Pippin Anderson
Work by Gina Avlonitis (Mphil 2011)

• The ideal: to make connections between biophysical attributes relating to ecological functioning and what society values
• This project: to understand whether small-scale social greening interventions materially improve ecological factors
• Questions
– What role do the interactions between social and ecological systems play in determining the ecological functioning of urban environments?
– What is the ecological value of social management / intervention?
• Why bother?
– To potentially inform policy
– Establish how rehabilitation projects in marginalised and often neglected green spaces can empower and benefit people, fauna and flora
• Limitations

• Explored ecological functioning (using indicator measures) of three small-scale interventions in urban greening in the Cape Flats Sand Fynbos in the City of Cape Town
• Picked three fairly different ‘intervention’ sites and three ‘reference’ sites to work on
• Collected abiotic and biotic data at each site
– Vegetation composition (plant cover, species number, functional types)
– Soil moisture and organic content
– Pollinator diversity and numbers
– Interview data on site history and management

Civic -led intervention
‘Formal’ , scientific intervention
1) Bottom Road
Sanctuary
2) Princess Vlei 3) Tokai Park

Degraded High conservation status
1) Vacant Plot
2) Rondevlei Nature
Reserve
3) Kenilworth
Racecourse

Bottom Rd Sanctuary
Kenilworth Racecourse
Princess Vlei
Tokai Park
Rondevlei Nature
Reserve
Vacant Plot
Figure 1 Two dimensional image of the correspondence analysis of the sites sampled by species composition and percentage cover

Table 1 The mean values ( ± SD) or total values of plant variables for each site.
Nine functional types:
- annual and perennial herbs;
- annual and perennial grasses;
- geophytes;
dwarf shrubs;
woody shrubs;
succulents ;
trees
Total number of plant functional types
Total species number
Kenilworth
Racecourse
9
31
Bottom Road
Sanctuary
Princess Vlei
Rondevlei Nature
Reserve
8 7 9
31 25 26
Tokai Park
6
12
Vacant Plot
6
14
N
5
5
Red Data List species (mean % contribution to overall coverage)
Erica margaritacea-
CR
(1%), Lachnaea grandiflora-VU
(2.5%), Serruria glomerata-VU (1.4%)
Erica verticillata-EW
(2%)
Lampranthus vernalis-NT
(8.5%)
Alien invasive flora (mean
%contribution to overall coverage)
Pennisetum clandestinum (1.25%),
Invasive Rumex sp.
(2.2%), Briza maxima
(0.5%)
Lagurus ovatus
(1.1%),
Pennisetum clandestinum
(8.8%)
Pennisetum clandestinum
(0.25%)
Erica verticillata-
EW (2.3%),
Leucodendron coniferum-VU
(0.5%)
Erica verticillata-
EW (2.4%), Serruria foeniculacea-CR
(8%)
Amphithalea imbricata-R (12%)
Acacia sp. (0.9%),
Lagurus ovatus
(0.2%, Briza maxima (7.4%),
Leucadendron levisanus (0.42%)
Acacia sp. (1%),
Briza maxima
(6.5%)
Pennisetum clandestinum
(4.7%), Lagurus ovatus (19.3%),
Acacia sp.
(0.24%), Briza maxima (4.8%)
5
5

Figure 2 Bar graph representing the total number of insect pollinator species, differentiated into functional groups, collected from 24 hours pan trapping

3.0%
2.5%
2.0%
1.5%
1.0%
Bottom Rd Sanctuary
Kenilworth Racecourse
Princess Vlei
Rondevlei Nature Reserve
Tokai Park
Vacant Plot
0.5%
0.0%
0.0% 0.5% 1.0% 1.5% 2.0%
Moisture Content
2.5% 3.0% 3.5%
Figure 3 Scatter plot representing the relationship between soil moisture content (%) and organic content (%)

Ecological continuum observed- trajectory towards Kenilworth
Racecourse. There IS value in social intervention
The issue of connectivity: the more connectivity in a landscape, the more chance of ecological functioning. Need for more restored areas or well-informed, suburban gardens to form interconnected networks of urban green space
Management dichotomy between the science-orientated and civic-led management becomes clear.
The valuable social dimension of the more civic-led interventions is reinforced, where ecology becomes something everyone can enjoy

• Grow the empirical base for this type of work (re-examination of the vegetation in five years time, explore degrees of connectivity, explore other ecosystem services etc)
• Funding and governmental support for civic-led interventions : a potentially economical way for government to create spaces that integrate both ecosystem services goals and public open space functions
• Greater transdisciplinary efforts between the social and scientific research communities, in conjunction with the users/managers of these urban green spaces is needed