Spring celebration in the Little Karoo

Biological diversity is the sum of responses to challenges. In one picture a multitude of such challenges are posed by just the sloping contours of the earth. Responses are proven successful by all that is alive here; unsuccessful ones dead and forgotten, but new trends are continually born from the achievements of the individually different competitors, endowed with vestiges of uniqueness that continually reshape their species.

There are tiny succulents growing on the most inaccessible ledges of the steep slopes. Ferns may look good in the sheltered ravines, drying out during off-seasons where they may have rooted away from shade and moisture. Some species that are known as trees elsewhere are bonsai shrubs here among the rocks in the Little Karoo; cut down to size to prove that small may be beautiful.

And those that achieve some physical stature produce micro-climate shelters for partners that help by covering and cooling the ground, retaining shared moisture around the roots of all in the community. The open patches are not wasted; annuals will sprout after rain from seeds, joining those that transform the bareness from bulbs, corms and rhizomes into floral feasts. The rhythm of a million life cycles is played here as orchestral music heard by few.