The Karoo is a unique region in South Africa in terms of its ecological processes and endemic species. Large areas are needed to maintain viable populations of nomadic birds that follow erratic rainfall events and subsequent food and nesting resources, as well as ephemeral standing water. Whereas many species are adapted to arid conditions, our trait-based analysis found that an unusually large percentage (almost 45%) of 315 bird species in the semi-arid Karoo region rely on water to some degree. Indeed, some birds may have benefited from human activities to date, such as through the provision of water for livestock. However, this reliance on water makes birds vulnerable to changes in water quality stemming from various industrial developments. Given the large areas of the Karoo under consideration for concessions, the most noteworthy of these is hydraulic fracturing for shale gas, which results in a large quantity of waste water (‘produced water’) that contains a wide variety of chemicals, including petroleum byproducts. Given the negative impacts of secondary waste water on wildlife in other parts of the world where shale-gas exploration is being undertaken, careful attention must be given to preventing access to such produced water by an estimated 60 to 141 species of birds that make use of the water in the Karoo.

就其生态过程和特有物种而言，卡鲁是南非的一个独特地区。需要大面积的土地来维持游牧鸟类的生存种群，这些鸟类跟随降雨的不稳定事件以及随后的食物和筑巢资源以及短暂的死水。尽管许多物种都适应干旱条件，但基于特征的分析发现，半干旱的卡鲁地区315种鸟类中有很大比例（几乎占45％）在某种程度上依赖水。实际上，迄今为止，有些鸟类可能已经从人类活动中受益，例如通过为牲畜提供​​水。但是，这种对水的依赖使鸟类容易受到各种工业发展带来的水质变化的影响。鉴于Karoo的大片土地正在考虑让步，其中最值得注意的是页岩气的水力压裂，这会产生大量废水（“产出水”），其中包含多种化学物质，包括石油副产品。鉴于二次废水对进行页岩气勘探的世界其他地区的野生生物造成的负面影响，必须特别注意防止估计有60到141种鸟类利用这种产出水卡鲁的水。