Africa, the Devastated Continent?: Man's Impact on the Ecology of Africa

ISBN-13: 9789401019408 / Angielski / Miękka / 2012 / 236 str.

A.S. de Vos

Opis

Africa is not known as one of the more densely populated continents. Yet, the damaging marks of man's activities may be seen there dramatically. Many of Africa's ecological zones are fragile. Large scale soil erosion, resul tant cycles of drought and flash floods, downgrading of fauna and flora are well-known to many in general ways, as well as from detailed examination of a few areas. But large parts of Africa remain inaccessible. Very few students of Africa have the opportunity - or the tenacity - to travel over these vast areas or into the hidden corners that lie beyond the well-known routes of Africa. As FAO's Regional Wildlife and National Parks Officer for Africa, ANTooN DE Vos had the opportunity of travelling widely and studying and reporting on the acceleration of man-made changes in much of the continent. As an experienced practitioner of an important and difficult science, ecology, he has made a significant professional contribution with this book. It is our hope that those who read it will be encouraged to carryon the important work and the concern with this subject to which Dr. DE Vos has devoted so much of his knowledge, energy and personal commitments."

Spis treści

Foreword.- I. The African environment.- Geology.- Geography.- Phytogeography.- Zoogeography.- Climate.- Soils.- Vegetation types.- Woodlands, savannas and steppes.- Moist forest at low and medium altitudes.- Wooded steppe with abundant Acacia and Commiphora.- Subdesert steppe.- Desert.- Montane evergreen forest.- Montane communities — undifferentiated.- Afro-alpine communities.- Temperate and subtropical evergreen forest.- Mangroves.- II. Ecological zones of Africa.- The use of ecosystems by man.- The ecosystem concept.- The savanna environment, an example of a man-influenced ecosystem.- Derived savanna.- Breakdown of organic material.- Adaptations of animals to the savanna environment.- Biomass and production of consumers.- The Guinean zone.- The Sudanian zone.- The Sahelian zone.- The Saharian zone.- The Mediterranean zone.- The Eastern zone.- The Zambezian zone.- The Transvalian zone.- The Basutolian zone.- The Kalaharian zone.- The Karroo-Namaqualian zone.- The Cape zone.- III. Man as an environmental agent.- Primitive man’s influence on the environment.- Primitive man’s use of fire.- Primitive man as a cultivator.- Primitive animal husbandry.- Implications of the impact of primitive man’s influence.- Modern man’s influence on the environment.- Implications of the human population explosion.- Effects of fire on the environment.- Fire and soil conservation.- Fire as a tool.- Effects of agriculture on the environment.- Traditional systems of land use.- Modern systems of land use.- The rehabilitation of the Kikuyu lands.- Variations in the cultivability of land.- Problems of shifting cultivation.- Subsistence farming.- The influence of colonial powers.- Cash crop production.- The ground-nut scheme failure in Tanganyika.- What are range lands?.- Effects of overgrazing on range lands.- Effects of degradation of environment on the productivity of wild herbivorous animals.- Land use and soil erosion.- IV. Specific environmental problems.- Nomadism and consequences of sedentarization.- Livestock carrying capacity and land requirements of pastoralists.- Ecological consequences of sedentarization.- Marginal lands.- Arid land management problems.- The problem of desertification.- The invasion of Africa by plants and animals.- Introduced plants.- Introduced animals.- The preservation of endangered species.- The need for preservation of natural vegetation.- The special need for forest reserves.- The environmental values of forests.- The need for national parks or equivalent reserves.- Animal influences on the grassland environment.- The role of termites and termitaria.- The role of the tsetse fly: Africa’s boon or bane?.- The ecology and control of the desert locust.- The role of the goat.- Wetlands, estuaries and mangrove swamps.- The pesticide problem.- Land tenure problems.- V. Problems, needs and potentials in land use.- Agriculture.- Problems.- The ‘Green revolution’.- Needs and potentials.- Future trends.- Range and pasture management.- Range management on arid lands.- Prospects and potentials.- Pasture management.- Prospects and potentials.- Animal husbandry.- Problems.- Needs and potentials.- Future trends.- Forestry.- Forest production.- The value of shelterbelts.- The use of trees in rejuvenating the soil in dry tropical zones.- Afforestation.- Future trends and needs.- Inland fisheries.- Problems.- Trends, needs and potentials.- The fisheries of the Great Lakes of East Africa, a special problem.- Wildlife.- Problems.- Trends, needs and potentials.- Soil and water conservation.- Soil conservation and erosion control.- The control of wind erosion.- Soil fertility and crop management.- Green manures and mulches.- Reclamation of eroded and abandoned land.- Development of water resources.- Irrigation developments.- Water utilization problems.- Problems in river basin development.- Prospects in river basin development.- Food, health and nutrition.- VI. Planning for the future.- The need for regional planning.- Ecological considerations in land use planning.- The need for ecosystem planning.- Industrial development.- Environmental quality considerations.- Ecological constraints to man’s future in Africa.- Planning for development: a positive approach to more efficient land use.- Literature cited.