Table Mountain Chain - South Africa

Basic Information
Site Name
Table Mountain Chain
Short name
TMC
Country
South Africa
Web Address
SAEON Fynbos Node/Table Mountain Chain
Operating Organisation
South African National Parks (SANParks)
South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON)
Funding Agency
City of Cape Town, South Africa
Keywords
agriculture
Coastal habitats
Marine habitats
Protected sites
Residential buildings of city and town centres
Urban and suburban industrial and commercial sites still in active use
Urban and suburban public buildings
Site Description
The Table Mountain Chain comprises a network of public and private land within the Cape Peninsula. The land area is approximately 340 km2 and the marine component is approximately 980 km2. The coastline is approximately 130 km. The land area is surrounded by the intensive agriculture and urban development of the City of Cape Town. Because of the proximity of the city the area has a long history of research carried out by universities, research institutions and nature conservation agencies.
Last modified
2020-06-29 10:06:05
General Characteristics, Purpose, History
Site Status
Operational
Year Established
1998
Purpose
Investigate the impacts of various drivers of global change on vegetation at various scales
History
The Cape Peninsula National Park (now the Table Mountain National Park) was established in 1998. Prior to that various government agencies (up to 14 agencies prior to the declaration of the National Park) managed sections of the mountain chain with various levels of protection of the natural biota. Lower lying part of the Peninsula (
Research Topics
ecology
plant ecology
vegetation dynamics
chemistry
atmospheric chemistry
meteorology
climatology
climate monitoring
environmental science
Parameters
atmospheric parameter
air temperature
dew point
vapor pressure deficit
atmospheric pressure
precipitation intensity
solar radiation
wind direction
wind speed
ecosystem parameter
species turnover
Photos
not defined

not defined

not defined

not defined

Geographic
Size
34000.00ha
Elevation (average)
550.00msl
Elevation (min)
0.00msl
Elevation (max)
1100.00msl
Affiliation and Network Specific Information
Affiliation
ILTER✔This site is a verified "ILTER" member.
SAEON✔ (LTER-SAF-ZA-21)This site is a verified "SAEON" member.
GERI✔This site is a verified "GERI" member.
Projects
Nationalpark
UNESCO World Heritage Site
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Site information [.json]

Centroid coordinates [.shp] [.kml]
GEO-BON Biome
Marine
Coastal
Fresh water rivers
Terrestrial
Biome
Chaparral
Ecosystem and Land Use
Agricultural
Coastal
Marine
Temperate upwelling
Urban
Biogeographical Region
Alpine Bio-geographical Region
Air Temperature: Average Annual
16.00°C
Precipitation Annual
1050.00mm
Geology
Malmesbury Group sandstone and shale; Peninsula granite; Table Mountain Group sandstone; Pakhuis Formation tillite; Graafwater Formation sandstone and mudstone
Vegetation
Fynbos, Forest
Soils
Red and yellow apedal soils; non-hydromorphic soils; sandy, calcareous ferrihumic soils; kaolin clay soils
Hydrology
Winter rainfall. Rain feeds the Table mountain group fractured rock aquifer and Cape Flats Aquifer and several small rivers
EUNIS habitat
Habitat complexes (X)
Habitat complexes (X) » Domestic gardens of city and town centres (X24)
Site Type (Spatial Design)
Complex Site
Design of Experimentation
no experimentation
Scale of Experimentation
not applicable
Design of Observation
mainly observation
Scale of Observation
plot within catchment
Infrastructure
Data infrastructure » Data services » Data portal
Data infrastructure » Data storage » Relational database
Energy and data infrastructure » Energy supply » Permanent Power Produced » 1-5 kW
Energy and data infrastructure » Data transmission » Data Transmission Type (from Site) » Other transmission types
Accessible All Year
Yes
All parts of Site Accessible
No
Access Type
dirt road (4WD)
Permanent Power Supply
No
Permanent Operation
Yes
Site Visit Interval
30
Maintenance Interval
30
General Data Policy
Formal acknowledgement of the dataset providers
Data Policy URL
http://saeon.dirisa.org/management/it-governance/G373.2%20Policy%20and%20Guidel…
Data Storage Location
Central
Data Services
Data portal
LTER Site Classification
Regular