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Most
bio-diverse desert on earth
Is it really the same plain? The grey, beige and brown
tones of a couple of weeks ago have made way for whispers
of yellow, pink and violet; where debris and sand stretched
to the mountains on the horizon a sea of flowers is
now waving in the wind. |
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The
blossoming desert is a deeply moving natural phenomenon
that draws thousands of visitors to Namaqualand on the
west coast of southern Africa year after year. The same
can be witnessed in the area south-west of Aus. This
is not incidental since both areas are part of the same
desert – the Succulent Karoo. |
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The
name is derived from the plants that make up most of
the vegetation on the sand and gravel surface: small
shrubs that retain water in leaves, twigs and trunks
and are therefore classified as succulents. 'Karoo'
is the Khoisan word for 'semi desert'. |
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feature and difference to the adjacent Nama Karoo
is the winter rain that falls in the area between
April and September. In contrast to the heavy
and often very isolated showers in summer (end
January till March) rainfall in winter is soft
and scattered. On the coast fog and wind ensure
humidity and moderate temperatures. However the
predominant and strong south westerly winds often
seem like life-threatening sandblasts. The rainfall
ranges from 20 mm to 100 mm a year depending on
the specific area, but is relatively constant
in the annual cycle. In winter the area has frost
of up to minus two degrees allowing for occasional
snow; in summer temperatures soar to 45 degrees
Celsius. The potential evaporation is 25 to 150
times higher than the annual rainfall. |
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The Succulent
Karoo is the most diverse desert system in the world,
developed in millions of years of evolution. The diversity
is based specifically on the leafy succulents of which
there are about 1,700 species. Of Succulents with trunks
there are only 130 species. Examples of the ability
of nature to cleverly adapt are the 'living stones'
(Lithops), the succulent leaves of which barely reach
out above the ground and are camouflaged as small stones
- protection against sand storms and plant eaters. |
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The area of
the Succulent Karoo in south-western Namibia is classified
as 'Wilderness' i.e. pristine natural habitat. This
is really on account of man’s love for a certain
mineral found hundreds of kilometres south-east in Kimberly
in large volumes: the diamond. Following the split in
the primeval continent Gondwana about 120 million years
ago humid climatic conditions caused strong erosion
on the south-west of the African piece that carried
off two to three kilometres of stone including the upper
layer of the Kimberlite dykes containing diamonds. Main
medium of transport was the Orange/Gariep, that deposited
the diamonds into the terraces close to the shores of
the Atlantic Ocean. Later the water levels dropped and
laid bare the terraces. The first of these diamonds
is found at Kolmanskop 30 km east of Lüderitz in
1908. To control mining activity the then German colonial
government proclaimed the coast down to the mouth of
the Orange/Gariep, including a buffer zone reaching
100 km inland, as 'Sperrgebiet' (restricted area). Because
diamond mining is confined to the coast the rest of
the area remains practically untouched.
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80 vertebrates
are at home in the Succulent Karoo. More than 20 of
them are endemic, among them a tortoise, a chameleon
and a bird. Typical game species found in the area are
Gemsbok, Springbok, ostrich, jackal and the brown hyena
along the coast. The wild horses west of Aus are not
endemic, but have been living there since 1915. |
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People
merely inhabited the outskirts of the desert (like the
Oorlam in the east and along the coast) or passed through
it in search of game (like the San/bushmen). |
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