Renosterveld is a term used for one of the major plant communities and vegetation types of the Cape Floristic Region (Cape Floral Kingdom) which is located in southwestern and southeastern South Africa, in southernmost Africa. It is an ecoregion of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome.
Renosterveld directly translated in the Afrikaans language means "rhinoceros-field", a possible reference to the high number of rhinoceroses seen by the Afrikaner settlers at the time. It may also derive its name from the renosterbos (rhinoceros bush – Dicerothamnus rhinocerotis), which is a common species of shrub found here. The dull grey colour of renosterbos is similar to the colour of a rhino's hide.
Renosterveld plants grow on rich soil, which makes them more nutritious than typical fynbos plants. Typically, renosterveld is largely confined to fine-grained soils – mainly clays and silts – which are derived from the shales of the Malmesbury and Bokkeveld Groups and the Karoo Sequence. In drier regions it also occurs on Cape Granite Suite-derived soils.
Renosterveld usually grows in areas that have moderate winter rainfall of 300–600 mm (12–24 in) per year. It can survive relatively frequent fires.
Renosterveld vegetation is dominated by a species of grey-coloured plant called the renosterbos. However, the Proteas , Ericas and Restios — typical of fynbos habitats — tend to occur in very low abundance in renosterveld. Few species are endemic solely to renosterveld vegetation, as most found in renosterveld occur in fynbos as well. However, species endemic to the Cape Floristic Region comprise about one-third of renosterveld plant species, and many of these belong to families which are not considered to be of "Cape affinity" (i.e. these families are also diverse outside the Cape Floral Kingdom).
The original inhabitants of the Western Cape, the San and Khoi, used renosterveld plants for food, medicine and grazing. Because of their relatively small populations and simple lifestyles, they did not cause a great deal of damage to this ecosystem.
Many renosterveld trees and shrubs produce berries, which attract fruit-eating birds (e.g. bulbuls, Cape white-eyes) and other animals (e.g. geometric tortoises, chacma baboons).
During spring, renosterveld flowers attract a wide variety of pollinators, like bees, flies, beetles and sunbirds.
Because of its high soil fertility, it is probable that all the herds of large game in the fynbos biome occurred in renosterveld. Thus mountain zebra, quagga, bluebuck, roan antelope, red hartebeest, eland, bontebok, elephant, black rhino and Cape buffalo were common, as were lion, cheetah, African wild dog, spotted hyena and leopard.
Two of these only ever occurred within the fynbos biome: bluebuck and bontebok. Of these large mammals, only the mountain zebra and leopard survived (by fleeing to the mountains), with the bontebok just surviving near Bredasdorp. All the other species became extinct in the fynbos biome (a tiny relict elephant population still survives in the area around the Gouritz River and surrounding areas within the fynbos biome area), although many have been introduced into conservation areas from outside the region. The quagga and bluebuck are extinct, although there is a project (the Quagga Project) to restore plains zebras with quagga-like markings.
The high fertility of renosterveld soils has meant that most of the area has been converted to agriculture, mainly wheat.
It is alleged that the high shrub cover is a result of continuous grazing. Early records suggest that the renosterveld had abundant grasses, and that the game and Khoi cattle migrated over the region. With the establishment of European stock farmers, continuous grazing and the elimination of the diverse grazing-browsing fauna, the shrubby element was promoted. This theory is not universally accepted, but proponents argue to the sudden decline of hay near Cape Town in the early 18th century, and the many historical records of early explorers claiming that renosterbos was taking over and that grass was becoming scarce.
In the Cape Floristic Region, less than 2% of renosterveld vegetation types are formally conserved. These are some of the most threatened types of vegetation in the world.
It seems unlikely that viable populations of large mammals will ever be reintroduced into the fynbos biome for this reason.
Conservation organisations and volunteers are working with farmers and municipalities to identify, map and protect the remaining precious areas of renosterveld in the Western Cape. For more information go to:
Fynbos is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. This area is predominantly coastal and mountainous, with a Mediterranean climate and rainy winters. The fynbos ecoregion is within the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome. In fields related to biogeography, fynbos is known for its exceptional degree of biodiversity and endemism, consisting of about 80% species of the Cape floral kingdom, where nearly 6,000 of them are endemic. This land continues to face severe human-caused threats, but due to the many economic uses of the fynbos, conservation efforts are being made to help restore it.
The Karoo is a semi-desert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its extent is also not precisely defined. The Karoo is partly defined by its topography, geology and climate, and above all, its low rainfall, arid air, cloudless skies, and extremes of heat and cold. The Karoo also hosted a well-preserved ecosystem hundreds of million years ago which is now represented by many fossils.
The Cape Peninsula is a generally mountainous peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean at the south-western extremity of the African continent. At the southern end of the peninsula are Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. On the northern end is Table Mountain, overlooking Table Bay and the City Bowl of Cape Town, South Africa. The peninsula is 52 km long from Mouille point in the north to Cape Point in the south. The Peninsula has been an island on and off for the past 5 million years, as sea levels fell and rose with the ice age and interglacial global warming cycles of, particularly, the Pleistocene. The last time that the Peninsula was an island was about 1.5 million years ago. Soon afterwards it was joined to the mainland by the emergence from the sea of the sandy area now known as the Cape Flats. The towns and villages of the Cape Peninsula and Cape Flats, and the undeveloped land of the rest of the peninsula now form part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality. The Cape Peninsula is bounded to the north by Table Bay, to the west by the open Atlantic Ocean, and to the east by False Bay in the south and the Cape Flats in the north.
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.
The wildlife of South Africa consists of the flora and fauna of this country in Southern Africa. The country has a range of different habitat types and an ecologically rich and diverse wildlife, vascular plants being particularly abundant, many of them endemic to the country. There are few forested areas, much savanna grassland, semi-arid Karoo vegetation and the fynbos of the Cape Floristic Region. Famed for its national parks and big game, 297 species of mammal have been recorded in South Africa, as well as 849 species of bird and over 20,000 species of vascular plants.
Newlands Forest is a conservancy area on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain, beside the suburb of Newlands, Cape Town, South Africa. It is owned and maintained by the Table Mountain National Parks Board, along with the City Parks Department of Cape Town, and includes a Fire Station, Nursery and Reservoir.
The Albany thickets is an ecoregion of dense woodland in southern South Africa, which is concentrated around the Albany region of the Eastern Cape.
Dicerothamnus rhinocerotis, synonym Elytropappus rhinocerotis, is a species of flowering plants in the daisy family, Asteraceae, endemic to South Africa. It is a very obvious component of the unique Renosterveld Vegetation Type, which is named after this bush.
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.
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.
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.
Cape Winelands Shale Fynbos is a vegetation type that naturally occurs in the Cape Winelands of the Western Cape, South Africa.
Cape Lowland Freshwater Wetland is a critically endangered vegetation type of the Western Cape, South Africa.
The fauna of South Africa is diverse and largely typical of the ecosystems in Africa. South Africa is ranked sixth out of the world's 17 megadiverse countries. Many endemic species are unique to South Africa. The country is among the world leaders in conservation, but at the time wildlife is threatened by poaching and canned hunting.
The Kammanassie Mountains are a mountain range in the Western Cape, South Africa. The highest peak is Mannetjiesberg at 1,955 metres above sea level and the mountain range is one of the prominent east-west trending ranges composing the southern branch of the Cape Fold Belt.
Drosanthemum micans, is a succulent plant in the ice plant family, Aizoaceae, indigenous to the Robertson Karoo and Overberg regions of the Western Cape Province, South Africa.
Aspalathus millefolia is a species of Aspalathus shrub, which occurs in the Overberg region of the Western Cape Province, South Africa.
Drosanthemum lavisii is a succulent plant in the ice plant family, Aizoaceae, indigenous to the Overberg region of the Western Cape Province, South Africa.
Acrodon subulatus, the Overberg tiptoothfig, is a species of mesemb from South Africa.
