View source for Cape Floristic Region

{{short description|Smallest of the six recognised floral kingdoms of the world}}
{{Redirect|Cape Region|the region in Delaware|Cape Region (Delaware)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Use South African English|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site
| WHS           = Cape Floral Region Protected Areas
| image         = Floraregio van de Kaap.jpg
| image_upright = 1.2
| caption       = 
| location      = [[South Africa]]
| includes      = {{flatlist|
* [[Table Mountain National Park]]
* [[Cederberg Wilderness Area]]
* [[Groot Winterhoek Wilderness Area]]
* [[Boland, Western Cape|Boland]] Mountain Complex
* [[De Hoop Nature Reserve]]
* [[Boosmansbos Wilderness Area]]
* [[Swartberg]] Complex
* [[Baviaanskloof Mega Reserve]]
}}
| criteria      = {{UNESCO WHS type|(ix), (x)}}(ix), (x)
| ID            = 1007bis
| coordinates   = {{coord|34|10|00|S|18|22|30|E|region:ZA_type:landmark|display=inline,title|format=dms}}
| year          = 2004
| extension     = 2015
| area          = {{convert|1,094,742|ha|acre|abbr=on}}
| buffer_zone   = {{convert|798,514|ha|acre|abbr=on}}
| locmapin      = South Africa
| map_caption   = 
}}

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 Cape Floristic Region, the smallest of the six recognised [[Phytochorion|floral kingdoms]] of the world, is an area of extraordinarily high diversity and [[endemism]], and is home to over 9,000 [[vascular plant]] species, of which 69 percent are endemic.<ref name="Odendaal 2008" />

Much of this diversity is associated with the [[fynbos]] biome, a Mediterranean-type, fire-prone shrubland.<ref name="Odendaal 2008" /> The economical worth of fynbos biodiversity, based on harvests of fynbos products (e.g. [[wildflower]]s) and [[eco-tourism]], is estimated to be in the region of [[South African rand|R]]77 million (~[[United States dollar|US$]]5 million) a year.<ref name="Odendaal 2008" />

Thus, it is clear that the Cape Floristic Region has both economic and intrinsic biological value as a [[biodiversity hotspot]].<ref name="Odendaal 2008">{{Cite journal |last1=Odendaal |first1=Lizelle J. |last2=Haupt |first2=Tanya M. |last3=Griffiths |first3=Charles L. |date=2008-12-10 |title=The alien invasive land snail Theba pisana in the West Coast National Park: Is there cause for concern? |url=https://koedoe.co.za/index.php/koedoe/article/view/153 |journal=Koedoe |language=en |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=93–98 |doi=10.4102/koedoe.v50i1.153 |issn=2071-0771|doi-access=free }}</ref>

== Location and description ==

{{Multiimage
| image1            = Bioscape vir 2023275 lrg South Africa.jpg
| caption1          = 
| image2            = Bioscapeviz lrg South Africa.jpg
| header            = Extent of the Greater Cape Floristic Region
| align             = right
| footer            = The region occupies less than 0.5% of Africa's land area but supports approximately 20% of its plant life.
}}

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&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>, 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]]){{Citation needed|date=July 2013}}.

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 ==
[[File:Flora at Cape Peninsula.JPG|thumb|[[Fynbos]] in the [[Western Cape]]]]
[[File:Fynbos_18_months_after_fire_-_360_degree_photo.jpg|thumb|A 360 degree photograph of fynbos in the [[Groot Winterhoek]] region of the Western Cape about 18 months after a fire. New plants can be seen in various stages of growth following the fire. The infertile white soil that fynbos tends to grow in can also be clearly seen.]]
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]].<ref>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|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181005125008/http://herba.msu.ru/shipunov/school/books/takhtajan1978_flor_oblasti_zemli.djvu |date=5 October 2018 }}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=9gylTK3CsScC Google Books].</ref><ref>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].</ref>[[Rooibos]] is produced out of this region.

===Vegetation types===
{{see also|List of vegetation types of South Africa}}
List of [[vegetation type]]s of the Cape Floristic Region:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/stats/Documents/Vegetation%20Types.mht |title=Vegetation Types |access-date=24 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130824223150/http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/stats/Documents/Vegetation%20Types.mht |archive-date=24 August 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/stats/Pages/VegetationTypes.aspx |title=Vegetation Types |access-date=7 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120404034630/http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/stats/Pages/VegetationTypes.aspx |archive-date=4 April 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* {{annotated link|Atlantis Sand Fynbos}}
* {{annotated link|Boland Granite Fynbos}}
* {{annotated link|Cape Flats Dune Strandveld}}
* {{annotated link|Cape Flats Sand Fynbos}}
* {{annotated link|Cape Lowland Freshwater Wetland}}
* {{annotated link|Cape Winelands Shale Fynbos}}
* {{annotated link|Hangklip Sand Fynbos}}
* {{annotated link|Kogelberg Sandstone Fynbos}}
* {{annotated link|Lourensford Alluvium Fynbos}}
* {{annotated link|Peninsula Granite Fynbos}}
* {{annotated link|Peninsula Sandstone Fynbos}}
* {{annotated link|Peninsula Shale Renosterveld}}
* {{annotated link|Southern Afrotemperate Forest}}
* {{annotated link|Swartland Alluvium Fynbos}}
* [[Swartland Alluvium Renosterveld]]
* [[Swartland Granite Renosterveld]]
* {{annotated link|Swartland Shale Renosterveld}}
* [[Swartland Silcrete Renosterveld]]

== Ecology ==
The [[World Wide Fund for Nature]] divides the Cape floristic region into three [[ecoregion]]s: 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 plants|invasive alien plants]].<ref name="extincitionCap">{{cite web | url=http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/western-cape/cape-is-world-s-extinction-capital-1.1735307#.U_Sh8PmSySo | title=Cape is world's extinction capital | date=14 August 2014 | access-date=20 August 2014 | author=South African Press Association}}</ref>

== World Heritage Site ==
[[File:Biodiversity Hotspots 2015.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Biodiversity hotspot]]s of the world showing the Cape Floristic Region (number 12)]]
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, Western Cape|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<ref name="Odendaal 2008" />
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Cape Floral|Cape Floristic Region (Cape Floral)}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060418152238/http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/Hotspots/cape_floristic/ Conservation International: Cape floristic Region – biodiversity hotspot]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101203225809/http://www.capeaction.org.za/index.php?C=about&P=6 Cape Action: the Cape floristic Region]

{{Biodiversity of South Africa}}
{{floristic regions}}
{{Regions of Africa}}
{{World Heritage Sites in South Africa}}

[[Category:Floristic regions]]
[[Category:Fynbos]]
[[Category:Endemic flora of South Africa| ]]
[[Category:Flora of South Africa| ]]
[[Category:Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub]]
[[Category:Afromontane ecoregions]]
[[Category:Afrotropical realm]]
[[Category:Geography of South Africa]]
[[Category:World Heritage Sites in South Africa]]