- Waterberg Biosphere
The Waterberg Biosphere is a
massif of approximately 15,000 square kilometers in northLimpopo Province ,South Africa . Waterberg is the first region in the northern part of South Africa to be named as aBiosphere Reserve byUNESCO . The extensive rock formation was shaped by hundreds of millions of years of riverine erosion to yield diverse bluff andbutte landform C.Michael Hogan, Mark L. Cooke and Helen Murray, "The Waterberg Biosphere", Lumina Technologies, May 22, 2006. [http://www.luminatechnologies.org/lumaw.html] ] . The ecosystem can be characterised as adry deciduous forest orBushveld . Within the Waterberg there arearchaeological finds dating to theStone Age , and nearby are earlyevolutionary finds related to the origin ofhuman s.Geology
The underlying rock formation derives from the
Kaapvaal craton , formed as a precursor island roughly 2.7 billion years ago. This crustal formation became the base of the Waterberg, which was further transformed by upward extrusion ofigneous rocksWilliam Taylor, Gerald Hinde and David Holt-Biddle, "The Waterberg", Struik Publishers, Capetown, South Africa (2003) ISBN 1-86872-822-6] . These extruded rocks, containingmineral s such asvanadium andplatinum , are called theBushveld igneous complex . The original extent of this rockupthrust involved about 250,000 square kilometers, and is sometimes called the Waterberg Supergroup.Sedimentary deposition from rivers cutting through Waterberg endured until roughly 1.5 billion years ago. In more recent time (around 250 million years ago) the Kaapvaal craton collided with the supercontinentGondwana , and split Gondwana into its modern day continents. Waterberg today containsmesa s,butte s and somekopje outcrops. Some of cliffs stand up to 550 meters above the plains, with exposed multi-coloured sandstone.tone Age man at Waterberg
The
sandstone formations could retaingroundwater sufficient to make a suitable environment for primitive man. Thecliff overhangs offered natural shelters for these early humans. The firsthuman ancestor s may have been at Waterberg as early as three million years ago, since Makapansgat, 40 kilometers distant, has yieldedskeleton s of "Australopithecus africanus "C.Michael Hogan, Mark L. Cooke and Helen Murray, "The Waterberg Biosphere", Lumina Technologies, May 22, 2006] . Hogan suggests thatHomo erectus , whose evidence remains were also discovered inMakapansgat , "may have purposefully moved into the higher areas of the Waterberg for summer (December to March) game".Bushmen entered Waterberg around two thousand years ago. They producedrock painting s at Lapalala within the Waterberg, including depictions ofrhinoceros andantelope . EarlyIron Age settler s in Waterberg were Bantu, who had broughtcattle to the region. The Bantu created a problem in Waterberg, since cattle reducedgrass land caused invasion of brush species leading to an outbreak of thetse-tse fly . The ensuingepidemic ofsleeping sickness depopulated the plains, but at higher elevations man survived, because the fly cannot survive above 600 meters.Later people left the first Stone Age artifacts recovered in northern
South Africa . Starting about the year 1300 AD,Nguni settlers arrived with new technologies, including the ability to build dry-stone walls, which techniques were then used to add defensive works to theirIron Age forts, some of which walls survive to today.Archaeologist s continue to excavate Waterberg to shed light on the Nguni culture and the associateddry-stone architecture.European arrival
The first white settlers arrived in Waterberg in 1808 and the first naturalist a Swede appeared just before mid 19th century. Around the mid 19th century, a group of Dutch travelers set out from
Cape Town in search ofJerusalem . Arriving in Waterberg, they mis-estimated their distance and thought they had reachedEgypt .After battles between Dutch settlers and tribesmen, the races co-existed until around 1900. The Dutch brought further cattle
grazing , multiplying the impacts of indigenoustribe s. By the beginning of the 20th century there were an estimated 200 western inhabitants of the Waterberg ["The Encyclopedic History of the Transvaal", Praagh and Lloyd, Johannesberg (1906)] , andgrassland loss began to have a severe impact upon nativewildlife population s.Flora and fauna
There are several sub-habitats within the Waterberg Biosphere, which is fundamentally a dry deciduous forest; according to Hogan: "These sub-habitats include "high plateau
savanna ", "specialized shaded cliffvegetation system" and "riparian zone habitat" with associatedmarsh es".The savanna consists of rolling grasslands and a semi-
deciduous forest , with trees such as Mountainseringa , Silver-leafterminalia andLavender tree. The canopy is mostly leafless during the dry winter. Native grasses includeSignal grass ,Goose grass andHeather-topped grass . Indigenous grasses provide graze to support nativespecies s includingimpala , kudu,klipspringer andBlue wildebeest . SomePachypodium habitats are found especially in isolatedkopje formations.Other indigenous mammals include
giraffe , white rhinoceros andwarthog .Snake s include theblack mamba andspitting cobra . In 1905Eugene Marais studied these snakes of the Waterberg [Eugene Marais, "Soul of the Ape", Human and Rousseau (1937)] . Some birds seen are the Black-headed oriole and theWhite-backed vulture Tracey Hawthorne, "Common Birds of South Africa", Struik Publishing, South Africa (1998) ISBN 1-86872-120-5 ] .Vegetative cliff habitats are abundant in the Waterberg due to the extensive historic riverine
erosion . TheAfrican Porcupine uses the protection of these cliffside caves. Sometree s cling to the cliff areas, including thePaper tree , whose flaking bark hangs from their thick trunks. of specimens clinging to cliffsides above windingstream s below. Another tree in this habitat is the fever tree, thought by Bushmen to have special power to allow communication with the dead. It is found on cliffs above the Palala River including one site used for prehistoric ceremonies, which is also a location of some intact rock paintings.Riparian zone s are associated with variousriver s that cut through Waterberg. These surface waters all drain to theLimpopo River which flows easterly to discharge into theIndian Ocean . Red bushwillow is a riparian tree in this habitat. These riparian zones offer habitat for birds,reptile s andmammal s that require more more water thanplateau species. The riverine areas house theapex predator Nile crocodile and thehippopotamus . These wet habitats are almost absent of water-relatedinsect s, and the Waterberg is thus considered an almostMalaria -free region.Land management
As of the year 2006 about 80,000 people live in the Waterberg, which is considered part of the Bushveld district of the Limpopo Province of South Africa. After
cattle grazing wrought ecological havoc in the mid 1900s, the land owners of the region became aware of the benefits of restoring habitat to attract and protect the original species of antelope,white rhino ,giraffe ,hippopotami , and other species whose numbers dropped in the era of intense cattle grazing.The rise in
eco-tourism has stimulated interest insoil conservation practices to restore original grass species to the Waterberg. Land management practises required are expensive, but repay the landowner with added value ofwildlife habitat. There is also a trend of larger farms and open space areas with the resultant advantage of fence removal. This outcome not only benefits large mammal migration, but yields an improved gene pool.References
ee also
*
Boer Wars
*Soil conservation External links
* [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Vaalwater,+South+Africa&ll=-23.919893,28.199501&spn=0.074065,0.173035&t=h&om=1 Google map of heart of Waterberg]
* [http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/maney/aes/2005/00000114/00000004/art00008;jsessionid=sce9btaik2o5.alice History of platinum mining in the Waterberg]
* [http://www2.unesco.org/mab/br/brdir/directory/biores.asp?mode=all&code=SAF+03 Waterberg Biosphere Reserve (UNESCO)]
* [http://www.worldphototour.org/south_africa/limpopo/waterberg/index.asp Waterberg Photos]
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