Av. Hall, SETTING CONSERVATION PRIORITIES FOR THREATENED SPECIES - A JOINT GROUPING AND SEQUENCING METHOD, South African journal of botany, 59(6), 1993, pp. 581-591
The Fynbos and Karoo Biomes in South Africa have the highest concentra
tion of threatened plant species of any temperate region in the world.
The limited resources available for conserving these species should b
e used with carefully analysed priorities which take account of a comp
lex suite of criteria. A two-stage analysis is described for this, emp
loying the Uniter computer program which clusters and sequences threat
ened species using evaluated priority criteria. In the first stage, th
e criteria are aspects of the need for conserving the species and in t
he second, their biological and practical ease of conservation. The sp
ecies with similar profiles we grouped together, making the sequences
more information-rich and a better guide for conservation planning. Th
e methods are demonstrated using 20 Endangered and Vulnerable species
from the Cape Peninsula.