Cape Floristic Region

Location and description

Home to the greatest non-tropical concentration of higher plant species in the world, the region is the only hotspot that encompasses an entire floral kingdom, and holds five of South Africa's 12 endemic plant families and 160 endemic genera. Covering 78,555 km2, Cape Floristic Region hotspot is located entirely within the borders of South Africa.

It is one of the five temperate Mediterranean-type systems on the hotspots list, and is one of only two hotspots that encompass an entire floral kingdom (the other being New Caledonia).

The Region covers the Mediterranean climate region of South Africa in the Western Cape in the southwestern corner of the country, and extends eastward into the Eastern Cape, a transitional zone between the winter rainfall region to the west and the summer-rainfall region to the east in KwaZulu-Natal.

Flora

Most of the region is covered with fynbos, a sclerophyllous shrubland occurring on acid sands or nutrient-poor soils derived from Table Mountain sandstones (Cape Supergroup). Fynbos is home to a diverse plethora of plant species including many members of the protea family (Proteaceae), heath family (Ericaceae), and reed family of restios (Restionaceae). Other vegetation types are sandveld, a soft coastal scrubland found mostly on the west-facing coast of the Western Cape Province, on tertiary sands.

Renosterveld is a grassy shrubland dominated by members of the daisy family (Asteraceae), particularly renosterbos (Elytropappus rhinocerotis), graminoids and geophytes, occurring on the base-rich shaley soils of the coastal forelands. Small pockets of Afromontane forest (Southern Afrotemperate Forest) can be found in humid and sheltered areas.

According to Takhtajan (1978), the following families are endemic or subendemic to the region: Grubbiaceae, Roridulaceae, Bruniaceae, Penaeaceae, Greyiaceae, Geissolomataceae, Retziaceae (Retzia) and Stilbaceae.Rooibos is produced out of this region.

Vegetation types

List of vegetation types of the Cape Floristic Region:

• Swartland Alluvium Renosterveld
• Swartland Granite Renosterveld
• Swartland Silcrete Renosterveld

Ecology

The World Wide Fund for Nature divides the Cape floristic region into three ecoregions: the Lowland fynbos and renosterveld, Montane fynbos and renosterveld and the Albany thickets.

The fynbos ecoregions are designated one of the Global 200 priority ecoregions for conservation. Conservation International declared the Cape floristic region to be a biodiversity hotspot.

It is thought that the Cape Floristic Region is experiencing one of the most rapid rates of extinction in the world due to habitat loss, land degradation, and invasive alien plants.

Conservation

Conservation International’s South Africa programme, which later became the locally registered organisation Conservation South Africa, worked with local partners on conservation activities in parts of the Cape Floristic Region in the early 2000s.

World Heritage Site

In 2004, the "Cape Floral Region Protected Areas" were inscribed as a World Heritage Site. The site includes eight representative protected areas:

• Table Mountain National Park
• Cederberg Wilderness Area
• Groot Winterhoek Wilderness Area
• Boland Mountain Complex (Limietberg Nature Reserve, Jonkershoek Nature Reserve, Assegaaibosch Nature Reserve, Hottentots Holland Nature Reserve, Kogelberg Nature Reserve)
• De Hoop Nature Reserve
• Boosmansbos Wilderness Area
• Swartberg Complex (Swartberg Nature Reserve, Gamkapoort Nature Reserve, Towerkop Nature Reserve)
• Baviaanskloof Mega Reserve

References

This article incorporates CC BY-3.0 text from the reference

References

1. (2008-12-10). "The alien invasive land snail Theba pisana in the West Coast National Park: Is there cause for concern?". Koedoe.
2. Тахтаджян А. Л. Флористические области Земли / Академия наук СССР. Ботанический институт им. В. Л. Комарова. — Л.: Наука, Ленинградское отделение, 1978. — 247 с. — 4000 экз. [http://herba.msu.ru/shipunov/school/books/takhtajan1978_flor_oblasti_zemli.djvu DjVu] {{Webarchive. link. (5 October 2018 , [https://books.google.com/books?id=9gylTK3CsScC Google Books].)
3. Takhtajan, A. (1986). ''Floristic Regions of the World''. (translated by T.J. Crovello & A. Cronquist). University of California Press, Berkeley, [http://www.gbv.de/dms/bs/toc/024192430.pdf PDF], [http://herba.msu.ru/shipunov/school/books/takhtajan1986_flor_regions.djvu DjVu].
4. "Vegetation Types".
5. "Vegetation Types".
6. South African Press Association. (14 August 2014). "Cape is world's extinction capital".
7. (September 4, 2004). "CEPF Final Project Completion Report: Facilitating Implementation in the Priority Mega-Reserves and Lowland Corridors in the CFR". Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund.
8. "Annual Portfolio Overview: Succulent Karoo Region". Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund.