Diversity of the natural environment of Cape Town From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The biodiversity of Cape Town is the variety and variability of life within the City of Cape Town, excluding the Prince Edward Islands. The terrestrial vegetation is particularly diverse and much of it is endemic to the city and its vicinity. Terrestrial and freshwater animals are heavily impacted by urban development and habitat degradation. Marine life of the waters immediately adjacent to the city along the Cape Peninsula and in False Bay is also diverse, and while also impacted by human activity, the habitats are relatively intact.
Cape Town's original vegetation typesCape Town's surviving vegetation types
The City of Cape Town lies within the Cape Floristic Kingdom, by far the smallest and most diverse of the earth's six floristic kingdoms,[1] an area of extraordinarily high diversity and endemism, and home to over 9,000 vascular plant species, of which 69 percent are endemic.[2] Much of this diversity is associated with the fynbos biome, a Mediterranean-type, fire-prone shrubland.[2] The economical worth of fynbos biodiversity, based on harvests of fynbos products (e.g. wildflowers) and eco-tourism, is estimated to be in the region of R77 million a year.[2] Thus, it is clear that the Cape Floristic Region has both economic and intrinsic biological value as a biodiversity hotspot.[2]
Cape Town is located within a Conservation Internationalbiodiversity hotspot and is home to 19 distinct vegetation types. (This enormous variety is mainly because the city is located at the convergence point of many soil types and microclimates.)
These 19 vegetation types are mostly restricted to unusually small areas, and several are completely endemic to the city – occurring nowhere else in the world. Vegetation types include the following.[3][4]
Table Mountain as seen from Bloubergstrand. Some examples of the region's plant biodiversity are seen in the foreground.
Of the thousands of plant species that are indigenous to Cape Town, 190 are known to be endemic. In addition, there are over a hundred animal species that are restricted to the city.[5] Endemic plant species include the following.[clarification needed][6][7][8][9][10]
Cape Peninsula endemics
Acerentulus gracilis
Agathosma lanceolata (honey buchu)
Agathosma pulchella (skunk buchu)
Algophilus lathridoides (Table Mountain hairy crawling water beetle)
Allocotocerus mixtus (Table Mountain water scavenger beetle)
Odendaal L. J., Haupt T. M. & Griffiths C. L. (2008). "The alien invasive land snail Theba pisana in the West Coast National Park: Is there cause for concern?". Koedoe – African Protected Area Conservation and Science50(1): 93-98. abstract, doi:10.4102/koedoe.v50i1.153.
A.B. Low & A.G. Rebelo (eds). Vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho & Swaziland, a companion to the vegetation map of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. Dept Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Pretoria. 85pp. ISBN0-621-17316-9.
A.G. Rebelo, C. Boucher, N. Helme, L. Mucina, M.C. Rutherford et al. 2006. Fynbos Biome, in: L. Mucina & M.C. Rutherford (eds). The Vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. Strelitzia 19, pp 52-219.
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