Lourensford Alluvium Fynbos is a critically endangered vegetation type that is endemic to Cape Town. Though closest to Fynbos, it has characteristics of both Fynbos and Renosterveld vegetation and is thus actually a unique hybrid vegetation type. [1] [2]
This ecosystem occurs only in what is now the eastern corner of the city - in and around the suburbs of Somerset West and Strand. It is located at the juncture between the mountain ranges in the east and the Cape Flats lowlands, and has a unique geology influenced by the underground flow of water from the mountains and the presence of a special kind of silt soil. [3]
Restio and Asteraceous (daisy) species are most common, with Proteas and Ericas being relatively rarer. There are spots which are home to an unusually enormous variety and density of bulbs. Taller shrubs proliferate along the banks of streams.
This was one of the earliest of the Cape's vegetation types to be largely destroyed, as the Lourensford area was transformed for farming as early as the 1600s. Large farms such as Vergelegen were built on top of this delicate vegetation and as the first botanical surveys were only carried out many years later, there is no record of what has been lost. Commercial Pine plantations were planted over much of the remaining area and now only small pockets of this critically endangered ecosystem remain. Altogether, less than 5% still survives and less than 1% is conserved. This is unsustainable and well below the national conservation target of 30%. The tiny Harmony Flats reserve conserves a patch of this vegetation but even this is too small to be ecologically viable. Now the main threats come from domestic cats and dogs, dumping of garden refuse, sand theft and invasive alien plants such as wattles and Kikuyu grass.
The Geometric tortoise used to be found primarily in Alluvium Fynbos. Now, with its habitat largely destroyed, it is also critically endangered. Harmony Flats Nature Reserve, which conserves Alluvium Fynbos, lost its last population of these tortoises which became extinct here in the 1980s. [4]
The Cape Floral Region is a floristic region located near the southern tip of South Africa. It is the only floristic region of the Cape Floristic Kingdom, and includes only one floristic province, known as the Cape Floristic Province.
Helderberg refers to a planning district of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality, the mountain after which it is named, a wine-producing area in the Western Cape province of South Africa, or a small census area in Somerset West.
The geometric tortoise is a critically endangered species of tortoise and one of three members of the genus Psammobates. It is found in a very small section in the South-Western Cape of South Africa.
Rondebosch Common is an open common of about 40 hectares in Rondebosch, Cape Town in South Africa. A common is defined as "a piece of open land for public use, esp. in a village or town". It contains one of the few surviving pockets of the critically endangered “Cape Flats Sand Fynbos” vegetation type, which exists nowhere else in the world.
Cape Flats Dune Strandveld is an endangered vegetation type. This is a unique type of Cape Strandveld that is endemic to the coastal areas around Cape Town, including the Cape Flats.
Atlantis Sand Fynbos is a critically endangered fynbos vegetation type that occurs to the north of Cape Town, in the Western Cape, South Africa.
Cape Flats Sand Fynbos (CFSF), previously known as Sand Plain Fynbos, is a critically endangered vegetation type that occurs only within the city of Cape Town. Less than 1% of this unique lowland fynbos vegetation is conserved.
Swartland Alluvium Fynbos is a critically endangered vegetation type that occurs on the high plains and mountains in the far south-west of the Western Cape, South Africa.
Kogelberg Sandstone Fynbos is a critically endangered vegetation type occurring in the far south of the Western Cape, South Africa.
Peninsula Granite Fynbos is an endangered Fynbos vegetation type which is endemic to the city of Cape Town and occurs nowhere else. It is a unique type of tall, dense and diverse scrubland, scattered with trees. It can be found all along the belt of granite that encircles Table Mountain.
Peninsula Shale Renosterveld (PSR) is a unique vegetation type that is found only on the slopes of Signal Hill and Devil's Peak in Cape Town, South Africa. It is critically endangered and exists nowhere else.
Peninsula Sandstone Fynbos is a unique and endangered vegetation type that is endemic to the Cape Peninsula in Cape Town. This type of Mountain Fynbos occurs on very poor, acidic soils but is incredibly rich in biodiversity with an enormous number of plant species – many of which occur nowhere else. Due to its poor soils and steep, inaccessible location, it has not been developed for farming or houses, and consequently it is relatively well conserved.
Witzands Aquifer Nature Reserve is a 3,000-hectare (7,400-acre) protected natural area in Cape Town, South Africa, located on the city's northern outskirts. This reserve protects an important part of Cape Town's natural and cultural heritage, including the Atlantis Aquifer. It is adjacent to the Koeberg Nature Reserve.
Durbanville Nature Reserve is a 6-hectare (15-acre) piece of protected land, located next to the Hollywoodbets Durbanville Racecourse in the Western Cape, South Africa.
Harmony Flats Nature Reserve is a 9-hectare (22-acre) piece of protected land, located between Strand and Gordon's Bay, South Africa. It protects a surviving fragment of critically endangered Lourensford Alluvium Fynbos vegetation.
Helderberg Nature Reserve is a 398-hectare (980-acre) nature reserve in Somerset West, South Africa.
Blaauwberg Nature Reserve was proclaimed a local and provincial nature reserve in 2007. The reserve has views down fynbos slopes, across the city, to seven kilometres of rocky and sandy coastline and the ocean and beyond. The reserve presents itself as one of the few viewpoints in the world from where you can see two proclaimed world heritage sites, namely Table Mountain and Robben Island.
Macassar Dunes Conservation Area is a 1,116-hectare (2,760-acre) coastal nature reserve in Macassar, within the City of Cape Town, South Africa.
Cape Lowland Freshwater Wetland is a critically endangered vegetation type of the Western Cape, South Africa.
Tokai Park, previously known as "Tokai Forest", is a small wing, about 600 ha, of the greater Table Mountain National Park in Cape Town, South Africa. Tokai Park is made up of two sections: upper and lower Tokai Park. Lower Tokai Park is flat, and characterized by the threatened Cape Flats Sand Fynbos. Upper Tokai Park is on the slopes of Constantiaberg Mountain, and consists of conservation area as well as the Tokai Arboretum. Upper Tokai Park is characterized by Peninsula Granite Fynbos, Peninsula Sandstone Fynbos and Afromontane Forest and noted for its diversity.
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