Changing Distributions

Global change has already began to alter the distribution of many species in the northern Hemisphere. While such changes are also beginning to occur in Africa, we have little knowledge or this, due to the scarity of suitable that data that reliably indicate a change in distribution, and a lack of accurate models that can indicate which species are most likely to expand or retreat. This project involves surveys to establish the current distribution of selected species that are likely to change their distribution significantly in response to changing climate over the coming decades. Surveys have been conducted in selected areas on the edges of the current distribution of these species. Due to the potential impact of temperature changes, most of the surveys for this project have been conducted at high altitude sites on the peaks of the Drakensberg Escarpment.