Tortoises are able to tolerate imbalances in regards to their water:electrolyte ratio, allowing a greater ability to survive drought conditions. It is important to improve understanding of tortoise spatial ecology. produce refugia used by multiple species to escape harsh environmental conditions. For example, burrowing species such as Gopherus spp. Tortoises are considered keystone species in some regions. This function is particularly importance in xeric areas where natural herbivores are no longer present. Tortoises provide an important ecosystem function in the form of seed dispersal promoted by periodical long distance movement and long gut retention time. The importance of tortoises to their environments is increasingly being understood.

Tortoises are of the most threatened animals, with as many as 80% classified at least as ‘Vulnerable’, and 47% at least as ‘Endangered’ by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). For example, of the 18 tortoise species in sub-Saharan Africa, at least eight species occur somewhere in the Karoo: up to five sympatrically. The Karoo is an important ecosystem, as it is seen as a centre for endemism in birds and reptiles. Fracking operations are expected before end of 2017, despite worries about impacts on human and animal communities due to increasing water salinity and altering water quality through accidental release of water runoff. Changes in land use in the Karoo are expected to continue with the introduction of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) activities: a process whereby fuel is extracted from deep within the Earth’s surface following the injection of a highly pressurised liquid fluid. 1650)-are now all but extinct regionally, partly due to changes in availability of water and natural food resources. For example, wattled cranes ( Bugeranus carunculatus), southern bald ibis ( Geronticus calvus), and Cape vultures ( Gyps coprotheres)-regionally common before the arrival of Europeans ( c.

Introduction of livestock, building of roads and fences, and reliance of animal and human communities on already depleted water supplies, has negatively affected many animal and plant species. Land use change in the Central Karoo over the last few centuries has greatly affected animal populations, with the vast majority of pre-existing lands now converted to private commercial farming. It is of great importance to conduct systematic research with regards to potential effects of land use change, in order to produce effective decision-making and management for protection and conservation of endangered and threatened species and habitats. Such land use change is a primary cause for damage to ecosystems and animal populations, as it directly relates to habitat loss, habitat defragmentation, and global warming. Continual growth of human population increases the need to harvest and distribute essential resources, causing modifications to environments, and subsequent disturbance and contamination of local ecosystems.

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