Thesis (MSc (Geography and Environmental Studies))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / A multitude of unique fauna and flora exist within the Western Cape of South Africa.
Fire plays an intricate role in the conservation and extinction of many of these
species. It is therefore imperative to understand this delicate relationship in order to
help preserve the province’s uniquely balanced ecosystem.
The Western Cape Nature Conservation Board (WCNCB) expressed the need for a
system that would allow reserve managers to produce basic fire frequency and veld
age maps with considerable ease. These maps are needed for intelligent decisionmaking
regarding the management of veldfires. Information concerning vegetation
and historical veldfires in the Western Cape, collected over a period of 50 years exist
in tabular format in databases of the WCNCB. Some of these tables contain spatial
information elements, such as areas affected by fires. Tabular data with spatial
elements can be converted to a geographical information system (GIS) format,
extracting value previously shielded from the user. Using GIS techniques and the
programming language Avenue, two tools with powerful decision-making qualities
were created to extract value from these datasets.
One tool shows the fire history of a specified area as a digital map. This map shows
areas with varying occurrences of fires over time, thereby highlighting hot spots
within the specified location. The ability to view various fire scar datasets spatially
over a specified period, as opposed to records in a table, enables the user to
understand the extent to which areas have been repeatedly exposed to fire and quickly
identify areas most affected.
The second tool shows vegetation age in a similar fashion, allowing the user to see the
current spatial distribution of vegetation and its age. Knowledge about the age of
indigenous vegetation, such as fynbos, in a predetermined area, facilitates the reserve
manager in decisions related to block burning. This is an accepted practise in areas
where vegetation requires fire to stimulate germination. Both tools provide decisionmaking
support to reserve managers regarding the most suitable course of action in
terms of the implementation of a proactive or passive approach towards fires. This study satisfies the needs of the WCNCB by exploring the hidden value within
their datasets. GIS supported by the programming language, Avenue, was
successfully utilised in the development of a system capable of extracting information
from current datasets to support reserve managers in their critical decision-making
processes.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:sun/oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/1519 |
| Date | 04 1900 |
| Creators | Ford, Francois York |
| Contributors | Van Niekerk, Adriaan, University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Geography and Environmental Studies. |
| Publisher | Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | University of Stellenbosch |
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