld at Bhungani was reduced to ashes after a massive fire swept through the area, however, the fynbos had been waiting 20 years for this opportunity to regenerate, to resprout, to seed and for bulbs to emerge after a long dormancy with spectacular magnificence. […]
Persistence is key – ask the fynbos.
Persistence is key. That counts for invasive alien clearing too. Commitment to protecting a landscape becomes evident when walking through the veld and seeing the resilience of fynbos. Where clearing of invasive alien vegetation was done a decade ago at a conservation servitude site on Farm 215, with consistent effort to do follow-up […]
Fight for the Light: Fynbos vs Invasive Alien Plants
Silent battles rage on slopes and in valleys of the Walker Bay area. A race for light, nutrients and space is underway within the ever-changing landscape. This mosaic consists of pristine vegetation, anywhere between 5 and 20 years old, mixed with swathes of young veld undergoing ecological succession after the fires gave the landscape a […]