Cape floral kingdom
- To: m*@ucdavis.edu
- Subject: Cape floral kingdom
- From: L* R* <l*@ozemail.com.au>
- Date: Sun, 03 Jan 1999 22:11:42 +1000
Nobody seems to've responded to this particular
thread, so here's a cut-and-paste from the South
African National Botanical Institute's site:
{http://www.nbi.ac.za/aboutnbi.htm)
Southern Africa is rich in plant species with some 24 000 known taxa.
About 80 per cent of these plants are endemic - they occur nowhere
else in the world. Of these some 3 475 species - some 14 per cent -
are listed in the Red Data Book for plants and are in imminent danger
of extinction. This is the highest concentration of threatened plant taxa
in the world! The distribution of plants within southern Africa is
uneven. The Cape Floral Kingdom covers less than 6% of the region,but
contains 8 600 species - over one third of the subcontinent's plant
biodiversity. Two thirds of the plant species in the Cape Floral
Kingdom are endemic, and most are found in a single vegetation type
- Fynbos. Some 1 550 of these are in the Red Data Book for plants.
Not only is the Cape Floral Kingdom the world's hottest Hot Spot,
but it is in danger of losing many of these species...
Despite the richness of southern Africa's flora and the enormity of the
threats, local people are largely unaware of the floral conservation
issues within the subregion. There are also too few taxonomists,
botanists, ecologists and conservationists to monitor and research the
flora and address the urgent problems.
Plus ca change...
Liz
Liz Runciman
3a The Crescent
Marryatville SA 5068
Australia tel: 61 8 8332 9035
fax 61 8 8331 9041
