Page 79 - KGR 2020-21 Annual Report

HABITAT INTERACTIONS

RESULTS

KPI 1 | TROPHIC INTERACTIONS

The transfer of energy from the bodies of one life form (plant, herbivore, predator) to another is known as a trophic
interaction. In many cases, communities with multi-level trophic chains support more species than communities with
simpler chains. The process of restoring trophic interactions (and hence energy flow between trophic levels) is critical
to the overall restoration mission at Karingani. Evidence for this is threefold: a) through the monitoring of NDVI
(closely related to plant production), we see evidence for an increase in the energy captured by plants since the very
dry rainfall year of 2015/16; b) in response to this, there has been a near doubling of the biomass of large herbivores,
signalling an increased flow of energy from primary producer to primary consumer trophic levels.

0.8 45
0.7 40
0.6 35
Mean NDVI 0.5 Biomass Density (kg.ha -1 ) 25
30
0.4
0.3 20
15
0.2 10
0.1 5
0.0 0
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
12_13 13_14 14_15 15_16 16_17 17_18 18_19 19_20 20_21
Wet Season Year

While this may be construed as a success, the herbivore biomass still falls short of the expected target (or carrying
capacity) (red line). To date restoration of the large herbivore guild (primary consumers) has been passive, further
support is needed in restoring important ecosystem engineers such as black rhino, giraffe and wildebeest to bring
this process closer to completion. Evidence for the restoration of secondary consumers (predators) is also building
with the successful growth and range extension of the wild dog and leopard populations. Tertiary consumers
(scavengers) indexed by white-backed vulture also show signs of growth (the abundance of hyena is not measured
currently).

140
120
100
Number of Nests 80

60

40
20

0
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Year

NATURAL CAPITAL, SOCIAL IMP A CT & SUSTAINABLE DEVEL OPMENT PROGRESS REPORT 2021 C1 | 76