| description:
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Polygon features, representing Red List of Ecosystems (RLE) for terrestrial realm for South
Africa. This dataset contains the current remaining natural extent (circa 2018) of each
of the 458 ecosystem types assessed. This means that those portions of ecosystems that
have been lost to anthropogenic activities such as mining or croplands excluded and only
the remnants are part of the dataset. A separate dataset
(RLE_Terr_2021_June2021_ddw.shp) is also available and contains the historical / potential
extent of each ecosystem type. This RLE is a revision of the “List of terrestrial ecosystems
that threatened or in need of protection” published in the government gazette in December
2011. The revision is based on the best available data and used the IUCN RLE risk
assessment framework version 1.1 (Bland et al. 2017). Ecosystem are categorised into one
of four classes representing their risk of collapse; in descending order of risk: Critically
Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, Least Concern. The national vegetation map, 2018
version (Mucina and Rutherford 2006; Dayaram et al., 2019) provided the ecosystem units of
assessment for the RLE (Vegetation Unit / Type level).
Refer to the website for more detail on the assessments and methods used
http://ecosystemstatus.sanbi.org.za |