Abstract:

The absence of ice sheets for many millions of years, yet variable topography and changing climate, has generated considerable biodiversity in South Africa. There is no evidence to date that anthropogenic climate change has affected odonate populations in the region. One reason is that the highly varying weather and climate constitutes considerable background noise against which any effects of modern climate change must be measured. Evidence is accumulating that the Holocene interglacial and gradual warming has left some species with isolated populations in montane areas among a matrix of arid land. Many South African odonate species are remarkably vagile and elevationally tolerant, readily immigrating into and emigrating from pools during wet and dry phases respectively. Some species take this movement to greater extremes by moving the southern margins of their geographical range back and forth with varying climate. After floods, populations of riverine odonates can recover within a year, although where the riparian corridor has been stripped of its trees, the recovery is very slow. Various synergistic impacts, particularly from invasive alien woody plants, area severe impact on many riverine species, and reducing their ability to respond positively to changing environmental conditions. Large-scale removal of these woody aliens is greatly benefiting the odonatesrsquo; ability to survive in the short-term and to restore natural corridors for movement in the face of possible future climatic changes.

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