Are We Destroying Our Insurance Policy? The Effects of Alien Invasion and Subsequent Restoration - Landscape Ecology for Sustainable Environment and Culture - page 340

Fig. 16.13 Snapshots capturing the increase in agriculture in the fertile floodplains at a farm
called Jagersbos from 1954 to 2007 in the Kromme River Catchment. Important land-use changes
include: palmiet wetlands, orchards, dryland agriculture, irrigated agriculture, Black

Wattle, exposed soil, dams, and fynbos

16.3.2.3 Impact on Palmiet Wetlands

Palmiet Wetlands (Fig. 16.15 )
Wetlands dominated by Prionium serratum (palmiet) (Fig. 16.14 ) have been neglected and
under studied. They are widely distributed in the acid waters of the Fynbos Biome, from the
Gifberg to Port Elizabeth, and have outliers in the Eastern Cape and southern KwaZulu-
Natal (Rogers 1997 ; Boucher and Withers 2004 ). They are generally non-channeled or
channeled valley bottom wetlands (Collins 2005 ). Palmiet wetlands are often underlain by a
layer of peat, built up over thousands of years (Grundling 2004 ). Prionium is a monotypic
genus, recently moved from the family Juncaceae to Prionaceae (Munro and Linder 1997 ;
Boucher and Withers 2004 ). Palmiet grows in dense stands that may appear to be separate
plants, but are often clonal systems. Growth occurs throughout the year, flowering in spring
and summer and fruit appears in March. Palmiet is completely salt and shade intolerant.