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The celebrated jumping frog of Calaveras County.
Thursday, 18 September 2008

Did you know that…

 frog jumping competitions all started in 1867 with Mark Twain’s story, The celebrated jumping frog of Calaveras County. Now every May, Calaveras County hosts the Jumping Frog Jubilee complete with food stalls, brass bands, beauty contests, and of course… a frog jumping competition. Athletes compete under very strict rules and the winner is the one who covers the longest distance in three consequetive jumps.

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Management Sectors
Friday, 11 May 2007
ImageThe five management sectors (as shown in the map below) are:

1.    Gourits River
2.    Western Little Karoo
3.    Eastern Little Karoo
4.    Western Coastal
5.    Eastern Coastal

The boundaries of these management sectors were defined by using the Subtropical Thicket Ecosystem Plan (STEP) vegetation map (Vlok & Euston-Brown 2002), the Cape Action for People and the Environment project (CAPE) vegetation map (Cowling & Heijnis 2001), a 100 m digital elevation model (DEM) and the river courses. Final boundaries were fitted to cadastral boundaries.
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Fynbos-fokus
Thursday, 30 November 2006
Swartberg Fynbos Almal praat deesdae so baie oor die mooi fynbos in ons omgewing – maar weet ons ooit wat dit regtig beteken?

Fynbos is ‘n versamelterm vir die plantegroei wat tipies is van die Kaapse blommeryk. Dit kom oorspornklik van die Hollandse woord; fijnbosch en verwys na die dominante klein en fyn blaaragtige struike.

Die fynbos bestaan uit vier hoof komponente; die proteas, heide, kannette (restio’s) en bolplantjies.
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VVV's - Volop Vlesige Vetplante
Friday, 17 November 2006
ImageIn die Klein Karoo vind ons nie vreemde vlieënde voorwerpe nie, maar wel volop vlesige vetplante!

Sowat 80% van die vetplante in die Klein Karoo is endemies (kom net hier voor en nêrens anders op aarde nie!) Daarom verteenwoordig die gebied 'n belangrike deel van die Vetplant Karoo-bioom wat wêreldwyd erken word as biodiversiteits-brandpunt ("hotspot") en is ook die enigste droë biodiversiteitsbrandpunt wat erken word.
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Vygies - mooiste veldsterre
Thursday, 02 November 2006
Vygies In die Klein-Karoo kan ‘n mens aan die sterre vat. En dis nie wensdenkery nie. Die vygie-sterre wat oral padlangs groei, is op die oomblik ‘n kleurryke skouspel – wat selfs die sterre in die blink melkweg sal uitstof.

Die vygies behoort tot die groot vetplant-familie – Mesembryanthemaceae. Die vygies het meestal twee teenoorstaande vlesige blare en kenmerkend is die klomp gesnipperde blomblare wat in ‘n roset gerangskik is. Daar is ‘n groot aantal meeldrade in die middel van die blom.
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