Michèle F. Pfab

• MSc
• South African National Biodiversity Institute

Euphorbia bupleurifolia is a slow-growing dwarf succulent used for its medicinal properties by the Zulu and Xhosa people of South Africa. The latex reportedly cures several skin ailments, and it has been observed in traditional medicine (muthi) markets in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. To assess the impact of traditional medicine use and trade...

Many threatened plant species in South Africa occur outside of protected areas and these include numerous succulent species that are traded internationally. Despite the potential impact that this may have on rare and endemic succulent species, limited population data exist to inform the non-detriment findings required by the Convention on Internati...

Many South African succulent Euphorbia spp. are threatened by anthropogenic activities such as habitat loss and illegal harvesting. However, only a few species have been studied in sufficient detail to aid their conservation through the development of effective management plans. This study documents the distribution, abundance, and population biolo...

A guide to identifying South African succulent plant species included in Appendix III of CITES. An illustrated guide to differentiating between wild-collected and artificially propagated succulent plants is also provided.

Harvesting wild indigenous plants for traditional medicinal purposes is a common practice in various areas across South Africa, including in Limpopo province. Traditional medicines are derived from various wild plant resources, some of which are protected by legislation. The aim of this study was to assess the anthropogenic threats and traditiona...

In Limpopo Province, harvesting plants for herbal use by traditional health practitioners and ordinary people is an everyday practice. The study investigated the utilization of the following Threatened or Protected Plant-listed species (TOPS): Alepidea amatymbica Eckl. & Zeyh., Brackenridgea zanguebarica Oliv., Dioscorea sylvatica Eckl., Drimia san...

Many euphorbias in the semi-arid parts of South Africa are range restricted edaphic specialists with small populations at risk of extinction. Euphorbia susannae is one such species, which grows on the edges of quartz patches along a section of the northern foot slopes of the Langeberg Mountains. This study set out to acquire data on the biology and...

Rasethe MT, Potgieter M, Pfab M. 2021. Local management strategies and attitudes towards selected threatened or protected plant species in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Biodiversitas 22: 3773-3784. Throughout South Africa, ordinary people are managing and using local natural resources in ways that enhance their lives, but there is a major concern...

Background: Gauteng, the smallest of South Africa’s nine provinces, is rich in biodiversity; yet it is also the most densely populated province and thus faces significant development pressures. Objective: A project was therefore initiated in 2001 to identify areas of biodiversity importance in the province, using the systematic spatial biodiversity...

Adaptive governance and network governance theory provide a useful conceptual framework to guide the conservation of threatened species in complex multi-actor, multijurisdictional social ecological systems. We use principles from this theory to assess strengths and weaknesses in (1) national legislation, and (2) the Convention on International Trad...

Species in the cycad genus Encephalartos are listed in CITES Appendix I and as Threatened or Protected Species in terms of South Africa's National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (NEM:BA) of 2004. Despite regulations, illegal plant harvesting for medicinal trade has continued in South Africa and resulted in declines in cycad populations...

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) covers a vast territory in Africa, straddling from South Africa in the south to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania in the north, and including the Indian ocean island States of Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles. The region is home to a highly diverse range of wildlife, some of which is...

Fire is central to the ecology of Mediterranean-type climate ecosystems, but little is known about the fire ecology of succulent plants therein. This study investigated the fire ecology of an arborescent succulent monocot, Kumara plicatilis (L.) G. D. Rowley (Asphodelaceae), a Cape fynbos endemic. Habitat suitability was assessed to determine wheth...

Cycads in South Africa are facing an extinction crisis due to the illegal extraction of plants from the wild. Proving wild origin of suspect ex situ cycads to the satisfaction of a court of law is difficult, limiting law enforcement efforts. We investigated the feasibility of using multiple stable isotopes to identify specimens removed from the wil...

Aloe peglerae Schönland is a rare succulent plant species, which is endemic to South Africa. The species is currently listed as Endangered and is threatened mainly by illegal collection. The aim of this study was to determine the population status of Aloe peglerae in the Magaliesberg Mountain Range, that is, whether the population is declining, sta...

The combination of increasing demand and high black market prices for rhino horn in Asian markets has fueled an escalation in rhino poaching since 2007, particularly in South Africa. This situation has in turn resulted in greatly increased rhino protection costs, loss in confidence by the private sector in rhinos, loss of revenue to conservation au...

Studies on plant population size structure provide important baseline information for monitoring and conservation. Traditionally, inverse J-shaped size class distributions (SCD) were considered indicative of ‘healthy’, stable plant populations; however, this may not hold true for long-lived, slow-growing species. This study assessed the population...

While the pollination ecology of many Aloe species is well-documented, knowledge on aloe seed ecology, and hence aloe reproductive ecology in its entirety is limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the reproductive ecology of Aloe plicatilis, a Cape fynbos tree aloe endemic to the Cape Winelands, South Africa. Results from a pollinator ex...

Biodiversity targets, or estimates of the quantities of biodiversity features that should be conserved in a region, are fundamental to systematic conservation planning. We propose that targets for species should be based on the quantitative thresholds developed for the Vulnerable category of the IUCN Red List system, thereby avoiding future listing...

Gauteng is the most densely populated province in South Africa. Its remaining natural areas are constantly under threat from urban development and the associated impacts. Presently, the natural areas of Gauteng support a large diversity of ecosystems. One such ecosystem is the Egoli Granite Grassland, endemic to the province, poorly conserved and t...

Aloe peglerae Schönland, an Endangered species endemic to South Africa, is threatened mainly by illegal collection. Lower densities of plants in areas easily accessible to the public led to questions concerning the sensitivity of this species to collection. Demographic monitoring data collected between 1976 and 1995 were used to build a stochastic...

The Red Data List status of threatened plants of Gauteng, South Africa is presented. This includes evaluations using categories and criteria adopted by the IUCN in 1994 and updated in 2000 for assessing the risk of extinction. A total of 23 taxa were found to be threatened, nine are Data Deficient and 33 former Red Data taxa are not threatened with...

The Gauteng Department of Agriculture, Conservation, Environment and Land Affairs is often faced with the necessity of priority setting for the distribution of limited resources. As conservation action cannot be targeted simultaneously to all 32 Red Data plant taxa in the province of Gauteng, a hierarchical priority ranking scheme was developed usi...

As a party to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), South Africais obliged to ensure that CBD objectives are met. Fundamental to the concept ofbiodiversity are the different levels of biological organization ranging fromlandscapes to genes. Historically, biodiversity conservation has predominantlyfocussed on species, while southern African...

This paper describes a population viability analysis (PVA) for Euphorbia clivicola R.A. Dyer, a threatened succulent confined to only two known populations in the Northern Province of South Africa, one of which is protected in a nature reserve. The PVA explicitly compared the relative effectiveness of four management scenarios in bringing about the...

The hypothesized ultimate agent of decline for one of the only two known populations of Euphorbia clivicola R. A. Dyer, a Critically Endangered species endemic to the Northern Province of South Africa, is the unsuitable fire management practised within the Nature Reserve in which the population is protected. Management recommendations concerning th...

Euphorbia clivicola R.A. Dyer is a Critically Endangered Northern Province endemic confined to two populations that have declined drastically over the last decade. One population is protected within a Nature Reserve, while the other occurs in a peri-urban area. In order to determine the causes of the population declines, herbivory damage to plants...

Euphorbia clivicola R.A. Dyer, an endangered Northern Province endemic, is restricted to only two known populations, both of which are threatened with extinction. The area between and surrounding the known populations, totalling 8874 km2, was therefore searched for sites where either unknown populations could exist, or which could represent a suita...