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The Cape Floristic Region is home to one of the richest floras in the world. Within an area of just under 91 000 km2 there are 9 250 species of flowering plants, some 70% of which are restricted to the region. Fynbos is the major element of this region, contributing more than 80% of its species. The region also includes renosterveld, karroid shrubland, thicket and forests. Fynbos is not only famous for its remarkable diversity, but also the beauty of many of its wildflowers. It is found at the southern tip of Africa in roughly a crescent shaped belt from Vanrhynsdorp in the north, southwards to the Cape Peninsula and eastwards to Port Elizabeth. Fynbos is largely restricted to the distribution of the parallel sandstone and quartzitic formations of the Cape Fold Mountains and the extensive areas of sand and limestone along the coast.
Here it thrives on coarse-grained soils that are low in nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorous. It is predominantly found in the winter rainfall region of the Cape, although there are areas in the Eastern Cape, where fynbos thrives, that are characterised by year-round rainfall. The main reason for the exceptional diversity in fynbos is not an unusually high concentration of species in a particular site, but rather the high proportion of turnover in species between sites. This is the result of the high rate at which species give way to each other across environmental and geographical gradients. So what makes fynbos really special is its exceptionally high numbers of localised species, often restricted to a single, small area, sometimes less than 1 km2. Grootbos alone is home to at least six endemic species.
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This is Jeanne van Tonder, manager of the Walker Bay Fynbos Conservancy, learning how to expertly handle a little 'skaapsteker'.
Meet one of nature’s most underrated heroes, the Cape Flightless Dung Beetle (Circellium bacchus).