Bibliography: Land Degradation in South Africa project

Animal performance is generally lower in the wetter seasons. At light stocking

rate there was no significant difference between continuous and rotational

grazing, whereas at high stocking rate the rotational system showed definite

advantage particularly in a drier season.

Ref ID : 259

541. Broderick, D. An examination of changes in the extent of erosion in

agricultural areas in the Tugela Basin.University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg. ,

1987. An historical and comparative approach to agricultural soil erosion in the

Tugela Basin, Natal was carried out. The approach involved the use of both

photographic and documentary data sources. The photographic data source

examined the 'oldest' and the 'most recent' air photos available for the Tugela

Basin. The area affected by runoff erosion, as measured from the air photos,

was used to represent the extent of erosion. A number of difficulties were

encountered in the extraction of data from the air photos, since there were

differences in photo scale, climatic cycles and seasons between the two data

sets. The documentary data source was less reliable than that of the air photos

since it relied on subjective accounts written for purposes other than research.

Data, in the form of references to erosion and land use practices, were

extracted from both primary and secondary history source material. This

analysis, though secondary to the air photo analysis, provided valuable

information on past land use practices and changes. In addition, records of

gully erosion prior to extensive European settlement of the area were attributed

to geological erosion. The data collected from the air photos, and their

logarithms, were not normally distributed. The distribution-free Kruskal-Wallis

and Mann Whitney U tests were used to determine whether the land uses and

administrative areas were signficantly differently eroded to represent separate

subpopulations. The Wilcoxon test was used to determine the signficance and

direction of any changes in the area affected by erosion. The 95% confidence

level was selected for the acceptance or rejection of the hypotheses. The land

use categories were significantly differently eroded from each other. That is,

the categories used represented separate subpopulations. The administrative

areas, on the other hand, were not significantly differently eroded, and this

was attributed to the lack of adherence to administrative boundaries. The

Wilcoxon test showed that there was a decrease in the area afffected by erosion

in the Tugela Basin, and in the commercial and subsistence farming categories,

over the time period selected for study. The reasons for this have been

attributed to (1) the nature of the climatic and seasonal differences between

the two data sets, (2) the inadquacy of the area affected by erosion to describe

degradation related to agricultural land use, (3) the lack of any major changes

in land use during the period of photograph selected for analysis, which emerged

from the literature analysis as leading to increases in erosional activity, (4)

an improvement in farming technques, and (5) the abandonment of eroded lands to

veld, from which it is difficult to detect linear erosion features due to the

nature of vegetation cover.Master of Arts.

Reprint : In File,

Keywords : SOIL EROSION; DESERTIFICATION ASSESSMENT; COMMUNAL AREA; MONITORING;

KWAZULU NATAL; ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY; EROSION; RUNOFF; LAND USE

Ref ID : 1664

542. Broecker, W.S. Global warming on trial. Natural History 4:6-13, 1992.

Reprint : In File,

Keywords : CLIMATE; CLIMATE CHANGE; ECONOMIC ASPECTS; GLOBAL CHANGE

Notes : Jim Hansen, a climatologist at NASA's Goddard Space Institute, is

convinced that the earth's temperature is rising and places the blame on the

buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Unconvinced, John Sununu, former

White House chief of staff, doubts that the warming will be great enough to

produce a serious threat and fears that measures to reduce the emissions would

throw a wrench into the gears that drive the US' troubled economy. Many others

continue to cast doubt on the reality of global warming. A new lobbying group

called Climate Council has been created to do just this. This article

investigates the question: "How good is the evidence that the earth is warming

and where does the burden of proof lie?".

Ref ID : 1993

543. Bromilow, C. Problems of plants in South Africa. Pretoria:Briza

Publications. , 1995.

Reprint : Not in File,

Ref ID : 937

544. Bromley, D.W. Natural resource issues in environmental policy in South

Africa.Anonymous Witwatersrand:LAPC. :1-126, 1995.

Reprint : In File,

Keywords : ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY; SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT; ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY;

POLICY; CONSERVATION; FORESTRY; CLIMATE; POLLUTION

Notes : The report deals with: environmental policy reform with respect to water

resources, land resources, nature conservation and forestry resources in SA;

environmental policy, properly understood, is precisely concerned with deciding

who shall determine the nature and extent of natural resource use in the new SA.

The degree of invironmental "protection" is an ineluctable by-product of that

prior discourse and struggle; rather than letting environmental policy reform

fall prey to a technocratic approach where experts dictate from afar what

"should" or "must" be done, it must be understood as a process whereby the

people of the newly democratic SA undertake a continual discourse over whose

interests the environment shall serve; the political climate for enviornmental

policy reform in SA finds considerable fragmentation in both a horizontal and

vertical sense. The evolution of coherent environmental policy will require

careful management of these two forms of fragmentation; it must not be imagined

to be one-off activity, but rather environmental policy must be understood as a

continuing process of adjustment in the laws and administrative rules that

define the domains of choice for atomistic economic needs; it cannot be

seriously imagined that a market economy can operate in the absence of statutory

laws, administrative rules, and customary norms and conventions. Hence, as SA

moves away from the dirigisme of its apartheid past, it will be important to

recall that even rampant capitalism requires a structure of rules and laws to

both constrain and liberate individual choice. One need look no further than

the former Soviet Union to see the results of efforts to create a market in the

absence of a coherent state; it is a false choice to say that environmental

policy is better when it relies on "market" incentives as opposed to

"regulations". This dichotomy is false because even "market" incentives -

effluent taxes, tradable permits for polluters - must be embedded in a prior

legal structure that prohibits pollution unaccompanied by effluent taxes.

Tradeable permit systems cannot function without a prior regulatory regime to

specify total allowable loadings (or ambient standards); The environmental

policy problem in SA is compounded by the problems associated with making a weak

and fragile federal structure function well in a country with little experience

with procedural niceties; effective environmental policy requires meaningful

compliance, and this calls for a process of judicial oversight and of the idea

of public nuisance; environmental policy will be enhanced to the extent that the

large NGO sector can be mobilized as a constructive partner to the national and

provincial governments; environmental policy reform will be hampered by the

potential conflict between strict egalitarian ideals of the provisional

Constitution (and presumably its successor) and the traditions central to

customary law among the vast majority of South Africans; the existing and

elaborate legal doctrines relating to water, land and forestry - not to mention

nature conservation -will impede clear progress towards coherent environmental

policy reform; policy reform will be complicated by the fact that environmental

resources enjoy no special legal status in SA. The concept of public nuisance

is not well developed. The legal system is predicated on the doctrine of

private rights in natural resources; new environmental policy must recognize

property regimes other than freehold and state property. Common property

regimes, when properly constituted and managed, provide viable - and socially

acceptable - institutional arrangements for the vast majority fo SA's grazing

lands.

Ref ID : 524

545. Brooks, S. The environment in history: new themes for South Africa. In:

Geography in a changing South Africa, edited by Rogerson, C. and McCarthy,

J.Cape Town:Oxford University Press, 1992,p. 158-172.

Reprint : In File,

Keywords : ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY; LAND USE

Ref ID : 1653

546. Brouwer, S. AIDS of the earth. Time :51-57, 1988.

Reprint : In File,

Keywords : AID; LAND DEGRADATION

Notes : This article spells out how agricultural practices have turned an act of

nature into a disaster. The introduction reads: "It is the quiet crisis; it

will not topple governments overnight. Many have never seen this human-made

disaster that is slowly unfolding. It is eroding the skin, blocking the

arteries and threatening the life supports of the earth. It is the destruction

and loss of the 17-centimeter mantel of topsoil upon which all people and plants

depend. It is known as 'land degradation' but more recently has been dubbed

AIDS of the earth." For the reason of the insidious nature of its invisible but

inexorable process, it is difficult to raise necessary funds to reverse its

course.

Ref ID : 1994

547. Brown, C. The ecological state of Western Cape rivers investigated. African

Wildlife 52(2):27-28, 1998.

Reprint : Not in File,

Keywords : WESTERN CAPE

Ref ID : 2119

548. Brown, C.A. Macroinvertebrate community patterns in relation to physico-

chemical parameters measured at two land-based trout farms affecting streams in

the south-western Cape. Archiv fur Hydrobiologie 138(1):57-76, 1996.

Reprint : Not in File,

Ref ID : 1996

549. Brown, C.J. and Gubb, A.A. Invasive alien organisms in the Namib desert,

upper Karoo and the arid and semi-arid savannas of western southern Africa. In:

The ecology and management of biological invasions in southern Africa, edited by

Macdonald, I.A.W., Kruger, F.J., and Ferrar, A.A.South Africa:Oxford University

Press, 1986,p. 93-108.

Reprint : Not in File,

Keywords : SAVANNA; SOUTHERN AFRICA

Ref ID : 162

550. Brown, J.C. Hydrology of South Africa; or details of the former

hydrographic condition of the Cape of Good Hope and of causes of its present

aridity, with suggestions of appropriate remedies for this aridity, London:Henry

S. King & Co. 1875.

Reprint : In File,

Keywords : HYDROMETEOROLOGY; DESSICATION; EROSION; FOREST; RAINFALL

Notes : I have only copied a few of the relevant pages. In file only pp.206-

209. Amongst important points underlined are the following. There is a

reference to an article by Dr. Rubidge in the Eastern Province Monthly Magazine

stating that the natural countryside of Spain is fast being ruined by Merino

sheep, as is happening in the Colony, more specifically the Karoo, through

erosion. Further, destruction of forests, herbage and bush promote desiccation

by removing an important check on evaporation. It is also noted that trees

attract rain or clouds and so increase rainfall. Where they are destroyed, rain

patterns are decreased.

Ref ID : 1654

551. Brown, J.R. and Archer, S. Woody plant invasion of grasslands:

establishment of honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa var. glandulosa) on sites

differing in herbaceous biomass and grazing history. Oecologia 80:19-26, 1989.

Reprint : In File,

Keywords : GRASSLAND; FAUNA; GRAZING EFFECTS; PLANT-ANIMAL INTERACTIONS; PLANT

PHYSIOLOGY; SOIL NUTRIENTS; BUSH ENCROACHMENT

Notes : Emergence and survival of honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa var.

glandulosa Torr.) seedlings was quantified on sites with contrasting grazing

histories: long-term continuous grazing (LTG) and long-term protection (LTP)

from grazing by cattle. On each site, different levels of herbaceous

defoliation were imposed at monthly intervals (no defoliation = ND, moderate =

MD and heavy = HD). The two weeks following seed dissemination appeared to be

the most critical to Prosopis establishment on LTP-ND plots. Openings in the

herbaceous layer created by moderate defoliation of grasses on the LTP site

increased germination and/or survival 7- to 8-fold during this period. However,

increasing the degree of defoliation from moderate to heavy did not stimulate

additional emergency on either the LTP or LTG site. Emergence from scarified

seed placed in cattle dung (17 to 30%) was lower than that of bare seed

placements in various microhabitats (43 - 60%). However, deposition of

scarified Prosopis seed in dung in conjunction with graminoid defoliation may be

the most likely combination of events when livstock are present. Emergence from

seeds transported into grasslands by other fauna likely would be low, unless

seeds were deposited in areas where grasses had been defoliated Prosopis

survival was comparably high in dung and bare seed placements after one growing

season. Survival of seedlings present two weeks after seed dissemination ranged

from 74 to 97% at the end of the second growing season. Seedling survival and

shoot development (biomass, leaf area and height) were similar on LTP and LTG

sites, regardless of the level of herbaceous defoliation or seed placement. In

addition, the magnitude and patterns of net photosynthesis, stomatal conductance

and xylem water potential were comparable among one-year-old seelings on ND, MD

and HD plots, even though differences in herbaceous species composition and

above- and below-ground biomass between these treatments were substantial. Such

data suggest competition for soil resources between grasses and Prosopis may be

minimal early in the life cycle of Prosopis. High rates of Prosopis emergence

and establishment on LTP-MD plots are counter to the widespread assumption that

long-term and/or heavy grazing is requisite for Prosopis encroachment into

grasslands. Results are discussed with regard to factors contributing to the

recent, widespread invasion of this woody legume into grasslands of southwestern

North America.

Ref ID : 1656

552. Brown, M. and Wyckoff-Baird, B. Designing Integrated Conservation and

Development Projects. Biodiversity support program.Anonymous Corporate Press

Inc.Landover. , 1992.

Reprint : In File,

Keywords : CONSERVATION; BIODIVERSITY; METHODOLOGIES; SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT;

MONITORING; VELD MANAGEMENT; SOCIOECONOMIC ASPECTS; ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

Notes : Conservationists and development planners increasingly recognize that

efforts to conserve biological diversity (biodiversity) in developing countries

will not succeed in the long term unless local people perceive those efforts as

serving their economic and cultural interests. With a dual goal of improving the

management of natural resources and the quality of life of people, integrated

conservation and development projects (ICDPs) offer new alternatives that, if

properly implemented, could be successful at conserving wildlands and their

biodiversity. ICDPs may offer a means of balancing the needs of the local

people, the environment, and future generations. Integrated conservation and

development projects are actually experiments using new methodologies in

conservation and sustainable development. As such, they are not based on a body

of tested knowledge, but rather are the building blocks of theory and future

efforts. Thus, it is critical to understand that a proposed ICDP involves risk

and uncertainty. With this in mind, any new ICDP should be monitored as a test

case, so that over time a body of analysis becomes available to guide future

project design and decision making. It is important that research questions and

hypothesized relationships between factors are clearly outlined during the

initial project design; assumptions underlying the project rationale are stated

and reviewed periodically for validity; and there is an effective monitoring and

evaluation system, including collection and analysis of baseline data.

Ref ID : 1997

553. Brownlie, S.F. The effects of recent landuse at a fynbos site.Anonymous

Cape Town:University of Cape Town. , 1982.

Reprint : Not in File,

Keywords : FYNBOS

Notes : Final report of the School of Environmental Studies.

Ref ID : 2385

554. Brutsch, M.O. Improving the quality of the human diet with vegetables.

Ciskei Journal for Rural Development 2nd Quarter, 1989.

Reprint : Not in File,

Keywords : AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION; CISKEI; PRODUCTION POTENTIAL; SOCIOECONOMIC

ASPECTS; GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES; RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Notes : The purpose of the study was to briefly outline the role of vegetables

in the human diet and give an indication of the vegetables which are, and should

be, grown and consumed in the Ciskei to meet these needs. Secondary data were

used for the analysis. The survey of horticultural crops in the Amatola Basin

indicated the importance attached to vegetables and also indicated a need for

increased fruit and vegetable production. A greater measure of self-sufficiency

in vegetables (and fruits) must be achieved with the assistance of the relevant

authorities. Vegetables satisfy important nutritional requirements in the human

diet. The author recommended the following vegetables for Ciskei. These are

cabbage, carrots, beetroot, pumpkin, onions, sweet potato, potatoes, turnips and

kale. This document can be found in the library at the University of Fort Hare.

See ref. I.D. no: 2339.

Ref ID : 2400

555. Brutsch, M.O. Gardening and tree planting for villages in the

Ciskei.Anonymous , 1990.

Reprint : Not in File,

Keywords : CISKEI; AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT; SOCIOECONOMIC ASPECTS; RURAL

DEVELOPMENT

Notes : The main objective of the study is to create an awareness of the value

of plants for beauty, shade, shelter and food. A further objective is to assist

villagers in selecting and growing suitable plants for useful purposes in their

villages. The report documents the materials and equipment for use when

gardening. A comprehensive list is provided and the recommendations for use are

included. There are no findings as such since a structured research was not

carried out. However, detailed instructions on "how to do it" with respect to

gardening in the Ciskei is provided. This report is obtainable from the

Documentation Centre, Agriculture (UFH). See ref. I.D. no: 2339.

Ref ID : 1232

556. Brutsch, M.O. Amatola Basin rural development project (Ciskei) present

landuse: Horticultural crops in the Amatola Basin.Anonymous Alice:University of

Fort Hare. 8/81:1-46, 1998.

Reprint : In File,

Keywords : RURAL DEVELOPMENT; CISKEI; SOUTHERN AFRICA; DROUGHT; AGRICULTURAL

DEVELOPMENT; IRRIGATION; POPULATION

Notes : The purpose of this study was basically two-fold: firstly, to obtain an

idea of the present status of horticultural crop production and of attitudes to

horticultural crops and production in practices and, secondly, to assess the

potential in general, and mainly in the short term, for horticultural crops in

the Amatola Basin. The people of the Amatola Basin grow and consume a wide

range of fruits and vegetables but in most instances not sufficient for their

needs. They are keen to produce more and to sell surplus produce to supplement

their incomes, but need competent and dedicated guidance and all kinds of

assistance. Several factors restricting agricultural development in other less

developed rural societies in southern Africa also prevail here. But unlike in

many other parts of Ciskei, the potential for cropping is fairly good and water,

though not plentiful over the whole Basin, is more abundant. The recent extreme

drought has served as a reminder that cropping can be a risky enterprise even in

such areas. Many factors curtailing development in general in the Amatola

Basin, but agricultural development in particular, cannot be wished away or

modified substantially over a relatively short period of time. But as Bekker et

al. (1981) have proposed, there are definite ways in which cropping can be

improved. In the case of horticultural crops it is suggested that special

ugrent attention be directed at gardening so as to achieve a more meaningful

measure of self-sufficiency in fruits and vegetables. Initially efforts should

be concentrated on communal gardens and small-scale commercial gardens such as

the Nonoti garden. Many of these gardens already exist and others can be

developed near supplies of water for irrigation. They can more easily be fenced

off and because groups of people work in them it is easier to carry out training

programmes and to render other forms of assistance. By virtue of their large

number and potential contribution to the well-being of the population, home

gardens must not be neglected. Under certain circumstances it may be beneficial

to adopt 'other' methods of production, such as 'trench beds'. apart from

ensuring adequate water and fencing for gardens of all types, a major effort

should be made to make certain inputs, such as seed, seedlings, fertilizers and

pecticides, more readily available. The 'packages' as supplied by ACAT would be

very useful in this regard. A significant achievement would be to supply

vegetable seedlings to growers. Initially these seedlings could be purchased

from the ever-increasing number of 'specialist' seedling growers in the

neighbouring RSA, but ideally they should be grown in the Basin or at a central

point in Ciskei. Finally, the services of competent and highly motivated

agricultural officers would do much to promote crop production. Home economists