Description: An extraction of the dune base line from the first version of an integrated coast map including coastal ecosystem types from the terrestrial, marine, and estuarine realms. The dune base line separates the shore from the backshore. The dune base represents the beginning of Tilney’s (1985) Zone I of dune pioneer species and represents a more defensible and ecologically relevant approximation of a decadal scale dynamic ‘high water mark’Publication date: 2018Attribute DefinitionsFID - Field Identification Automatically generated row number. Shape - Shape Feature geometry. ID - Object Identification Internal feature number. ET_ID - Identification 0 Shape_Length - Shape Length Automatically generated geodatabase value indicating the length of the polygon in meters
Description: An extraction of the zone from the dune base line to the edge of South Africa’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) from the first version of an integrated coast map including coastal ecosystem types from the terrestrial, marine, and estuarine realmPublication Date 2018Attribute DefinitionsFID - Field Identification Automatically generated row number. Shape - Shape Feature geometry. ID - Object Identification Internal feature number. Shape_Length Shape Length Automatically generated geodatabase value indicating the length of the polygon in meters Shape_Area Shape Area Automatically generated geodatabase value indicating the are of the polygon in square meters
Description: This spatial rivers dataset is part of the South African Inventory of Inland Aquatic Ecosystems (SAIIAE) which was released with the National Biodiversity Assessment (NBA) 2018. In the NBA 2018 the National Freshwater Ecosystem Priority Area (NFEPA) rivers GIS layer was used to represent the diversity of rivers nationally. It used the 1:500 000 river network coverage available from the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) and can be downloaded from the following website: http://www.dwaf.gov.za/iwqs/gis_data/river/rivs500k.aspx. This GIS layer summarizes the river ecosystem types, river condition, Ecosystem Threat Status (ETS) and Ecosystem Protection Level (EPL) as well as the free-flowing (62 identified by the NFEPA project) and flagship river information.Publication Date: 2018Attribute DefinitionsOBJECTID - System generated field, object number.LENGTH - River Length (m).REACHCODE - Code for reach. Corresponding to the 2007 version of the DWA 1 500 000 rivers layer generated by Mike Silberbauer.UNIT_ID - Planning unit identifier. All sub-quaternaries have a unique identifier. This identifier also serves as a look-up identifier for each the biodiversity features contained in each river and wetland FEPA and fish support area. This look-up table is an Excel spreadsheet that is available on BGIS or the NFEPA data DVD that accompanies the NFEPA Atlas.REACHNUM - Number for reach. This distinguishes connected river reaches within a primary river drainage system.ORDER - River order.MAINSTEM - Mainstem = 1 is a quaternary mainstem; the rest of the 1:500 000 rivers are tributaries that are nested within quaternary catchments.NAME - Name of river as per the 2007 version of the DWA 1 500 000 rivers layer generated by Mike Silberbauer.L1_ECOREGN - Dominant Level 1 Ecoregion within the sub-quaternary catchment.L2_ECOREGN - Dominant Level 2 Ecoregion within the sub-quaternary catchment.FLOW - Flow variability where "P" = permanent or seasonal; "E" = ephemeral.GEOZONE - Geomorphic zone as calculated per slope category of Rowntree and Wadeson (1999). • A = Mountain Headwater Stream • B = Mountain Stream • C = Transitional Zone • D = Upper Foothills • E = Lower Foothills • F = Lowland River • Z = Unclassified (Subsequently Classified In Gzlump)GZLUMP - Lumped geomorphic zone used by NFEPA • U (Upper Foothills) = Lumping of Classes C and D • L (Lower Foothills) = Class E • F (Lowland River) = Class FRIVTYPE - River type used by NFEPA which comprises the level 1 ecoregion number followed by the flow (N= NOT Permanent/Flashy; P = Permanent or Seasonal), followed by the geomorphological zone (M = Mountain Stream; U = Upper Foothills; L= Lower Foothills; F = Lowland River).PES1999 - DWA's present ecological state 1999 with desktop modification. A = Unmodified, Natural B = Largely Natural with few Modifications C = Moderately Modified D = Largely Modified E = Seriously Modified F = Critically/Extremely ModifiedRIVCON - River condition used by NFEPA A or B is considered intact and able to contribute towards river ecosystem biodiversity targets. A = Unmodified, Natural B = Largely Natural with few Modifications AB = A or B Above C = Moderately Modified D = Largely Modified E = Seriously Modified F = Critically/Extremely Modified EF = E or F Above Z = Tributary condition modelled as not intact, according to natural land coverFFRID - Free flowing river identification. Each system and its tributaries has the same identifier.FFRREGION - The lumped ecoregion into which free-flowing rivers fall, used to achieve representation of free-flowing rivers across the country.FFRFLAGSHP - Flagship free-flowing rivers as identified through an expert review process 1 = Flagship River 0 = Not a Flagship RiverPES_2018 - NBA 2018 Ecological condition category. The process involved using the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS, 2014) Present Ecological State/Ecological Importance/Ecological Sensitivity (PES/EI/ES), also referred to as PES/EIS data, which included mainstems and tributaries at a sub-quaternary level. These desktop data were updated with data that became available between 2011 and 2017 from Reserve or Ecological Water Requirement (EWR) and Water Resource Classification System (WRCS) studies.NBA2018ETS - Ecosystem threat status (ETS) of river ecosystem types: this was based on the extent to which each river ecosystem type had been altered from itsnatural condition. Ecosystem types are categorised as critically endangered (CR), endangered (EN), vulnerable (VU) or least concern (LC), with CR, EN and VU ecosystem types collectively referred to as ‘threatened’ (Van Deventer, et al., 2019; Skowno et al., 2019).NBA2018EPL - Ecosystem protection level (EPL) of river ecosystem types: river ecosystem types in protected areas needed to be in good condition rivers (A or B ecological category) to be considered as protected. Well protected, moderately protected, poorly protected river ecosystem types have at least 100%, 50%, 5% of their biodiversity target in protected areas and in natural or near-natural ecological condition; not protected river ecosystem types have < 5% (Van Deventer, et al., 2019; Skowno et al., 2019).FFRID_2018 - Free-flowing river ID. Each system and its tributaries has the same identifier. Where ID = 0 not a free-flowing river; all other numerics are free-flowing rivers.FRFAG_2018 - In NBA 2018 where no river condition changes were recorded the free-flowing/flagship rivers remained unchanged. 1 = flagship river 0 = not a flagship river.
Description: The confidence map was compiled to identify areas where wetland extent and hydrogeomorphic (HGM) units (which contributed to defining the inland wetland ecosystem types together with the regional setting) attained at a higher level of certainty compared to other areas. Higher levels of certainty are associated [code 5 in field Confidence_nr] with areas that have been visited in-field by a wetland specialist(s) over multiple seasons and cycles of the wetland hydroperiod, and are therefore more accurately represented in the dataset. Codes 4 to 1 indicate lower levels of confidence that the extent and HGM unit are represented well.Publication Date 2018Attribute DefinitionsOBJECTID_1 - System generated field object number.SQ4_ - Sub-quaternary catchment (SQ4) code generated for the NFEPA project.SQ4_ID - Sub-quaternary catchment (SQ4) identifier generated for the NFEPA project.SQ4HASH - Sub-quaternary catchment (SQ4) identifier generated for the NFEPA project.Wetlands_m - Indicative categories to show whether wetlands have been modelled, verified in full or partly or not at all. Types include:ModelPartValidatedYesSQ4_Ha - Original extent of the SQ4 (generated in the NFEPA project) in hectares before it was unioned with the province boundaries.Province - Abbreviation for province in which wetland occurs.PROVNAME - Name of the province.Area_ha - Updated area in hectares after union with provinces.Wetmap_cat - Category of details available as per published journal paper Van Deventer et al. (2018) in WaterSA.Confidence_nr - Confidence category to use in association with the NWM5. See van Deventer et al. (2018) SAIIAE report for more information.Shape_Length - Perimeter of polygon (m). This field was automatically generated within the geodatabase.Shape_Area - Area of polygon (m2 ). This field was automatically generated within the geodatabase.
Description: This layer codes Wetland Freshwater Priority Areas (FEPAs), wetland ecosystem types and wetland condition on a national scale. The delineations were based largely on remotely-sensed imagery and therefore did not include historic wetlands lost through drainage, ploughing and concreting. Irreversible loss of wetlands is expected to be high in someareas, such as urban centres. In addition, there are many gaps in wetlands as remote sensing does not detect all wetlands.Detailed metadata is available at http://bgis.sanbi.org/BGISmetadata/NFEPA_metadata_wetlands.pdf
Description: This is the most recent version of the Estuarine Functional Zone Map. The map was developed as a collaborative effort and delineates the Estuarine Functional Zone for South Africa (Van Niekerk et al. 2019).In South Africa, the EFZ is defined as the area that not only encapsulates the estuary waterbody, but also the supporting physical and biological processes necessary for estuarine function and health. It includes all dynamic areas influenced by long-term estuarine sedimentary processes, i.e. sediment stored or eroded during floods, changes in channel configuration, aeolian transport processes, and/or changes due to coastal storms. It also encompasses the multiple ecotones of floodplain and estuarine vegetation that contribute detritus (food source) to the estuary and/or provide refuge during high flow events. The EFZ captures the natural, historical estuarine extent and should not be confused with setback/management lines that often exclude developed areas. The EFZ purpose is to identify the ‘space’ in which estuarine physical and biological functions take place over long time scales (>decades). Development in the EFZ is captured as an aspect of habitat degradation or decline in overall estuary condition.The upstream boundary of the estuaries was determined as the limits of tidal variation or salinity penetration, whichever penetrates furthest. The estuary mouth was taken as the downstream boundary of an estuary. The highly dynamic nature of this area presents a significant challenge to accessing change in biodiversity and even managing estuaries. To account for this, and to allow for a seamless integration with the Marine and Coastal Realm, the concept of ‘Estuarine Shore’ was introduced to reflect the dynamic nature of the interface between estuaries and the coast. Estuarine Shores refers to sand berms or bars that form in front of estuaries. They vary substantially in size and shape over decadal scales and can be completely absent during a flood or a near permanent feature during periods of low flow. Estuarine Shore was defined as the area from the base of the foredune, or where this line would be if dunes were present, to the back of the surf zone. The full extent of the Estuarine Shores is encapsulated in the EFZs and not be considered separate from the functional unit. The surfzone was included to reflect a continuum in estuarine-marine connectivity through estuarine inputs to the surfzone, either as direct flow through an open mouth or in seepage through the berm in a closed system.Layer clipped to the Western Cape Provincial BoundaryPUBLICATION DATE: Estuarine Functional Zone 2018, version used in the 2018 National Biodiversity AssessmentAttribute definitionOBJECTID (Object Identification) - Internal feature number.Shape (Shape) - Feature geometry.EstuaryID (Estuary identification) - Unique code of individual estuaries in 2018Estuary_Name (Map code 2018) - Name of individual estuaries in 2018Shape_Length (Shape Length) - Automatically generated geodatabase value indicating the length of the polygon in metersShape_Area (Shape Area) Automatically generated geodatabase value indicating the length of the polygon in square meters
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Description: This is the most recent version of the National Estuary Ecosystem Map. The map was developed as a collaborative effort and delineates the Estuarine Functional Zone for South Africa (Van Niekerk et al. 2019a). Each EFZ was then assigned an ecosystem type according to Van Niekerk et al (2019b). In South Africa, the EFZ is defined as the area that not only encapsulates the estuary waterbody, but also the supporting physical and biological processes necessary for estuarine function and health. It includes all dynamic areas influenced by long-term estuarine sedimentary processes, i.e. sediment stored or eroded during floods, changes in channel configuration, aeolian transport processes, and/or changes due to coastal storms. It also encompasses the multiple ecotones of floodplain and estuarine vegetation that contribute detritus (food source) to the estuary and/or provide refuge during high flow events. The EFZ captures the natural, historical estuarine extent and should not be confused with setback/management lines that often exclude developed areas. The EFZ purpose is to identify the ‘space’ in which estuarine physical and biological functions take place over long time scales (>decades). Development in the EFZ is captured as an aspect of habitat degradation or decline in overall estuary condition. The upstream boundary of the estuaries was determined as the limits of tidal variation or salinity penetration, whichever penetrates furthest. The estuary mouth was taken as the downstream boundary of an estuary. The highly dynamic nature of this area presents a significant challenge to accessing change in biodiversity and even managing estuaries. To account for this, and to allow for a seamless integration with the Marine and Coastal Realm, the concept of ‘Estuarine Shore’ was introduced to reflect the dynamic nature of the interface between estuaries and the coast. Estuarine Shores refers to sand berms or bars that form in front of estuaries. They vary substantially in size and shape over decadal scales and can be completely absent during a flood or a near permanent feature during periods of low flow. Estuarine Shore was defined as the area from the base of the foredune, or where this line would be if dunes were present, to the back of the surf zone. The full extent of the Estuarine Shores is encapsulated in the EFZs and not be considered separate from the functional unit. The surf zone was included to reflect a continuum in estuarine-marine connectivity through estuarine inputs to the surf zone, either as direct flow through an open mouth or in seepage through the berm in a closed system In total 290 estuaries and 42 micro-estuaries were delineated and classified into 22 estuary ecosystem types and 9 micro-system types. The estuary classification is based on 4 biogeographical regions (Cool Temperate, Warm Temperate, Subtropical and Tropical) and 9 estuary categories (Estuarine Lake: Estuarine Bay, Estuarine Lagoon, Predominantly Open, Large Temporarily Closed, Small Temporarily Closed, Large Fluvially Dominated, Small Fluvially Dominated, Arid Predominantly Closed). While the micro-estuary ecosystem classification is derived from one micro-system type across 3 biogeographical region.Layer clipped to the Western Cape Provincial BoundaryPublication date: 2018Attribute DefinitionsOBJECTID (Object Identification) Internal feature number. Shape (Shape) - Feature geometry. EstuaryID (Estuary identification) -Unique code of individual estuaries in 2018 Estuary_Name (Map code 2018) - Name of individual estuaries in 2018 EcosystemType_Primary (Name of Primary Ecosystem Type) - Name of the Estuarine Ecosystem Type. BroadGroup (Broad Group) - Name of the Broad Group indicating whether an ecosystem is classified as an Estuary or a type of Micro-System (in this layer only micro-estuaries are mappedBioregion (Bioregions) - This is a level in the classification system that describes the region in which the ecosystem type is nested. EFZ (Estuarine Functional Zone) - Indicated that the polygon is part of the Estuarine Functional Zone. PolygonColour_a (Polygon Colour) - This is the field that the layer file uses to create the colours for each ecosystem Crossrealm_OtherMaps (Cross realm fields from other ecosystem maps) - This field indicates where a polygon is also represented in another ecosystem map (i.e. terrestrial, marine, coastal). In some cases only a portion of the map is represented by the in another ecosystem map. EcosystemType_Secondary (Ecosystem Type Secondary) This is the name of the polygon as it is classified in other realm maps. Shape_Length (Shape Length) - Automatically generated geodatabase value indicating the length of the polygon in meters Shape_Area (Shape Area) - Automatically generated geodatabase value indicating the length of the polygon in square meters
Description: This dataset includes the threat status, protection level and condition of the Estuarine Ecosystems 2018 assessed for the National Biodiversity Assessment 2018. It delineates the physical and biological processes and habitats necessary for estuarine function and health based on their historical extent and Estuarine Ecosystem Types at the landscape scale.Publication Date: 2018Attribute DefinitionsOBJECTID (Object Identification ) - Internal feature number. Shape - Feature geometry. EstuaryID (Estuary identification) - Unique code of individual estuaries in 2018 Estuary_Name (Map code 2018) Name of individual estuaries in 2018 EcosystemType_Primary (Name of Primary) - Ecosystem Type Name of the Estuarine Ecosystem Type. BroadGroup (Broad Group ) - Name of the Broad Group indicating whether an ecosystem is classified as an Estuary or a type of Micro-System (in this layer only micro-estuaries are mapped) Bioregion (Bioregions ) - This is a level in the classification system that describes the region in which the ecosystem type is nested. EFZ (Estuarine Functional Zone) - Indicated that the polygon is part of the Estuarine Functional Zone. PolygonColour_a (Polygon Colour) - This is the field that the layer file uses to create the colours for each ecosystem EcosystemType_Secondary (Ecosystem Type Secondary) - This is the name of the polygon as it is classified in other realm maps. COND (Condition) - Indicates the condition of the Estuary in the following categories: Priority (Priority zone) - Indicates priority zone class for each estuaryEPL (Ecosystem Protection Level) - Protection level (South African indicator) (tech report available) (WP Well Protected, MP Moderately Protected, PP Poorly Protected, NP Not Protected),computed using PA layer developed for NBA2018 ETS (Ecosystem Threat Status) - Final result using highest RLE category (CR Critically Endangered, EN Endangered, VU Vulnerable, NT Near Threatened (I am lumping this with LC for now), LC Least concern, overall RLE result Shape Length - Automatically generated geodatabase value indicating the length of the polygon in meters Shape Area - Automatically generated geodatabase value indicating the length of the polygon in square meters