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versión On-line ISSN 2071-0771
versión impresa ISSN 0075-6458
Koedoe vol.50 no.1 Pretoria ene. 2008
A floristic description of the Afromontane fynbos communities on Platberg, Eastern Free State, South Africa
Robert F. BrandI; Pieter J. Du PreezII; Leslie R. BrownIII
IDepartment of Plant Sciences, University of the Free State - South Africa
IIDepartment of Plant Sciences - University of the Free State - South Africa
IIIApplied Behavioural Ecology and Ecosystem Research Unit - Department of Environmental Sciences - University of South Africa - South Africa
Within the Platberg area and the wider Drakensberg region, the shrinking natural resources and the threat posed to biodiversity are of concern to conservation management and require an understanding of long-term ecological processes. The vegetation of Platberg was investigated as part of an ecological survey to establish Afromontane floristic links to the Drakensberg as well as for the management of natural resources. From a TWINSPAN classification, refined by the Braun-Blanquet method, four main plant communities were identified, which were subdivided into fynbos, wetland, a woody/shrub community and grassland. A classification and description of the fynbos are presented in this article.
The analysis showed the fynbos divided into two communities comprising four sub-communities and seven variants. The fynbos community had an average of 28.34 species per relevé, ranging from 14 to 54 species per sample plot. Twenty-four endemic or near-endemic Drakensberg Alpine Centre (DAC) species and 22 exotic (alien-invasive) species were recorded. Numerous floristic links with the DAC, Cape flora fynbos and grassland bioregions to the north and west were also found. The description of the fynbos plant communities can serve as a basis for the formulation of management plans for the area.
Keywords: Free State province, Drakensberg Alpine Centre (DAC) of endemism, Braun-Blanquet method, Afromontane fynbos communities, Platberg
Indigenous biodiversity is under increasing pressure from numerous forces that threaten a loss of species and the depaupering of natural resources. Platberg, in the Eastern Free State, overlooking the town of Harrismith and is an island surrounded by plains of grassland. This inselberg represents a refuge for indigenous Afromontane plants and animals.
Prior to this study, no extensive vegetation surveys had been undertaken on Platberg. Limited opportunistic floristic collections had been done in the mid-1960s by Mrs ML Jacobs, and some 50 relevés had been sampled by Prof. HJT Venter of the University of the Free State (UFS) between 1975 and 1977 (vouchers from these collectors are housed at the Geo Potts herbarium (BLFU) of the UFS).
Due to the proposed commercial development of parts of the Platberg conservancy as well as the aims of the Maluti Drakensberg transfrontier project, it was therefore considered necessary to undertake a more detailed and extensive ecological survey to describe and classify the vegetation of Platberg. These data will be used by the Free State Provincial Department of Tourism, Economic and Environmental Affairs as part of its biological-diversity survey and conservation-management strategies. The data may also be incorporated into the Maluti Drakensberg transfrontier-project vegetation maps for future land use and conservation management.
The town of Harrismith is located at the foot of Platberg (latitude S 29° 10' and longitude E 28° 16') on the N3 highway between Johannesburg and Durban (Fig. 1). Platberg's altitude ranges from 1 900 m to 2 394 m; its surface area covers approximately 3 000 ha. The slopes are steep, with numerous vegetated gullies and boulder-scree slopes below the vertical cliffs, which are 20 to 45 m high. Waterfalls cascade down the southern cliffs after rain. A permanent stream arising from the manmade dam (Gibson Dam) flows off the escarpment, cascading into a waterfall.
Woody patches of the genera Leucosidea, Buddleja, Kiggelaria, Polygala, Heteromorpha and Rhus shrubs as well as the only indigenous mountain bamboo, Thamnocalamus tessellatus, grow along the bases of the cliffs, on sandstone of the Clarens Formation, in the gullies, on the scree slopes, in the mobile boulder beds, on the rocky ridges and as riparian vegetation in the cleft, in which the only road ascends steeply to the summit. Locally, the pass is aptly named Donkey Pass for its steepness and sheer sides. It bypasses a waterfall that drains the Gibson Dam to the east. From a distance, Platberg appears to have a distinct flat top; once on the summit plateau, however, it is obvious that it has undulating, rolling, grass-covered plains instead. The vegetation of the plateau is dominated by grassland with a few rocky ridges, sheet rock and rubble patches by numerous seasonal wetlands and by a few permanent open playas (pans) on the far-western side of the Platberg plateau.
Acocks (1952, 1988) classifies the vegetation of the Drakensberg region into the following veld types: Highveld sourveld (44a), ThemedaFestuca alpine veld (58), Stormberg Plateau sweetveld (59) and sclerophyllous bush types, and fynbos (69). As a result of the 1:1 500 000 scale of Acocks's map (1988), however, Platberg does not appear as a distinct vegetation unit and is therefore included in the larger grassland biome.
Low and Rebelo (1996) give a more detailed description of the vegetation of the region, indicating the following vegetation types: wet, cold Highveld grassland (41), moist upland grassland (42), Afro mountain grassland (45) and alti mountain grassland (46).
Platberg falls within the grassland biome, which generally contains short to tall sour grasses (Acocks, 1988; Low and Rebelo, 1996). Mucina and Rutherford (2006) designate the study area as part of the Drakensberg grassland bioregion. It also has elements of fynbos, false karroo (Acocks, 1988) or succulent Karoo (Low and Rebelo, 1996) as well as elements of temperate and transitional forest, specifically 44a Highland sourveld (Acocks, 1952, 1988) veld types.
The most recent and detailed vegetation description presented by Mucina and Rutherford (2006) shows that the study area falls within the Eastern Free State Sandy Grassland (Gm 4), which is part of the broader Mesic Highveld Grassland bioregion. The Platberg plateau is shown as an island that belongs to the Drakensberg Grassland bioregion. Embedded within this bioregion are a series of isolated patches of fynbos, designated by Mucina and Rutherford (2006) as Drakensberg-Amathole Afromontane fynbos (Gd6). Mucina and Rutherford (2006) additionally recognise two structurally similar but floristically different Afromontane fynbos shrublands in the Drakensberg and surrounding area. A species of poor, fynbos-like shrubland with Passerina montana is found on the edges of some of the high Eastern Free State inselbergs (Mucina & Rutherford, 2006). Floristically, fynbos-like shrubland elements found on Platberg show strong affinities with Passerina montana, a sub-unit of the Gd 8 fynbos-type vegetation, which, according to Mucina and Rutherford (2006) still has hundreds of patches to be mapped.
Platberg consists of layers of the Karoo supergroup, which, stratagraphically, lies immediately below the volcanics of the Drakensberg formation, the youngest unit of the Stormberg group. The 1 900 m contour forms the start to the footslopes of Platberg and is constituted by the aeolian and water-borne sediments of the Clarens formation (Du Toit, 1954; Loock, Praekelt, Van der Westhuizen & Welman, 1991; Norman & Whitfield, 1998; Truswell, 1970). Several dolerite dykes intersect Platberg, with a close-set sequence of parallel dykes forming the woody/shrub community on the northern and southern slopes. A dolerite dyke is evident just below the Gibson Dam, shown in a borrow pit used for quarrying. Numerous other dykes are visible on aerial photographs. These dyke swarms occur mostly on the flat terrain at lower altitudes, with only a few intersecting Platberg itself. Some of the dykes are also visible in plantation road-cuts on the southern side of Platberg.
Topography and soils
Fig. 2 shows a terrain-form sketch of the study area. The steep slopes are composed of mudstone and mostly sandstone of the Clarens formation, intersected by dolerite dykes, which results in benches, deep ravines and terraces. Numerous sandstone and basalt boulders form scree and boulder slopes, resulting in miscellaneous soils forms characteristic of the Ib land type, specifically Mispah (Ms) and Glenrosa (Gs) soil forms (Soil classification working group 1991 Du Preez, 1991; Mucina and Rutherford, 2006). There are affinities with Fa land types, undulating rocky landscape dominated by shallow Ms, and Gs soil forms (Land Type Survey Staff, 1991; Smit, Bredenkamp and Van Rooyen, 1992).
The summit plateau is composed of igneous rock. The soils are generally shallow (20 to 200 mm), with the deepest being < 500 mm. They are derived from basalt and are shown to have even proportions of course sand, fine sand, clay, silt and moderate to high organic-matter content. The main land type is Ea (clay vertic, melanic or red diagnostic horizons) (Erickson 1985, Soil classification working group 1991; Mucina and Rutherford, 2006; Smit et al., 1992; Taylor, 1996), which has a clay content of 8 to 60%, depending on the soil series (Land Type Survey Staff, 1991).
The average annual precipitation for the study area ranges between 800 and 1 200 mm per annum. Daily mean maximum temperatures fluctuate between 22 and 24°C for the hottest month of January; during the coldest months (June and July), the daily mean temperature ranges from minus 2 to 0°C, respectively. The daily mean relative humidity for the most humid month of March varies between 68 and 72% and the daily minimum relative humidity for July and August between 32 and 38% (Schulze, 1997; Van Zinderen Bakker, 1973).
Snow is recorded to cover the top of Platberg during some winters and can stay on the ground for days. Water in south-facing gullies may be frozen for several weeks at a time (Van Zinderen Bakker, 1973). Possible heave soils are present on Mtabazwe, the highest point on Platberg (Hilliard and Burtt, 1987), and may be significant factors affecting vegetation and structure at high altitudes (Hilliard and Burtt, 1987).
The climate of Platberg and the Drakensberg is part of a much longer, continental, north-south trending austro-afro-alpine climate, with noticeably higher precipitation than the surrounding lowland. Precipitation along the Drakensberg escarpment is over 1 400 mm in some areas, with a gradual decrease both to the north and the south as well as westwards (560 mm) to the drier, sub-humid, continental-climate interior towards Bloemfontein, some 400 km away (Van Zinderen Bakker, 1973; Scott, 1988). Precipitation is orographic, not only from violent thunderstorms in summer but also from dense mists and fogs (Smit et al., 1992) as well as snow. Climatic heterogeneity associated with montane landscapes is, for Cowling, Holmes and Rebelo (1992), a more important determinant of plant diversity than geological heterogeneity.
Inselbergs: Their importance and uniqueness
Plant communities that occur on inselbergs form unique phytosociological associations (Porembski and Brown, 1995; Parmentier, Oumorou, Porembski, Lejoly & Decocq, 2006; Sarthou and Villiers, 1998). However, inselberg plant associations also have numerous species that occur in the vegetation matrix surrounding the inselbergs (Mutke, Kier, Braun, Schultz and Barhlott, 2001) and in which the inselberg flora is embedded (Platberg and Korannaberg fall within the grassland biome).
The unique, high-altitude conditions found above 2 000 m lead to high levels of endemism in organisms, plants, animals and bryophytes (Carbutt and Edwards, 2006; Haore and Bredenkamp, 2001; Hilliard and Burtt, 1987; Mucina and Rutherford, 2006; Smit et al., 1992; Van Wyk and Smith, 2001). This is due to the compression of climatic life zones over a short distance that makes mountains hot spots for biological diversity (Körner, 2003). Mountains may be regarded as analogous with an archipelago of islands in an "ocean" of low-level vegetation types that act as an isolation factor (MacArthur and Wilson, 2001; Taylor, 1996). This, in turn, precludes plant species with less mobile seed-dispersal mechanisms from propagating over wide ranges and allows for high levels of endemism to develop (Hilliard and Burtt, 1987; Taylor, 1996). High levels of endemism mean that a large proportion of the available gene pool is unique to that site, and inselbergs and mountains therefore have an important role to play in the maintenance of genetic diversity (Mucina and Rutherford, 2006; Taylor, 1996).
Platberg was chosen as the study site as it is the largest inselberg situated approximately 60 km north of the main massif of the Maluti/Drakensberg range (Chief Directorate: Survey and Mapping, 2000). It is also the highest peak in the area, at 2 394,5 m (survey beacon 44), as well as the largest inselberg capped by igneous rock (Du Toit, 1954; Erickson, 1985; King, 1963; Norman and Whitfield, 1998). It forms a distinctive flat-topped, L-shaped plateau, with clear-cut contact between the Stormberg volcanics and the cave sandstone of the Clarens formation, clearly visible from afar.
The analysis of 38 relevés, which were extracted from a total of 393 relevés for the entire Platberg, was used to constitute the fynbos community on Platberg. The scope of the study was to sample above the 1 800 m contour in order to work within the limits set by Killick (1978), who regarded the region in the Drakensberg above 1 800 m as a distinct floristic region: the Afroalpine region. The topography of the region is relatively flat and rises abruptly at the 1 900 m contour this being the start of the footslopes of Platberg to the highest point of 2 394 m.
Plot sizes were fixed at 6 x 5 m to give a total surface area of 30 m2 (Du Preez, 1991; Malan, 1998; Whittaker, 1980). In all the sample plots, each species was recorded, all the woody plants were counted and all the cover/abundance was calculated with the Braun-Blanquet cover-abundance scale (Behr and Bredenkamp, 1988; Brown, Marais, Henzi and Barrett, 2005; Clever, Brown and Bredenkamp, 2005; Mueller-Dombois and Ellenberg, 1974; Westhoff and Van der Maarel, 1980; Whittaker, 1980). Ad hoc floristic collections were undertaken in 2004, with the main fieldwork starting in February/March 2005, and continued during the following summers in the growing season from October to December 2005 through to the end of March 2006. Final follow-up fieldwork was done in January 2007.
Over 1 500 floristic collections were made and identified at either the Geo Potts herbarium (BLFU) or the national herbarium (PRE) in Pretoria. Germishuizen and Meyer (2003) were used to confirm the names of the taxa. The specimens are currently housed at the Geo Potts herbarium of the UFS.
Environmental data recorded included aspect, slope, exposure, the size of the rocks, latitude and longitude, altitude, locality, geology, the per cent of area covered by rock, topography, the degree of surface erosion, the degree of trampling, drainage, soil depth and notes on management and utilisation as well as total percentage canopy cover.
Numerous phytosociological studies (Barrett, Brown, Barrett and Henzi, 2006; Bredenkamp and Brown, 2003; Du Preez, 1991, 1992; Eckhardt et al., 1995; Eckhardt, Van Rooyen and Bredenkamp, 1993; Grobler, Bredenkamp and Brown, 2002; Hoare and Bredenkamp, 2001; Malan, 1998; Pond, Beesley, Brown and Bezuidenhout, 2002; Smit, Bredenkamp and Van Rooyen, 1995) have shown that the Braun-Blanquet classification (Kent and Coker, 1992; Whittaker, 1980) is the most efficient phytosociological method to use. Habitat as well as floristic data were processed with TURBOVEG (Hennekens, 1996a). A first approximation was done with the TWINSPAN (two-way indicator-species analysis) algorithm of Hill (1979a). MEGATAB (Hennekens, 1996b) was used to generate a phytosociological table, which was refined by Braun-Blanquet procedures. A DECORANA (Hill, 1979b) analysis was also applied to the floristic data to determine the relationship between the various vegetation units and the environmental gradients.
Erosion was estimated with the three-scale numerical system, where 1 = no erosion, 2 = moderate and 3 = high. Slope was estimated in the following scale in degrees: 0 to 3° = flat, 3 to 8° = gradual, 8 to 16° = moderate, 16 to 26° = steep, 26 to 45° = very steep, and greater than 45°. Soil depths were measured with a probe graded for 5 cm intervals to a maximum of 30 cm.
Hand-held Garmin Magellan 2X and Etrex global positioning-system instruments were used to give latitude, longitude, aspect and altitude for the sample plots. Altitudes were also read from 1:50 000 topographical maps.
A total of 299 species (Table 1) was recorded in 38 sample plots. The fynbos community has an average of 28.34 species per relevé, ranging from 14 to 54 species per sample plot. The fynbos is dominated by several low, sclerophyllous shrubs approximately 1 m high on the rocky outcrops, summit plateau, vertical cliffs, steep scree slopes and cave sandstone of the Clarens formation. A mixture of low shrubs, grasses, forbs and succulents characterises the fynbos community for the study site.
Vegetation classification
The analysis resulted in the identification of two communities, four sub-communities and seven variants. The phytosociological classification is presented in Table 1 and is as follows:
1. Tristachya leucothrix-Eragrostis curvula grassland community
1.1 Eragrostis curvula-Themeda triandra grassland sub-community
2.2 Eragrostis curvula-Eragrostis racemosa grassland sub-community
2.2.1 Passerina montana variant
2.2.2 Harpochloa falx variant
2. Helichrysum dasycephalum-Digitaria monodactyla grassland community
1.1 Bulbostylis humilis-Passerina montana sub-community
1.1.1 Watsonia lepida variant
1.1.2 Cliffortia ramosissima variant
1.1.3 Ischyrolepis schoenoides variant
1.1.4 Eragrostis capensis variant1.1.5 Cliffortia nitidula variant
2.2 Crassula sarcocaulis-Cliffortia nitidula sub-community
Description of plant communities
The study area is mostly open grassland, with scattered fynbos communities either on rocky outcrops, on the summit plateau area or concentrated on the steep slopes and cliffs of Platberg on the sandstone of the Clarens formation. Little disturbance from grazing is evident, with no record of agricultural practice on the plateau of Platberg. There are some clusters and scattered individuals of the declared alien invasive tree species Pinus patula (species group E), having escaped from plantations established at lower altitudes and now being firmly ensconced on the footslopes and scattered on the summit plateau area.
The sclerophyllous vegetation is characterised by Passerina montana (species group M, Table 1), Cliffortia ramosissima (species group F, Table 1) and Cliffortia nitidula (species group P, Table 1). Common species throughout the study area include the forbs Hebenstretia dura, Watsonia lepida, Commelina africana, Oxalis obliquifolia, Senecio glaberrimus, Sutera floribunda and Polygala amatymbica, the xerophytic fern Cheilanthes quadripinnata, the perennial tufted grasses Eragrostis curvula and Melinis nerviglumis, the two sedges Carex zuluensis and Ficinia stolonifera, the succulent Crassula lanceolata subsp. transvaalensis and the geophyte Merwilla plumbea (species group P, Table 1). The geophyte Agapanthus campanulatus and the climber Cyphia elata (species group O, Table 1) occur in all the communities.
1. Tristachya leucothrixEragrostis curvula grassland community
The Tristachya leucothrixEragrostis curvula grassland is located on flat to moderately steep rocky terrain on the ridge lines and steep slopes. Rock cover varies between 10 and 40%, with sandy soil between 40 and 250 mm deep. On the steep slopes, high erosion is present, with no erosion occurring on the flat areas.
This community is characterised by the single-bunch grass Tristachya leucothrix (species group A, Table 1).
Vegetation is dominated by the perennial grass Eragrostis curvula (species group P), the low fynbos shrub Passerina montana (species group M) and the dwarf shrub Selago galpinii (species group F). Other species of importance include the perennial grass Tristachya leucothrix (species group A), the restio Ischyrolepis schoenoides (species group G), Eragrostis curvula (species group P), the forb Watsonia lepida and the sedge Ficinia stolonifera (species group P, Table 1).
The total species count is 338, which gives an average of 30.7 species per 30 m2.
There are two sub-communities and two variants:
1.1 Eragrostis curvula-Themeda triandra grassland sub-community
The Eragrostis curvulaThemeda triandra sub-community is located on the northern and north-western slopes, with gradients varying between 8 and 26°, in full sun and in soil depths varying between 40 and 60 mm. The vegetation occurs on the contact between the cave sandstone of the Clarens formation and the igneous cap at approximately 2 200 m. Surface erosion is high, with rock cover estimated at 15%. The area is overgrazed, with concomitant high levels of erosion due to impact by cattle.
Species belonging to species group B, Table 1, are diagnostic for this community and include the geophyte Chlorophytum cooperi, the forbs Cyanotis speciosa and Acalypha punctata and the perennial grass Themeda triandra.
The vegetation has no dominant species but it does have significant cover abundance by the low shrubs Passerina montana (species group M) and Selago galpinii (species group F), the perennial grasses Themeda triandra (species group B) and Eragrostis curvula (species group P) and the forb Watsonia lepida (species group P), with a dense stand of the invader exotic tree Pinus patula (species group E, Table 1).
The total species count is 111, which gives an average of 22.2 species per 30 m2.
1.2 Eragrostis curvula-Eragrostis racemosa grassland sub-community
The Eragrostis curvulaEragrostis racemosa sub-community is located on rocky terrain, on steep to very steep slopes (16 to 45°), in the sandstone of the Clarens formation, and on the cool, southern or south-western slopes. The community is in full sun on rocky outcrops of between 10 and 40%. Soil depths are shallow (100 mm) or > 300 mm deep, a mix of sandstone and basalt, and well drained.
The short tufted grasses Eragrostis racemosa and Heteropogon contortus (species group C, Table 1) are diagnostic and also the dominant species for this sub-community. The sclerophyllous shrub Passerina montana (species group M, Table 1) is also co-dominant.
Other species of importance include the grass Tristachya leucothrix (species group A), Aristida monticola (species group E), Eragrostis curvula, (species group P), the restio Ischyrolepis schoenoides (species group G), Watsonia lepida, the sedge Ficinia stolonifera (species group P) and the dwarf shrub Selago galpinii (species group F).
The total species count is 222, which gives an average of 37 species per 30 m2.
1.2.1 Passerina montana variant
This variant occurs on the southern aspects, on the steep to very steep (16 to 45°) mid-slopes, on a series of rocky ledges and semi-vertical cliffs (with 10 to 25% exposure), and in the cave sandstones of the Clarens formation. Soils are shallow (40 to 100 mm) and well drained, and show no trampling or erosion.
The vegetation is dominated by the sclerophyllous shrub Passerina montana (species group M), with the restio Ischyrolepis schoenoides (species group G) and the perennial grass Eragrostis racemosa (species group C) being co-dominant. Other species with significant cover abundance include the perennial grasses Tristachya leucothrix (species group A), Heteropogon contortus (species group C) and Helictotrichon longifolium (species group M), and the fynbos shrubs Cliffortia ramosissima (species group F), Macowania glandulosa (species group G) and Cliffortia nitidula (species group P).
The community is depaupered in geophytes, herbs and forbs, with an average species per 30 m2 of 28.1.
1.2.2 Harpochloa falx variant
This variant is located on the mid-slope at 2 100 m on moderate to steep (28 to 45°) slopes. Rockiness is between 10 and 50%, with dry, shallow soils 40 to 120 mm deep. No trampling or erosion was seen, despite the steep slope. The grass Harpochloa falx and the forbs Helichrysum nudifolium, Wahlenbergia depressa and Senecio paucicalyculatus (species group D) are diagnostic for this variant.
The vegetation is dominated by the grasses Eragrostis racemosa and Heteropogon contortus (species group C). Important species include the grasses Tristachya leucothrix (species group A), Harpochloa falx (species group D) and Aristida monticola (species group E), Eragrostis curvula, Melinus nerviglumis, the sedges Carex zuluensis, Cyperus semitrifidus and Ficinia stolonifera (species group P), the restio Ischyrolepis schoenoides (species group G), the shrubs Passerina montana and Selago galpinii (species group F) and the fern Chelianthes quadripinnata (species group P).
The total species count is 165, which gives an average of 41.2 species per 30 m2.
2. Helichrysum dasycephalumDigitaria monodactyla grassland community
The Helichrysum dasycephalumDigitaria monodactyla community is the largest fynbos community on Platberg. It is located on the southern aspects, on the flat, rocky ridge line on the summit plateau and on the steep, exposed mid-slope along the cave sandstone. Soils are well drained and shallow (40 to 180 mm) or > 300 mm deep. Rock cover varies between 10 and 50%, with little or no erosion or trampling visible.
Species belonging to group H are diagnostic for this community and include the grass Digitaria monodactyla, the forbs Helichrysum dasycephalum, Psammotropha mucronata, Helichrysum eckloni and Dimorphotheca jucunda, the sedge Cyperus schlecteri, the succulents Crassula dependens and Ruschia putterllii, the geophyte Schisocarpus nervosa, the fynbos dwarf shrub Muraltia saxicola and the shrub Lotononis lotononoides.
The community is dominated by the grass Digitaria monodactyla (species group H) and the sclerophyllous shrub Passerina montana (species group M). Important species include the forb Helichrysum dasycephalum, the sedge Cyperus schlecteri (species group H), the shrub Cliffortia nitidula, the bulb Watsonia lepida, the sedges and grasses Ficinia gracilis and F. stolonifera, Eragrostis curvula and Melinis nerviglumis (species group P), respectively.
The total species count is 752, which gives an average of 27.9 species per 30 m2.
2.1 Bulbostylis humilisPasserina montana sub-community
The Bulbostylis humilis-Passerina montana sub-community occurs in full sun on the gently sloping ridge line (8°) on the summit basalt and on the steep slopes (26 to 45°) of the cave sandstone. Rock exposure varies between 15 and 30%. Little or no erosion, with moderate to no trampling, was noted. Soils are either shallow (40 to 160 mm) or > 300 mm deep, well drained and a mix of weathered basalt, sandstone and dolerite. Canopy cover for the shrubs is < 2 m high and is 5 to 15%, with the grasses, forbs and herbs forming a low sub-layer.
The species diagnostic for this community include the small sedge Bulbostylis humilis, the small erect succulent Crassula lanceolata, the forb Senecio othonniflorus, the root parasite Cycnium racemosa, Sebaea natalensis, Cotula socialis, Wahlenbergia cuspidata and the grass Panicum ecklonii (species group I).
The vegetation is dominated by the grass Digitaria monodactyla and the forb Helichrysum dasycephalum, with co-dominance of the fynbos shrubs Passerina montana (species group M). Other significant species include Cliffortia nitidula, the bulb Watsonia lepida, the grasses Eragrostis curvula and Melinis nerviglumis, the sedges Ficinia gracilis and F. stolonifera and the geophyte Merwilla plumbea (species group P).
The total species count is 620, which gives an average of 29.5 species per 30 m2.
1.1.1 Watsonia lepida variant
This variant is located in full sun, on the hot western and northern aspects, on the moderate to very steep slopes (16 to 45°) and on the mid-slope and plateau area. Altitudes vary from 2 100 to 2 200 m for the slopes and 2 300 m for the plateau. Rock exposure varies between 10 and 25%. No trampling or erosion was noted. Soil depths vary between 20 and 200 mm. The variant was located either on basalt of the Drakensberg volcanics or cave sandstone of the Clarens formation.
The diagnostic species for this variant are the geophyte Hesperantha baurii and the succulent Crassula biplanata x ericoides, with the tall mountain grass Merxmuellera drakensbergensis and the forbs Aeolanthus buchnerianus and Helichrysum album (species group J).
The grass Digitaria monodactyla (species group H), together with the fynbos shrub Passerina montana (species group M), dominates this vegetation. Species with significant cover include the shrubs Cliffortia ramosissima (species group F) and Cliffortia nitidula (species group P), the perennial grasses Cymbopogon dieterlenii and Aristida monticola (species group E), the restio Ischyrolepis schoenoides (species group G), the sedge Cyperus schlecteri (species group H), Eragrostis curvula, Melinis nerviglumis, the geophyte Schisocarpus nervosa (species group P) and the forb Senecio inornatus (species group M).
The total species count is 212, which gives an average of 35.3 species per 30 m2.
1.1.2 Cliffortia ramosissima variant
This variant is located on the hot and dry western and north-western aspects on moderate (8°) to steep (> 45°) inclines on the summit plateau. Rock exposure is 15 to 30%. Soils are shallow, from 40 to 100 mm deep, and well drained. No trampling was noted and there was moderate to zero soil erosion. The low sclerophylous shrub Passerina montana (species group M) covers 20 to 50% of the variant and grows at altitudes of between 2 224 and 2 367 m.
The dwarf shrubs Selago galpinii and Cliffortia ramosissima, along with the forb Senecio subrubrifloris (species group F), are diagnostic for this variant.
The vegetation is dominated by the sclerophyllous shrubs Cliffortia ramosissima (species group F) and Passerina montana (species group M) and the short bunch grass Digitaria monodactyla (species group H). Only two species have any significance: the low shrub Selago galpinii and the forb Senecio subrubriflorus (species group F).
The total species count is 74, which gives an average of 25 species per 30 m2.
1.1.3 Ischyrolepis schoenoides variant
This variant is located in full sun on the northern and eastern aspects with flat or moderate (8 to 16°) slopes on the rocky summit ridge line at altitudes of 2 100 to 2 279 m. Rock exposure varies between 15 and 25% and is either basalt or cave sandstone. No trampling or surface erosion was seen. Soil depths are shallow, between 40 and 180 mm, well drained and of mixed Ib land type. Total canopy cover is 10 and 40% for the low shrubs Cliffortia ramosissima (species group F) and Passerina montana (species group M) and less than 2 m high.
This variant has no defining species group, although it is defined by the high cover abundance of the restio Ischyrolepis schoenoides (species group G).
The vegetation is dominated by the short, leafless, grass-like restio Ischyrolepis schoenoides (species group G) and the low shrub Passerina montana (species group M). Other species of importance include the grasses Digitaria monodactyla (species group H), the forb Helichrysum dasycephalum (species group H), the low shrub Cliffortia nitidula, the forb Hebenstretia dura and the sedge Ficinia gracillis (species group P).
The total species count is 100, which gives an average of 25 species for 30 m2.
1.1.4 Eragrostis capensis variant
This variant is located on the dry northern and north-western aspects on gentle slopes (3 to 8°) between 2 250 and 2 320 m on the basalt summit in full sun. Rock exposure is less than 5%. Soils are well drained and depths vary from medium (100 to 110 mm) to (> 300 mm) deep. No trampling or surface erosion was seen. The variant is low, flat grassland with limited shrub presence.
The variant is defined by species from species group K, which includes the perennial grasses Eragrostis capensis and Pennisetum sphacelatum, plus the forbs Hypoxis costata, Oxalis depressa, Anthospermum herbaceum, Felicia filifolia, Hermannia gerrardii and Nemesia caerulea and the geophyte Ledebouria cooperi.
The vegetation is further dominated by the grasses Digitaria monodactyla (species group H) and Eragrostis capensis, the forb Felicia filiformis (species group K) and the shrub Passerina montana (species group M). Species with significant cover abundance include the small sedge Bulbostylis humilis (species group I) and the forbs Hypoxis costat and Nemesia caerulea (species group K), along with the shrubs Cliffortia ramosissima (species group F) and Rhus pyroides (species group M) and the geophyte Merwilla plumbea (species group P).
The total species count is 88, which gives an average of 29.3 species per 30 m2.
1.1.5 Cliffortia nitidula variant
This Cliffortia nitidula variant occurs in full sun and is scattered over all aspects on moderate (0 to 8°) slopes at 2 291 to 2 310 m on the summit basalt or at 2 151 to 2 176 m on very steep > 45° slopes on the scree slopes below the cliffs. Rock cover varies between 15 and 25%, with very shallow, well-drained soils between 10 and 50 mm deep. No trampling was seen and zero erosion was evident, despite the boulder-scree terrain. Canopy cover for shrubs < 2 m tall is between 5 and 20%. The community forms the distinct horizontal vegetation line growing halfway up the cliffs. Geologically, it is a dolerite sill that forms a narrow (5 to 10 m) ledge, visible as a bench on the south side of Platberg.
This variant is defined by the succulent Crassula depressa, the sedge Cyperus rupestris, the geophyte Eucomis montana and the slender shrub Polygala virgata (species group L).
No single species dominates this community. There is significant presence of the shrubs Cliffortia nitidula (species group P) and Passerina montana (species group M). The graminoid/sedge layer includes the perennial grasses Themeda triandra (species group B), Digitaria monodactyla, Helictotrichon longifolium (species group M), Eragrostis curvula and Melinis nerviglumis (species group P) and the sedges Cyperus rupestris (species group L), Carex zuluensis and Ficinia gracilis (species group P). Other species that are locally prominent are the forbs Helichrysum dasycephalum (species group H) and Felicia filiformis (species group K), the succulent Crassula depressa (species group L), the low karroid shrub Chrysocoma ciliata (species group M), the succulent shrub Crassula sarcocaulis (species group N) and the geophyte Agapanthus campanulatus (species group O).
The total species count is 146, which gives an average of 29.2 species per 30 m2.
2.2 Crassula sarcocaulisCliffortia nitidula sub-community
This sub-community covers basalt sheets and boulders on moderate slopes of between 8 and 26° in full sun on the plateau ridge line. It is predominantly located on the north-eastern aspects at 2 290 to 2 315 m. Soils are shallow (40 to 120 mm), they are seasonally damp to waterlogged, the sand and gravel < 10 mm fine, and the soils exhibit no trampling or erosion. Rock exposure is 10 to 20%.
Species belonging to species group N are diagnostic for this sub-community and include the succulent shrub Crassula sarcocaulis, the geophytes Rhodohypoxis baurii, Drimia sphaerocephala and Albuca humilis and the forbs Helichrysum chionosphaerum and Senecio inaequidens.
The sub-community has no dominant species but the significant presence of the fynbos shrub Cliffortia nitidula (species group P) and the perennial grasses Aristida monticola (species group E), Digitaria monodactyla (species group H) and Panicum ecklonii (species group I) is notable. Other important species include the caespitose forb Helichrysum dasycephalum, the sedge Cyperus schlecteri and the decumbent succulent Crassula depressa (species group H), the forbs Senecio rhomboideus and Agapanthus campanulatus (species group O), the fern Cheilanthus quadripinnata and the sedges Cyperus rupestrus, Ficinia gracilis and F. stolonifera (species group H).
This sub-community has a high proportion of geophytes.
The total species count is 132, which gives an average of 22 species per 30 m2.
Ordination and environmental gradients
The distribution of fynbos plant communities for Platberg along the first and third axes of the DECORANA (Hill, 1979b) ordination diagram is shown in Fig. 3. Soil moisture decreases from left to right, with soil depth reflecting this pattern along axis 1 (eigen value = 0.779). The decrease in soil depth may reflect an increase in rockiness and shallow soil. The presence of pine and wattle trees on the extreme left (relevé 37265) of the ordination diagram and of well-developed grassland (sub-community 1.1, Themeda triandra) on the far right may indicate an environmental gradient of disturbance (invasion by alien species), decreasing along axis 1 from left to right. Fire is an important factor in fynbos distribution and this may be reflected by irregular occurrence on the left and more regular on the right, as seen in sub-communities 1.1, via restio, to 2.2 and Passerina montana. The environmental gradient along axis 1 may be related to exposure and frost effects and increases from left to right. Rockiness and exposure also increase as the altitude increases from left to right. This may be indicated by the physiognomy of the habitat trend on this axis.
The environmental gradient along axis 3 (eigen value = 0.498) may be a combination of decreasing soil depth from the bottom to the top of axis 3 as well as of soil texture and composition, with shallow, course-grained, leached quartzitic soils at the top of the ordination diagram and with deeper, higher-organic content, finer soils at the bottom of the axis. The vegetation gradient for axis 3 from the community circled as Passerina montana through to 2.1, with the inclusion of variant 2.1.4, can be explained by the general habitat gradient.
An examination of the ordination diagram for axes 1 and 2 (eigen value = 0.580) as well as for axes 2 and 3 does not clearly show related community clusters (Table 1) along clearly discernible environmental gradients. It may be that a diagonal environmental gradient exists along axes 1 and 3, from bottom left to top right, which better explains the combination of the aspect habitat and environmental gradient of physiognomy, of fire, of soil depth and composition, of exposure and frost, of soil moisture and of rockiness.
Prior to this survey, no phytosociological classification had been completed for Platberg. The description of the fynbos is part of a larger study on the entire vegetation of Platberg and has been identified as one of four distinct communities occurring on this inselberg (the others are wetlands, a woody/shrubland community and grassland).
The sclerophyllous vegetation of the Afromontane fynbos communities of the Drakensberg region is dominated by the low shrubs Cliffortia nitidula and Passerina montana, with a less dominant but significant cover abundance of Selago galpinii and Cliffortia ramosissima (Du Preez, 1992). The geophyte Watsonia lepida, the fern Cheilanthus quadripinnata, the grasses Eragrostis curvula and Melinis nerviglumis and the two sedges Carex zuluensis and Ficinia stolonifera are common throughout. Of note is that no Protea shrubs occur on Platberg, although some Protea species have been recorded in the vicinity (the Golden Gate National Park, the Qwa Qwa National Park, the southern Drakensberg and KwaZulu-Natal as well as the northern Drakensberg).
The study resulted in the identification of 13 different fynbos vegetation units, which can be grouped into two communities, four sub-communities and seven variants.
At least 16 fynbos genera occur on Platberg, with 22 endemic or near-endemic species belonging to the Drakensberg Alpine Centre (DAC) and with 22 exotic species (alien invasives).
Fynbos on Platberg shows a species richness of 28.34 per 30 m2 (with a total 43.67 per km2 for the whole of Platberg), which is comparable with the Cape and which is moderately higher than other floristic regions in South Africa (Pond et al., 2002).
Affinities with Platberg
At plant-community level, the fynbos element on Platberg is embedded within the broader grassland biome. Numerous phytosociological and floristic studies on the grassland biome elucidate the strong floristic links that exist within several of the putative grassland bioregions (Mucina and Rutherford, 2006) and with the DAC (Bredenkamp and Brown, 2003; Grobler, Bredenkamp and Brown, 2005).
The floristic links with the fynbos on Platberg and the Cape floral kingdom are shown by the following genera, which are considered typical of the Cape centres: Cliffortia, Erica, Metalasia, Muraltia, Passerina, Pentaschistis, Restio, Schoenoxiphium and Watsonia (Bester, 1998; Cowling et al., 1992; Du Preez, 1991; Haaksma and Linder, 2002; Pond et al., 2002). All these genera, except for the Restio, are present on Platberg (Table 2) and form main communities or sub-communities (Table 1). The family Restionaceace is so dominant in the Cape floristic region that it is of great importance (Haaksma & Linder, 2002). It is considered to be one of the diagnostic families used as a distinguishing part of fynbos. The Restionaceae genus Ischyrolepis schoenoides is found on Platberg as well as other inselbergs in the Free State (Du Preez, 1991, 1992; Du Preez and Bredenkamp, 1991; Malan, 1998) and the main Drakensberg (Carbutt and Edwards, 2004; Hilliard and Burtt, 1987; Körner, 2003; Pooley, 2003). It can be regarded as a replacement genus for the genus Restio, as its growth form is similar and phylogenetically these two genera are closely related (Haaksma & Linder, 2002). Taxonomically, it was formally named Restio schoenoides to indicate its links with the genus Restio (Germishuizen and Meyer, 2003; Haaksma and Linder, 2002).
Two fynbos species on Platberg, Eriocephalus and Euryops, as well as the two woody/shrub species Maytenus and Diospyros are found in association with renosterveld (Pond et al., 2002) in the Western Cape. Passerina, Erica and Gnidia are also associated with fynbos (Goldblatt and Manning, 2000; Pond et al., 2002).
Proteaceae and the common genus Protea are a major component of Cape flora (Cowling et al., 1992; Goldblatt and Manning, 2000; Van Wyk and Smith, 2001). Of note is that no Protea shrubs grow on Platberg. They have, however, been recorded in the proximity at the Golden Gate National Park (Roberts, 1969) and 60 km to the south in Qwa Qwa (Moffett, Daemane, Pitso, Lentsoane, and Taoana, 2001), in KwaZulu-Natal, (Robbeson, 1998) and to the northern Drakensberg (Matthews, 1991) and southern Drakensberg (Bester, 1998; Hill, 1996; Smit et al., 1992). Additionally, floristic collections of Protea caffra, P. subvestita and P. roupelliae have been made 20 to 30 km to the south of Platberg (in 2003, 2004 and 2005, currently housed at the Geo Potts herbarium of the UFS). No evidence, such as excessive fire, overgrazing or the cutting of Proteas, can be found to explain this anomaly on Platberg.
Affinities with the DAC
The fynbos genera given above also occur throughout the Drakensberg (Hill, 1996; Hilliard and Burtt, 1987; Killick, 1963, 1978; Van Wyk and Smith, 2001), with Carbutt and Edwards (2004; 2006) providing the most current and complete species list and floral analysis illustrating these phytogeographic links. The fynbos species found on Platberg is, according to Acocks (1988), "different in origin and nature from the tropical vegetation" and is a vegetation type associated with poor, white, sandy soils. For Platberg, it would seem that the response to these poor soils and this habitat is the existence of the fynbos vegetation type. It is also a response to climate change over an extended period, leaving relict populations in mountainous areas (Acocks, 1988; Hilliard and Burtt, 1987; White, 1983).
Fire, grazing and conservation
Studies by Everard (1986), Seabloom and Richards (2003) and Heini, Silva and Tacheba. (2004) show that fire is a key factor influencing vegetation composition and structure, and fynbos propagation and control, with these having been extensively documented and researched (Acocks, 1988; Cowling et al., 1992; Mucina and Rutherford, 2006). The ordination for fynbos on Platberg (Fig. 3) highlights these environmental influences on the composition and structure of the sclerophyllous vegetation type.
Grazers and herbivores are important factors controlling the spread of woody vegetation (Mucina and Rutherford, 2006; Seabloom and Richards, 2003). They show that the dispersal and foraging behaviour of herbivores has the potential to structure plant communities over wide spatial and temporal ranges. On Platberg, fynbos exists on the steep sides of the Clarens formation, on rocky outcrops and on the exposed rim above the cliffs, were its location greatly reduces herbivory and trampling. More importantly, the effects of cold temperatures below freezing and high altitudes over 2 200 m (Cowling, 1992; Mucina and Rutherford, 2006; Van Wyk and Smith, 2001) would suggest these as the main mechanism responsible for maintaining the fynbos community as well as preventing the invasion of grassland by fynbos species. by fynbos.
The fynbos community on Platberg has moderate species richness and low alpha diversity (Table 1). However, it is embedded within the grassland biome, which has high species richness (the total floral count for Platberg is 687) (Mucina and Rutherford, 2006), although this is rapidly being fragmented, with as much as 89% transformed and between 0 and 12.53% conserved (Low and Rebelo, 1996). As a biome, it is furthermore under enormous pressure for the little remaining untransformed grassland to be developed (Bester, 1998; Low and Rebelo, 1996; Malan, 1998; Mucina and Rutherford, 2006; Perkins, Bredenkamp & Granger, 1999).
Platberg has high terrain heterogeneity, with steep contours, deeply incised gullies and numerous slope orientations. According to Cowling et al. (1992), Low and Rebelo (1996), Mucina and Rutherford (2006), Perkins et al., (1999) and Van Wyk and Smith (2001), this provides more habitat for species and is more important than other factors in determining high biodiversity. In addition, Platberg is the single largest, best-preserved, high-altitude grassland in the Free State (Mucina and Rutherford, 2006).
Other, immediate threats are from the invasion of Pinus patula on the footslopes and plateau area of Platberg to the south and east. This poses a considerable conservation problem. Pinus patula is in the process of rapidly out-competing local indigenous vegetation, particularly on the cool southern slope and in the stream flowing down the gully on the south side of Platberg.
For conservation, the threat to genetic diversity (Anderson, 2001) as well as global warming are key considerations. These highlight the importance of mountains and associated inselbergs and stress the great need for and urgency of their protection. Additionally, high-altitude vegetation, specifically alpine flora as defined by White (1983) and Körner (2003), is the only biogeographic unit on land with a global distribution that accounts for nearly 3% of land surface and includes about 10 000 species or about 4% of higher-order plants (Körner, 2003).
The threat posed by global warming to the world's alpine regions, including those in Africa, was predicted by Peters (1992), who indicated that as little as a 3ºC increase in temperature for 100 years would be equivalent to a 500 m upward shift in altitudinal zones. For the Afromontane and Afroalpine biota, this would cause a significant reduction in the distribution of plants and change their structure and composition, forcing some taxa to higher altitudes (Taylor, 1996). In some cases, such as that of Platberg, a significant reduction in taxa could also occur where the altitude is under 2 500 m.
Fynbos is defined as having Proteaceae, Ericaceae and Restionaceae (Goldblatt & Manning, 2000). No Proteaceae grow on Platberg, although they have been recorded in the region. One member of the Restionaceae, namely, Ischyrolepis schoenoides, and eight members of the Ericaceae occur on Platberg. The vegetation (Table 1) shows more grass species than fynbos but, despite this, it is suggested that Platberg fynbos falls within Drakensberg-Amathole Afromontane fynbos (Gd6) vegetation as defined by Mucina and Rutherford (2006) and that it should be regarded as the species-poor Passerina montana sub-unit as described by Mucina and Rutherford (2006), forming an outlier of fynbos-like shrubland embedded within the broader grassland biome.
The floristic collections plus the vegetation-community analysis shows Platberg to be an important centre for biological diversity, with high species richness and a variety of habitats and complex ecosystems. It is important then that it should be given priority as a conservation site, with the development of a management plan to carry out this task.
National Geographic (grant number 7920-05) for the generous funds, without which the fieldwork and study would not have been possible.
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Smit, C.M., Bredenkamp, G.J. and Van Rooyen, N. 1995. The grassland vegetation of the low Drakensberg escarpment in the north-western KwaZulu-Natal and north-eastern Orange Free State border area. South African Journal of Botany, 61: 917. [ Links ]
South Africa Weather Services. 2007. Climate of South Africa. Climate statistics for Bethlehem from 1961-1990. WB 40. Pretoria: Government Printer. [ Links ]
Taylor, D. 1996. Mountains. In: W.M. Adams, A.S. Goudie & A.R. Orme (eds.) The Physical Geography of Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 287306. [ Links ]
Truswell, J.F. 1970. An introduction to the historical geology of South Africa. London: Purnell Press. [ Links ]
Van Wyk, A.E. and Smith, G.F. 2001. Regions of floristic endemism in Southern Africa: A review with emphasis on succulents. Pretoria: Umdaus Press. [ Links ]
Van Zinderen Bakker Jr, E.M. 1973. Ecological investigation of forest communities in the Eastern Orange Free State and the adjacent Natal Drakensberg. Vegetatio, 28: 299334. [ Links ]
Westhoff, V. and Van der Maarel, E. 1980. The Braun-Blanquet approach. In: R.H. Whitaker, (ed.) Classification of Plant Communities. The Hague. Junk: Kluwer Academic Publisher, pp. 287378. [ Links ]
Whittaker, R.H. (ed.). 1980. Classification of plant communities. The Hague: Junk: Kluwer Academic Publisher. [ Links ]
White, F. 1983. The vegetation of Africa. Volume XX, a descriptive memoir to accompany the Unesco/AETFAT/UNSO vegetation map of Africa. Paris: Unesco. [ Links ]
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Six days ahead of the 2013 Dubai Air Show, Emirates President Tim Clark had something to talk about with one of the airline's most important suppliers: He told Airbus that Emirates would like to order more A380s—50 more, to be precise. Until that day, no one at Airbus had any idea such an order might be coming. It is the biggest order ever placed for the slow-selling aircraft.
"The only thing they knew was that I had always been minded to take more," says Clark. "They were hoping for something like five or eight additional aircraft. When we told them what we wanted, you could tell there was some deep breath-taking."
"Breathtaking" is certainly a word that comes to mind in connection with Emirates. Launched in 1985 with one Airbus A300 B4 and one Boeing 737, the Dubai-based carrier has morphed into the world's fourth-largest airline by revenue passenger miles (2012), serving more than 120 destinations. Capitalizing on the advantageous location of its home base—80% of the world's population is within an 8-hr. flight—the carrier, like Dubai itself, is on the rise, to the detriment of incumbent airlines in Europe, North America and Asia.
And with its rise has come many billion dollars' worth of orders for jets from Airbus and Boeing. Emirates now accounts for roughly half of the A380 orderbook. On the same day of its huge A380 order, it also placed orders and commitments for 150 Boeing 777X jets, launching the program along with Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways and Lufthansa. Such deep pockets have given Emirates much say in the design of new airliners. The 777X, for example, will feature General Electric GE9X engines with a higher thrust specified by the airline. "We have had a lot of input, but we also buy a lot of airplanes," says Clark.
For his role in reshaping the competitive landscape in the long-haul airline market and its outsize sway in aircraft design, Tim Clark is Aviation Week's Person of the Year for 2013.
Clark has been the dominant executive at the airline for many years, joining just before its launch and serving as president since 2003. The London University-trained economist likes to talk about the rise of low-cost carriers being a revolutionary event. But on long-haul routes, it is Emirates and its followers, Qatar and Etihad Airways, that are changing the shape of air travel, among them offering one-stop connections between most points on the globe. And according to the Teal Group, Middle Eastern carriers now account for one out of every three twin-aisle airliners on order.
But Emirates was not much more than an idea 28 years ago. Dubai's ruling Al Makhtoum family decided that the emirate should have its own airline and provided $10 million in start-up capital (plus two Boeing 727-200s a little later). Management is adamant that this was the only time that the airline received government support. Of course, the competition still complains that Emirates takes advantage of other unfair benefits such as low airport fees in Dubai (which are, however, available to every airline flying there) or access to U.S. and European export-credit financing.
Clark, born and raised abroad as the son of a tanker ship captain, became used to taking flights across the world at an early age. Flying the Super Constellation from London to Borneo was one of his favorite multiple-stop trips. While his brother became a British Airways Boeing 747-400 captain, Clark turned his passion for aviation into a profession on the business side. He joined British Caledonian early in his career, when the airline was in serious trouble. Friends who had joined Gulf Air pushed him to come to the Middle East. And Clark did. "Born as an expat child, going abroad was no problem," he says. "I had it in me."
He spent 10 years at Gulf Air in Bahrain, which was then the only airline in the Persian Gulf region that would have been noticed internationally. Its Lockheed L-1011s were a familiar sight at major airports in Europe and Asia. At Gulf Air, Clark played roles in cost control and economics. "I was able to see everything in the company and I therefore learnt a huge deal," he says of those formative years.
But the new project in nearby Dubai attracted him and a group of around eight British airline executives. Clark was in his mid-30s and ready for a new adventure. "For all of us, working at an airline was more of a hobby than a profession," he recalls. "We were all enthusiasts."
Dubai in the mid-1980s was nothing like it is today. The city consisted more or less of only what is now the old town district in Deira, near the creek. Iconic buildings for which Dubai is famous today were not even in the planning stage. The Burj Al-Arab hotel was started in 1994 and opened in late 1999, as Dubai was becoming a destination for tourism and trade was taking off.
The ground work for Emirates had been underway since 1978, when Maurice Flanagan, another British aviation executive and later Emirates vice chairman, moved to Dubai to run Dnata, a general sales and ground-handling agent for foreign airlines. The initial business plan for Emirates was drawn up in 1984 by Flanagan and his team—Clark joined a year later, just ahead of the airline's launch. Looking back at his Emirates career, he now says, "I was at the right place at the right time."
When he joined the nascent carrier, he did what he liked best at the time, going straight into route planning. Emirates started with two aircraft—an Airbus A300 B4 and a Boeing 737—and later obtained two Boeing 727-200s that had been operated by the Dubai air wing, and, in 1987, purchased its first new aircraft, an A310-300. The airline launched its first route, Dubai to Karachi, in late 1985, then started services to Mumbai and New Delhi. Routes to London-Gatwick and Frankfurt were added in 1987, and to Bangkok, Manila and Singapore in 1989.
Not until the early 1990s, however, did Clark begin to realize that Emirates would have a chance to become as big as it is today. "I remember telling a friend in 1988 that the Berlin wall would never come down. A year later it was gone. That was a seminal moment for me," he says. "If things were to continue to unravel at the same speed, it would open up many opportunities for Emirates," he says. It is that awareness of global trends, the big-picture vision, that has helped shape the airline, too. "I like to look at myself as a little bit of a globalist," Clark says.
But it was clear to him that the Emirates expansion as envisioned would not be possible with the aircraft technology available. Its Airbus A300 B4s barely made it from Dubai to London. So the lobbying for more capable aircraft began.
As Emirates continued to grow, so did Clark. Over time, it became increasingly clear that he would succeed Flanagan as the most senior operating executive. Emirates is chaired by Sheikh Ahmed bin Said Al Makhtoum, a member of Dubai's ruling family, and the airline is only one part—albeit by far the most important one—of the larger Emirates Group. Clark sees Sheikh Ahmed "two or three times a week" and makes no important decision without the sheikh's input. He sees that "short line of command" as one of the major advantages at Emirates and, in fact, he enjoys having a board of directors, which it would not have, were it publicly listed.
"Very often there is disagreement within boards; the non-executive members may have their own agendas, and it can take forever to just get approval to buy a single aircraft," Clark says. "I went to Sheikh Ahmed with my plan for 50 more A380s, and we had an immediate agreement."
Clark's in-depth airline and aircraft expertise combined with his friendly outspokenness have made him into one of the most influential figures on the customer side of the industry. He is never shy to express his opinion publicly, which does not always make manufacturers happy. "He is the most aggressive [executive] toward the OEMs," says a senior manager at a major supplier. When Airbus discovered cracks around the rib feet in some areas of the A380 wing in the spring of 2012, Clark detailed to the media what a huge burden the subsequent limitations and repair work meant for Emirates, discounting concerns about possible brand damage.
"[Airbus Chief Operating Officer Customers] John Leahy has said there is no compensation, but we take a different view," Clark told Aviation Week in a June 2012 interview. "Airbus realized too late how complex the problem will be." The issue has since been resolved, confidentially.
Standing up and pointing out deficiencies was "for the good of the people that have been involved with us," he says in retrospect.
His achievements have not gone unnoticed. Clark received the U.K.'s second-highest order this month, being named a Knight Commander; he is now "Sir Tim Clark." But he remains modest: "In all the years that I have been doing this, I never looked back. I just did it."
Industry leaders are praising him, too. "As a Boeing customer, he is astute, strategic and demanding," says Boeing Vice Chairman Ray Conner. "We could not be where we are at today without Tim's leadership and his ability to make the absolute most out of our product's capabilities."
Airbus CEO Fabrice Bregier agrees. "He knows everything you could possibly know about an aircraft. Just give him the key parameters of the plane and he'll tell you immediately if, in his view, it's a 'go' or a 'no-go,' calculating ranges or empty-weights in his head in a few seconds. And he'll rapidly follow that razor sharp analysis with recommendations on where to push the design to make it a 'go.'"
Clark's boss, Ahmed, notes that "Tim is one of those rare executives who can see the big picture and also get down to the technical details. What I most appreciate about Tim is that he will tell it to you as it is—good or not so good."
Of late, Clark has been telling Airbus and Boeing what is not so good. Along with Akbar Al Baker at Qatar Airways and Air Lease Corp. (ALC) Chairman Steven Udvar-Hazy, he led the drive for an Airbus A350-1000 engine upgrade, which pushed the program back by two years. More recently, Clark also made clear to Boeing and General Electric that the 777X needed more thrust to meet Emirates' payload and range requirements. He won them over, even though other airlines have voiced concern that Boeing is over-equipping the aircraft for the needs of just one or two customers. Clark responds that engines can always be de-rated if the additional thrust is not needed, and such an arrangement will typically lead to lower maintenance costs.
But, of course, even Airbus does not always do what Clark wants. He has been arguing for years that a stretched A380-900 should be built as soon as possible. But Emirates is probably the only airline that could conceivably fill such a gigantic aircraft, and Clark likely will have to wait a lot longer for it. And in spite of all the A380's troubles, he has been the aircraft's biggest fan.
The A380 has provided an opportunity for Clark to pursue another passion: aircraft interiors. He spent months creating the product features of Emirates' A380 fleet, which was intended to become iconic in the industry yet still profit-making. Emirates' A380s are the only ones that are flying with a real bar in the back of the upper deck, which the airline says is hugely popular. In spite of all the fuel-saving features elsewhere in the cabin, the A380s also have a shower for first-class passengers. At one press conference, Clark was the only one on the panel who could explain the technical details of the shower system—the Airbus managers present listened silently.
While he does delegate, Clark is very hands-on where it matters most: network, cabin and aircraft performance. These are an airline's core areas, determining where it can fly, at what revenue potential and cost burden, and how it will distinguish itself from the competition. "I have hardly ever seen another airline CEO who would go into such great detail when it comes to interiors," says an executive with a major supplier.
Clark himself jokes that some suppliers have been accustomed to "committees of wives of executive board members" selecting seats or inflight entertainment features.
While he is perceived as a trend-setter on the manufacturing and product side, his vision and knowledge of emerging traffic flows have been key to Emirates' development. The airline takes a different approach than most in many regards: It is not a member of a global alliance because Clark and his colleagues see that as detrimental to the carrier's ambitions. On the other hand, Emirates has always been open to bilateral alliances, such as the recent tie-up with Qantas that has shaken the alliance world. And Emirates is not ruling out equity investments—it seriously looked at buying a stake in Air Berlin in 2011, but an involvement with SriLankan Airlines was unsuccessful and has not contributed to management confidence in getting closely involved with operating other airlines.
Rather than going the traditional way, Clark has opted for the unusual, entering markets that others saw only later. It is no coincidence that Emirates' first route led to Karachi and not London nor that Emirates is huge in Africa, providing vital air links for traders that use Dubai as a hub on their way to Asia (China, in particular). While Emirates' ultra-long-haul flying to the U.S. West Coast, Latin America and Australia has garnered a lot of public attention, most of its flights are limited to ranges optimal in terms of aircraft efficiency. "The fundamentals of the model have never really changed," he points out.
And the fundamentals are therefore firmly settled. But with Clark, who is now 63, being such a dominant figure at Emirates for such a long time, one inevitable question is beginning to be discussed internally and with business partners: Who will eventually succeed him? Clark sees "one or two" internal candidates who could take his position even now, and he makes clear that he does not plan to interfere once he steps out. "I'm a believer in 'when you go, you go,'" he says. But that discussion may well be premature—Flanagan left the airline as vice chairman officially just last year, when he was 84.
Tap the icon in the digital edition of AW&ST for a look at Emirates' fleet development, or go to AviationWeek.com/emirates
Tap the icon in the digital edition of AW&ST to watch a video on Clark's influence in the commercial air transport industry, or go to AviationWeek.com/video
Tap the icon in the digital edition of AW&ST to see the other leaders named Aviation Week's Person of the Year, or go to AviationWeek.com/person

subset: commoncrawl


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SEATTLE — One month after announcing a historic and groundbreaking media rights deal with ESPN and Fox, Pac-12 Conference commissioner Larry Scott says he is happy with the progress being made toward developing the Pac-12 Network but dozens of key decisions and thousands of hours of work remain before the curtain is raised in August 2012.
Scott isn`t ready to even estimate what the startup costs might be for Pac-12 Media Enterprises, which will also encompass digital media platforms. He acknowledges they will be significant, but he also believes the rewards will be worth the investment and then some.
He said interest from possible partners in the network has exploded in the past month because of what the league was able to withhold from Fox and ESPN in the 12-year deal estimated to be worth $3 billion announced last month.
Unlike most other startup sports networks in recent years, including the Big Ten Network and the Mountain West network The Mtn., the Pac-12 will have dozens of games of premium product — football and men`s and women`s basketball games — to air on its own right from the start.
"I think our plans became very real because they saw what we had held back," Scott said.
Scott met with Pac-12 athletic directors, senior women`s administrators and faculty athletic representatives in hotel conference rooms in downtown Seattle on Friday and Saturday at the spring meetings here and spent considerable time discussing plans for the network. He is scheduled to meet with the league`s presidents and chancellors today on the final day of the meetings.
It definitely hasn`t been a one-sided conversation.
Scott is surrounded by a plethora of seasoned men and women with experience in all aspects of college sports, including a few who have been down this road before. In some ways, others in the room such as deputy commissioner Kevin Weiberg, Utah athletic director Chris Hill and Stanford athletic director Bob Bowlsby are educating Scott and his team on what to do and what not to do.
"It`s hugely valuable," Scott said. "We are able to learn from those that went before us and ask the question, if you were going to do it over again, what would you do differently."
Bowlsby the Stanford AD, previously spent 15 years leading the Iowa athletic department and near the end of his time there he was heavily involved in Big Ten preparations to build a network. He left Iowa for Stanford before the official roll out of the network.
"I would say the one thing I took away from it is you really had to be forthright on an institution by institution basis putting all your cards on the table and going into it one for all and all for one because I think that`s how you build the strongest entity and the strongest relationship," Bowlsby said. "I think we`ve taken some good steps in that regard."
Scott has already capitalized on asking for advice early in the process. It led to him reserving the rights to premium games in premium sports in his media negotiations this spring.
Scott said he has studied the NFL Network, the Yes Network for the New York Yankees, the Major League Baseball Network on top of seeking the advice of people such as Weiberg, the former Big 12 Conference commissioner who left that job to help the Big Ten get its network off the ground.
"They`re not easy to do," Weiberg said. "It is complicated to start a new network and to launch it. I think the most complicated part is getting the kind of distribution you really need to make it successful. When you do these kind of things, you want your fan base to be able to see it. That`s kind of obvious. That part can be complicated because you have to negotiate agreements, either through a partner or on your own, with cable companies, satellite companies."
Hill is very familiar with that problem. As AD at Utah the past 25 years, he was involved in the planning and development of The Mtn., a network that still struggles to this day to gain traction and respect beyond its core fanbase and footprint.
"The biggest difference I think is going to be the passion that there is in this league for everybody to get their games," Hill said. "So the one thing I could say is start with reasonable expectations and don`t promise the world and then deliver more.
"That`s what will happen. I`m very confident in that because of the passion. Everyone is going to want to see those games. That wasn`t the case in the Mountain West. There were some places in the Mountain West that didn`t have the passion in their market to demand it."
The next major step for the Pac-12 network is selecting one or more partners to help build it. The pool of candidates includes existing television networks such as Fox Sports, private investors and cable and satellite distributors or a combination of two or more to fund, operate and distribute the network.
"It could be one, it could be multiple," Weiberg said. "Those are kind of things we`re trying to sort through now."
The league`s goals for the network are providing a platform for significant exposure for Olympic sports, delivering on a promise to televise every football and basketball game and having an ability to promote the universities more broadly.
The network ought to add a sizable amount of money — albeit down the line — to that $3 billion deal the league just announced, too.
Weiberg estimated the network could eventually be a $1 billion asset for the conference. He said it could be producing revenue flowing back to members within five years and will be showing programming of an academic or music and arts emphasis in addition to sports.
One part of this weekend`s meetings focused on how the conference could include non-sports programming as the Big Ten has done but better.
Scott and Weiberg said they want the widest possible distribution within the six-state Pac-12 footprint and they are more flexible in where and how the network is carried outside the region. They still want a Colorado, USC, or Washington fan living in New York or Florida to be able to have access, but they might have to pay more for it.
Weiberg said one of the shortcomings in the introduction of the Big Ten network was having only seven or eight months to get executive staff on board and even less time for the rest of the staff. He said the Pac-12 will benefit from having more than a year.
Perhaps the biggest lesson learned from others is biting the bullet and spending more initially to make sure it appeals to customers.
"I think you have to start it off really understanding there is an investment on the front end to make it high quality," Hill said. "So that when people see it, they don`t see it as a secondary station. A simple example is in the Mountain West when they didn`t have HD coming in. I`m not an HD snob, but at the same time, that makes a statement. If you look at one station versus the other, it makes a statement."


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The Orange County design community feted the arrival of Environment Furniture to the South Coast Collection. Inside the sprawling new space, guests sipped prosecco while browsing the brand's eco-conscious offerings. For the unveiling of the new space, CEO Davide Berruto and Director of Marketing Camilla Trigano welcomed more than 150 design aficionados, like ASID members Rick Campos, Char Cowan and Beverly Stadler. Boasting its use of low-impact materials and processes, Environment Furniture is as responsible as it is refined. Now that's something to celebrate. –Photos by Nicholas Shetterly


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Cricket Web's current Premier League Tipping Champion
- As featured in The Independent.
"Rory Burns wafted and whooshed, hit a few, edged a few more and batted at times with all the graceful serenity of a man trying to force his way head-first through a privet hedge." - Barney Ronay on the Surrey opener's maiden test ton
A follower of the schools of Machiavelli, Bentham, Locke, Hobbes, Sutcliffe, Bradman, Lindwall, Miller, Hassett, Benaud and Thunberg
I had a glimpse of Eureka
Chewing me up, chewing me up and spitting me out
-jected, I was rejected
I wasn't good enough to be elected
Lava, it was like lava
Moving through my body like fire
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Blindside flankers (in theory) have less space to cover than their mates on the openside, so tend to be bigger & probably do more actual ball-carrying like a No 8 would too.
Last edited by BoyBrumby; 18-07-2007 at 02:57 PM. Reason: Wrote "was" instead of "what"...
Oh ok. Just wondered why Farrell couldn't do it if he was in the squad. He sure as hell isn't a centre.
Anyway, Paul Weaver in The Guardian lists a "possible" (meaning he's probably heard something from someone) England 30. Linky.
Possible squad
Andrew Sheridan
Kevin Yates
Phil Vickery
Matt Stevens
George Chuter
Lee Mears
Mark Regan
Steve Borthwick
Martin Corry
Ben Kay
Tom Palmer
Lewis Moody
Joe Worsley
Lawrence Dallaglio
Dan Ward-Smith
Tom Rees
Nick Abendanon
Andy Gomarsall
Peter Richards
Shaun Perry
Jonny Wilkinson
Charlie Hodgson
Toby Flood
Mike Catt
Mathew Tait
Mike Tindall or Jamie Noon
Jason Robinson
Mark Cueto
David Strettle
Paul Sackey
No Lewsey the obvious shock. No quite sure how Abendanon is preferred to either him or Cipriani myself, but there you go. Be interesting to see how close he gets.
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Cops: Drunk woman runs over, kills husband
A 56-year-old Conroe woman is accused of running over her husband while drunk as she backed out of their driveway.
Ruthie Scheer was arrested and accused of manslaughter after her husband Frank Sheer, 66, was found pinned underneath her car in the couple's driveway in the 1200 block of North San Jacinto around 7 p.m. Saturday, said Sgt. Brent Stowe with the Conroe Police Department.
Police found the husband dead at the scene and said his wife, who was driving the car, was intoxicated. The two were having a conversation before Ruthie Sheer hit him with the car. Stowe said it was unintentional.
Emergency crews discovered Frank Sheer under the car, and an officer used a car jack to lift the vehicle to remove his body.
Ruthie Sheer was in custody Sunday.
Murder-suicide?: Authorities investigate mystery
Smartphone batteries: Here's why they rule your life
Biggest rodeo draw: Go Tejano Day's mariachi crowd is No. 1


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June 28 - July 4, 2015
June 28 - July 4, 2015
Enjoy a week among the poppies in the Tuscan hills. Yoga + Italian cuisine + wine + thermal spas + a day in the Renaissance city of Florence = an unbelievable time!
This magnificent yoga retreat will take place in the picturesque Italian countryside, along the border of Tuscany and Umbria. A beautifully restored villa awaits your arrival, complete with sprawling vistas over the rolling hills in all directions. Former cantinas and stables on the groundfloor have been transformed into apartments that are works of art. One can immediately see the careful attention that went into restoring, decorating, and preparing these rooms. Two large apartments are divided into different rooms of various size accommodations, each complete with private bathroom and linens.
A large and open art studio awaits those interested in exploring various art mediums while visiting, and also can serve as location for some "art as meditation" courses or a journaling room. The grounds are spacious with plenty of outdoor space to sit alone, relax on the outside terrace overlooking the meadows, or enjoying an open-air lunch. Also, the villa is located on a large estate ground with plenty of hiking available and even a pool to cool you down in the warmer summer months.
Host and villa owner Julian (from EASEL&LENS Art Courses) and his team, will spoil guests with their hospitality, mouth-watering cuisine, and fun-packed side trips. Julian's extensive knowledge of Italian cities and art history will allow for a special and unique look into the surrounding areas. Also, this art instructor will share his love of the medium in his session of "art as meditation". Don't be surprised when you leave feeling as if you have made friends for life. You'll almost feel part of the family when you stay at their lovely property.
Healthful, vegetarian food is part of the retreat experience, including breakfasts and dinners daily (with 2 special restaurant dinners out), as well as some selected lunches. The cuisine is simple, delicious and Italian, using fresh ingredients from the local market in Chiusi, much of which is organically grown. Cooks will prepare dishes like pumpkin risotto, pasta al forno, slow roasted fennel with red onions, salads with wild rocket, pecorino and fresh figs, and more. Selection is seasonal, and you can guarantee to love and appreciate each bite. Not only is the food provided, but also the wine. Guests will enjoy good local wine, from the famous vineyards of Montepulciano, produced less than an hour from the villa.
Guests will not only enjoy the villa and encompassing estate, but also the richness of the Italian cities in nearby regions. Day trips will allow students to add arts, culture, adventure, and natural beauty to their retreat experience. Trips may include visits to small villages, large cities, and outdoor activities, even a thermal spa deep in the heart of Tuscany where guests can swim, schedule spa treatments, or simply enjoy the sun. See smaller villages that few tourists go, and get a true education and taste of Italy with a mozzarella and olive oil tasting.
Besides visiting the lovely town of Cortona (from "Under the Tuscan Sun" fame) and the breathtaking city of Siena, a full day will be spent in one of Italy's most spectacular cities, Florence - the home of the Renaissance. Julian and Erin will be your guides around the city, museums, and outlying walks. Enjoy seeing world famous works of art, as well as monuments, one-of-a-kind lookouts, and feeling the modern bustle of this compact city. Enjoy a meal in a unique Florentine restaurant, and even a gelato (or two) during the day!
Daily meditation and yoga classes will be offered in a way to relax, stimulate, and help guests grow in their own personal practice. Classes are open to all levels, beginner to practiced, and can range from gentle, restorative, and more vigorous vinyasa flow and ashtanga styles.* Style and class levels will be determined and moulded to fit participating students' needs, and with a small intimate retreat class size, students will be able to get personalized attention and comfortability to deeply explore their practice. Depending on each retreat location, classes will be held in a dedicated indoor yoga space and some also offer outdoor options as well for us to use if the weather is agreeable.
Certified yoga instructor and EPM founder, Erin Lewis, will facilitate the classes, helping each student focus on improving their practice and gaining new insights into their bodies and movements. She's studied various types of yoga disciplines since 1998, concentrating on the Ashtanga discipline since 2008. She received her teacher certification in Florence, Italy and has continued her education with various specialty certifications throughout the years. She now combines powerful movements with more anatomical-based core vinyasa flow and restorative movement in her personal practice and teaching style.
- * Participation in classes and activities is optional throughout the retreat. All levels welcome!
- 7 days / 6 nights (June 28 - July 4, 2015)
- Inclusive Retreat Price = $2,300
- Deposit to hold space = $900
- Max # Guests = 7
- * Prices based on shared occupancy. Single supplement available upon request.
- ** Final balance due 45 days before retreat start date.
- Read full cancellation policy in our Terms & Conditions.
- Villa accommodation (spacious bedrooms each with private bathrooms, linens)
- Daily Breakfast at villa
- Select lunches on day-trips or villa
- Dinners at villa
- Beverages - including wine
- Transfers from Chiusi train station to villa
- Transportation to/from day trips
- Meditation and yoga classes
- Use of estate premises (hiking trails, pool, art room, etc.)
- Tour guide on various day trips
- Mozzarella and Olive Oil Tasting
- Thermal Spa day
- Day visit to Florence, entrance fees, meal, guides
- Use of yoga mats
- Tips & taxes
* airfare not included ** all meals are vegetarian. special dietary restrictions can be accommodated
- Florence (enjoy a full day in the Renaissance City with works of art, famous lookouts, special Florentine meal, and more)
- Rapolano Terme (healthful visit to a Tuscan thermal spa)
- Countryside tour (various village visits, historic museums and churches)
- Tuscan Tasting Tour (explore the special nuances to different cheeses and oils in the Italian diet)
- Cortona (explore this hillside town and take a countryside walk to the famous Bramasole villa from 'Under the Tuscan Sun')
- Countryside on border of Tuscany and Umbria
- Nearest town: Chiusi, Tuscany
- Nearest major airports: Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport (FCO - Rome), Galileo Galilei Airpot (PSA - Pisa)
- Nearest local airports: Sant'Egidio Airport (PEG - Perugia), Florence Amerigo Vespucci Airport (FLR - Florence)
- Nearest train station: Chiusi-Chianciano Terme
- Transfers between Villa and train station can be arranged at no charge on first and last day of retreat. Single and group airport transfers are possible and pricing discussed upon request. Train transfer from all airports is quite easy, and we can help guide you on the directions.
Besides the basic packing and travel needs, here are a few things to think about bringing with you.
- Bathing suit (on-site pool, thermal spa)
- Comfortable shoes (city walking, country hiking)
- Yoga clothes
- Personal yoga props (mats and straps will be provided, but if you have a prop you prefer, feel free to bring it along)
- Sweat towels for practice
- Plug adaptors / converters
- Journal


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About Stickman Hook
Stickman Hook is a great ragdoll stickman game in which you have to swing through the levels using your Spiderman skills! Throw your ropes at the round pins and swing high to generate enough momentum. Leap through the air and try to latch onto the next pin until you can swing yourself across the finish line! You can bounce across the padded platforms, but make sure you don't fall into the abyss. Whenever your stickman is not swinging from a rope, he'll curl up into a ball, allowing you to roll across the platforms and down the slopes. Complete each level and become the Stickman Hook King!