Would-be frackers of the Karoo, beware: scientists are watching you.
Experts in shallow-water ecosystems at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University say the invertebrate populations of dams, pans and rivers will be a good indicator of whether fracking damages the environment.
They took samples of macro-invertebrates - creatures bigger than 1mm - and they say that the fact that they found four new species in the process is evidence of the lack of detailed knowledge about the biology of "the proposed centre of shale-gas extraction in South Africa".
Annah Mabidi, Matthew Bird and Renzo Perissinotto made two visits to nine dams, 13 pans and 11 rivers between Aberdeen in the west and Tarkastad in the east.
They said macro-invertebrates were excellent indicators of human effects on freshwater environments because of their sensitivity to increases in salinity, one of the possible side-effects of fracking.
Increased salinity could cause the eventual extirpation of populations, of macro-invertebrates, which would affect all other wetland flora and fauna.
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