E CAPE FLORAL KINGDOM

The Cape Floral Kingdom has been identified as one of the world's 35 biodiversity hotspots. Also referred to as the Cape Fynbos Biome, its richness and diversity of plant species is unrivalled almost anywhere else on the planet – despite having lost many species to agriculture, urbanization and inappropriate development.  What is remarkable is that the Fynbos Biome only covers 0.04% of the surface of the earth, but consists of more than 9000 plants, of which 70% are found nowhere else in the world. The Cape Peninsula is home to 2500+ of these. The Fynbos boasts between 150-170 unique species per 1,000 km thus making it 2 to 3 times more species diverse than the world's rainforests.

The main Fynbos families are ericas, restios and proteas with large numbers of succulents, bulbs, corms and daisies. Many of these plants have value as food and medicine for both humans and animals.

The Fynbos is dominated by plants adapted to fire. Fire plays a role in germination of seeds and acts as a mineralizing agent. Some Fynbos species destroyed by fire, regenerate from seed stored in the canopy eg: proteas, while other species build up seed stores in the soil, such as minetes. Germination is stimulated directly through heat or smoke, or through changed environmental conditions. Some species regrow by shooting up from woody root-stock after a fire.

Fynbos adapted to fire over millennia. Changes to the natural fire regime of the Cape Peninsula first changed significantly when Khoikhoi herders began to visit the area seasonally to graze their livestock around 1600-2000 years ago. They set the vegetation alight when they left the Peninsula to ensure fresh grazing for their animals during the next season.

European colonists arrived in 1652 and tried to put a stop to the Khoikhoi burning the veld as it threatened their buildings and crops. They soon found that the poor soil and windy conditions made it hard to grow grains and many farmers turned to livestock farming instead. They inherited the practice of burning the veld from the Khoikhoi.

Fynbos should burn at intervals between 12 and 20 years ideally. Burning too often impacts negatively on Fynbos because plants are not mature enough to produce viable seeds. If periods without fire are too long, plants can grow too old and their seeds will rot in the soil before germination.

A major blow to the Fynbos was the introduction of plants such as wattles and hakeas, brought in from the mid 1800’s to stabilise the dunes and allow for the building of roads and railways. Its an ongoing and mammoth effort to manage and to slowly try to eradicate this threat from the Fynbos Biome, with varying degrees of success.

Further Reading

https://www.kbrc.org.za/news/fynbos-and-fire/#:~:text=Fire%20has%20a%20double%20impact,the%20canopy%20e.g.%20Serotinous%20proteaceae.&text=This%20is%20very%20important%20as,considered%20low%20in%20soil%20fertility.