Creator: Scholes, R.J. Description: The Kalahari Transect is
proposed as one of IGBPs Transects (see Koch et al. 1995 [IGBP
Report 36]). It is located so as to span the gradient between
the arid subtropics and the moist tropics in southern Africa, a
zone potentially susceptible to changes in the global
precipitation pattern. Its focus is the relationships between
the structure and function of ecosystems and their large-scale
biophysical and human drivers (climate, atmosphere and land
use). The Kalahari Transect spans a strong climatic gradient in
southern Africa, from the arid south to the humid north, while
remaining on a single broad soil type, the deep sands of the
Kalahari basin. The vegetation ranges over the length of the
transect from shrubland through savannas and woodlands to closed
evergreen tropical forest, with land uses ranging from migratory
wildlife systems, through pastoralism, subsistence cropping to
forestry. The objectives of the Kalahari Transect activity are
to: build an active network of