Long-term data series relating to Southern Africa's renewable natural resources

Abstract

This volume presents the proceedings of a conference held to review the state of knowledge on long-term data series from southern African ecosystems. Three chapters relate to marine environments: those of the West Coast shelf, the South-East Coast shelf and the intertidal zone. Two chapters cover inland waters, estuaries and the hydrological cycle. Six chapters cover each of the terrestrial biomes: fynbos, forest, grassland, savanna, karoo and the Namib Desert. Two further chapters cover agricultural and veterinary data series. The remaining five chapters are of a more synthetic nature and examine the topics of palaeoenvironmental changes, environmental-forcing mechanisms, linkages between ecosyterns, the analysis and storage of long-term data and some of the conclusions arising from the conference. Numerous short papers are included within individual chapters detailing particular data series. References included in each chapter introduce the reader to the key published works on the topic. However, much of the information presented has not been published previously.