14 Oct, 2008

Animals and plants have adapted to survival in an arid region where the temperature fluctuates widely.

Our aim today in the Jack's Camp region of the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans in Botswana was to give a sense of the environment in which we are operating, as well as an insight into the terrain that supports the animals and birds that we will be filming on a daily basis.

We started with the most distinguishing feature of the region, the larger Makgadikgadi basin, which covers an area of approximately 37 000km² (23 000mi²). Two large salt flats dominate the basin – the Ntwetwe Pan, which lies to the west, and the smaller Sua Pan, which is fed mainly by the Nata River.

These pans are the remnants of ancient river flows and the resultant super-lake that once covered most of contemporary northern Botswana and parts of neighbouring countries. They now form part of an inland drainage basin into which seasonal rain and rivers flow.

During the dry summer season these are desolate mud flats where temperatures range from 20°C to 40°C (68°F to 104°F) in the space of a day.

The vegetation in the immediate vicinity has adapted to survive the harsh conditions created by extreme temperature fluctuations, the geology of the area and limited water sources. All resident animal and birdlife has also adapted to this unforgiving environment over millennia.

The grasslands immediately surrounding the pans manage to survive in soil with a high saline content. Popularly known as 'sweet grasses', they consist of, among others, spiky salt grasses and spear grasses.

The grassland terrain supports a variety of animals and birds that have adapted to survival on vegetation with a low nutritional content.

Today we were lucky enough to catch glimpses of a black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas) and various birds foraging in the grasses.

Another typical feature of this vegetation is the real fan palms (Hyphaene petersiana), which form avenues in some areas and fringes along watercourses. There's a theory that elephants are responsible for the propagation and distribution of these palms by spreading the palm fruit as they migrate in search of food and water.

Inland from the grasslands we found distinctive belts of woodlands – combinations of acacia savannah, combretum (including leadwood) and mopane trees. New leaves and shoots were starting to form on a few of the trees we filmed. I can only imagine the transformation that will take place in this vegetation when the long-awaited rains arrive.

In the process of showcasing the environment that supports the animals we will be filming, we came to realise that not only is this a unique environment, it has clearly shaped the direction of evolutionary processes for all living organisms that survive here.

– by Pierre Minnie, Earth-Touch crew © Earth-Touch

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