Browsing by Author "Dawson, Emily Kathleen"

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    A river health assessment of selected South-Western Cape Rivers : index of habitat integrity, water quality and the influence of surrounding land use
    (Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2003-12) Dawson, Emily Kathleen; Van der Merwe, J. H.; Boucher, C.; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Science. Dept. of Earth Sciences.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The River Health Programme (RHP) is an assessment tool for monitoring the ecological state of rivers to ensure that they remain fit for use by present and future generations. This study, forming part of a RHP assessment conducted on the south-western Cape Hout Bay, Lourens and Palmiet Rivers, has the aim to (1) zone the rivers for representative site selection, (2) assess their habitat integrity (HI), (3) determine the influence of land use on riverine HI and (4) assess the river water quality at the time of the RHP assessments. (1) The desktop geomorphological zonation method used in RHP assessments has not been sufficiently previously tested on short rivers draining the Western Cape Mountains. The Lowland River Zone of the rivers studied, as well as the Hout Bay River’s Upper Foothill Zone, were found to have steeper gradients than expected, probably due to these rivers being shorter and consequently steeper than any on which the method was previously tested. The notion of one gradient river classification system being applicable throughout South Africa, with its diverse geology and climate, is unlikely. Rather a classification system modified for various physiographic features regions or by a factor based on river length is more realistic. (2) Although there is a general longitudinal decrease in HI downstream along the Hout Bay and Lourens Rivers, coinciding with increased anthropogenic activities, HI improves in the Palmiet River’s lower reaches through the Kogelberg Nature Reserve. Surrounding land use thus seems to be a major determinant of HI. Although the Index of Habitat Integrity (IHI) used appears to achieve its aim, it was found to be subjective. Categorisation of the IHI scoring is suggested. (3) The amount of natural versus disturbed land use occurring upstream of a site at a regional and local scale, is a good predictor of riverine HI. Regional alien forestry and local urbanisation have significantly strong negative effects on instream (r2 = -0.80, r2 = 0.80, p<0.05) and riparian (r2 = -0.81, r2 = -0.83, p<0.05) HI. Different land use types therefore appear to affect riverine HI at differing scales and thus managers must not only think on a local but also a catchment scale. (4) In the Hout Bay River, a filtering system (e.g. wetland) appears to improve the water quality between the middle and lower reaches. Along the Lourens River, high total dissolved salts, conductivity and inorganic nitrogen concentrations in the middle reaches are cause for concern. Along the Palmiet River there appeared to be insufficient oxygen to support most aquatic life forms at Grabouw. Impoundments in the middle reaches act as sinks for nutrients and salts, but the Huis and Krom tributaries downstream then appear to degrade the water quality of the Palmiet River’s lower reaches within the Kogelberg Nature Reserve. Together with the results of simultaneous biotic assessments, these results should be used to develop management actions to improve the ecological health of these rivers. The results have been used in a State-of-Rivers Report for the south-western Cape.