This month, Garden Senior Research Scientist Dr. Joe McAuliffe will begin a 15-day, 1,300-mile journey through one of the most botanically remarkable landscapes on Earth.
Arriving in Windhoek, Namibia, McAuliffe will first securing supplies, outfitting a vehicle and assembling the equipment needed for an extended field expedition. From there, he will travel south toward Cape Town, South Africa, traversing the full north-south length of the Succulent Karoo.
For McAuliffe, this is more than a road trip. It is the next chapter in more than a decade of research focused on understanding one of the world’s most extraordinary arid ecosystems.
Stretching across parts of Namibia and South Africa, the Succulent Karoo is recognized as the most botanically diverse arid region in the world. Despite being much smaller in area than the Sonoran Desert, the Succulent Karoo contains more plant species than the entire Sonoran Desert region. Its remarkable diversity provides scientists with an opportunity to study how plants evolve, adapt and thrive in challenging environmental conditions.
The upcoming expedition builds on previous work McAuliffe conducted throughout the Succulent Karoo region of South Africa and Namibia from 2012 to 2023.
Returning to the region allows researchers to build on observations made over time and deepen their understanding of its landscapes and plant communities. This expedition will expand that work by traveling the full length of the Succulent Karoo, from Namibia south toward Cape Town.
Each week the Garden will update this blog with photos from McAuliffe’s research trip, as well as notes about his findings.
Photo taken by Joe McAuliffe
