Zoogeomorphology of Botswana

Abstract

Zoogeomorphology is a relatively new discipline and is set for changes this century in Botswana that have not been seen for millennia. The co-evolution of landscapes and wildlife amidst a changing climate means that the precise role of each is difficult to determine. As southern Africa becomes hotter and drier due to anthropogenic climate change this century, past adaptation strategies such as wildlife movements along (Balinsky’s 1962) ‘drought corridor’ will no longer be possible due to land use/land cover change and agriculture and human-related expansion. As the Sixth Great Extinction unfolds, it offers a unique opportunity to study just how significant different biota are in determining geomorphology, albeit as our climate changes. Fauna that has remained intact since the Miocene will largely disappear from African shores and the palaeo-dune fields of the Kalahari may well become reactivated. The real significance of micro-organisms and invertebrates will then be realised as the bioturbators remain to shape the landscapes around them without the distraction posed by humans and the unique mega-fauna that surrounded them.