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59 results for “Cape Floristic Region”
One-hectare fine-scale dataset of a fynbos plant community in the Cape Floristic Region
<p>Cape fynbos, which forms part of the Cape Floristic Region (CFR) of South Africa, a global biodiversity hotspot, is renowned for its high levels of plant species endemism and diversity. This extraordinary ecosystem, characterised by nutrient-poor soils and fire-adapted vegetation, is a treasure trove of endemic flora. However, this fragile system faces increasing threats from habitat loss, climate change, and invasive species. Pristine fynbos, naturally high in plant diversity and which forms a large part of the CFR, presents an ideal opportunity to gather fine-scale data on community assembly patterns. Most fynbos vegetation surveys use a plot size of about 100 m2, with no spatial structures within plots to demarcate individual subplots. Here, a groundbreaking dataset is presented that fully covers 1-hectare of pristine fynbos, systematically gridded into 50 × 50 subplots, each measuring 2 × 2 m, arranged evenly within a square-shaped survey site. Each plot was assigned a unique Y–X coordinate combination. For each plot, all plant species present were recorded, along with their total percentage covers and maximum height values. Total percentage covers were also recorded for bare soil, rock, and termite mounds. This dataset provides a valuable contribution to the field of fynbos ecology, as well as plant community ecology in general, and establishes a benchmark for future one-hectare surveys of similar fynbos vegetation types, delineating the fine-scale composition and structure of fynbos in the CFR. The dataset will be useful for a wide audience, including community and spatial ecologists, plant and environmental scientists, and biodiversity informaticians and statistical ecologists, offering ideal data for testing new metrics of diversity and compositional turnover. Data in Brief, Volume 59, April 2025, 111334: <a title="Persistent link using digital object identifier" href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2025.111334" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span><span>https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2025.111334</span></span></a></p>
Fig. 1 in New scale insects (Homoptera: Coccinea) from the Cape Floristic Region
Fig. 1. South Africa, Western Cape Prov., banks of the Lower Palmiet River, the type locality of the new species.
Linked collectors and determiners for: SANBI: Rare and Threatened Plants (Cape Floristic Region, 1864-2008).
Natural history specimen data linked to collectors and determiners held within, "SANBI: Rare and Threatened Plants (Cape Floristic Region, 1864-2008)". Claims or attributions were made on Bionomia by volunteer Scribes, <a href="https://bionomia.net/dataset/b2cf1219-3804-451d-ad69-95f099569847">https://bionomia.net/dataset/b2cf1219-3804-451d-ad69-95f099569847</a> using specimen data from the dataset aggregated by the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, <a href="https://gbif.org/dataset/b2cf1219-3804-451d-ad69-95f099569847">https://gbif.org/dataset/b2cf1219-3804-451d-ad69-95f099569847</a>. Formatted as a Frictionless Data package.
Linked collectors and determiners for: Three new species in the genus Ficinia (Cyperaceae, tribe Cypereae) from the Greater Cape Floristic Region of South Africa.
Natural history specimen data linked to collectors and determiners held within, "Three new species in the genus Ficinia (Cyperaceae, tribe Cypereae) from the Greater Cape Floristic Region of South Africa". Claims or attributions were made on Bionomia by volunteer Scribes, <a href="https://bionomia.net/dataset/0be3f6b9-593a-4740-813f-be89e24ef2fd">https://bionomia.net/dataset/0be3f6b9-593a-4740-813f-be89e24ef2fd</a> using specimen data from the dataset aggregated by the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, <a href="https://gbif.org/dataset/0be3f6b9-593a-4740-813f-be89e24ef2fd">https://gbif.org/dataset/0be3f6b9-593a-4740-813f-be89e24ef2fd</a>. Formatted as a Frictionless Data package.
Fig. 4 in New scale insects (Homoptera: Coccinea) from the Cape Floristic Region
Fig. 4. Cryptinglisia millari Gavrilov-Zimin sp. nov., adult female, holotype.
Fig. 5 in New scale insects (Homoptera: Coccinea) from the Cape Floristic Region
Fig. 5. Cryptinglisia millari Gavrilov-Zimin sp. nov., adult females in life.
Fig. 2 in New scale insects (Homoptera: Coccinea) from the Cape Floristic Region
Fig. 2. Coccidohystrix daedalea Gavrilov-Zimin sp. nov., adult female, holotype.
Fig. 3 in New scale insects (Homoptera: Coccinea) from the Cape Floristic Region
Fig. 3. Mirococcopsis ptilura Gavrilov-Zimin sp. nov., adult female (holotype) and primolarva (L1).
Leaf margins in a deciduous lineage from the Greater Cape Floristic Region track climate in unexpected directions
<p>Premise of the study: The functional significance of leaf margins has long been debated. In this study we explore influences of climate, leaf lobing, woodiness, and shared evolutionary history on two leaf margin traits within the genus Pelargonium.</p> <p>Methods: Leaves from 454 populations of Pelargonium (161 species) were collected in the Greater Cape Floristic Region and scored for tooth presence/absence and degree of lobing. Tooth density (number of teeth per interior perimeter distance) was measured for a subset of these. We compared five hypotheses to explain tooth presence and density using mixed effect models.</p> <p>Key results: Tooth presence/absence was best predicted by the interaction of leaf lobing and mean annual temperature (MAT), but often in patterns opposite to the previous literature: species were more likely to be toothed with warmer temperatures. This was particularly the case for unlobed and highly lobed leaves. In contrast, tooth density was best predicted by the interaction of MAT and the season of most rain; density declines with temperature as consistent with expectations, but only in winter- rain dominated areas. Woody and non-woody species within Pelargonium both have similar associations between tooth presence/absence and MAT, contrary to the expectation that patterns within non-woody species would be insignificant.</p> <p>Conclusions: We conclude Pelargonium leaf margins show predictable responses to climate, but these responses are complex and can contradict those found for global patterns across plant communities.</p>
Phylogenetic endemism and ancestral area inference reveal historical refugia in the Greater Cape Floristic Region
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Data from: Functional traits in parallel evolutionary radiations and trait-environment associations in the Cape Floristic region of South Africa
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Leaf margins in a deciduous lineage from the Greater Cape Floristic Region track climate in unexpected directions
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Data from: Dissecting biodiversity in a global hotspot: uneven dynamics of immigration and diversification within the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa
Aim: Fragmented distributions should show immigration and diversification dynamics consistent with the predictions of island biogeography theory. We test whether this applies to the fragmented Cape fynbos vegetation. Location: Southern Africa, Cape Floristic Region (CFR) Taxon: Angiosperms, Restionaceae (restios) Methods: We used a large occurrence dataset and environmental layers to characterize an existing regionalization and the intervals between the regions ecologically and spatially. We extended the available phylogeny for restios and inferred their historical biogeography using models implemented in BioGeoBEARS. We then measured the relative contribution of immigration and in situ speciation to the species richness of each region within the CFR. We used standard statistical methods to test the predictions of the island biogeography theory. Results: The area and environmental heterogeneity of the seven regions of the CFR are positively correlated with in situ speciation rate. Furthermore, more isolated areas, and areas colonized more recently, have proportionally higher immigration rates, and more central and older areas proportionally higher in situ speciation rates. Main Conclusions: The variation in immigration and diversification dynamics among the regions within the CFR is extensive and consistent with the archipelago model of island biography theory. This dynamic may contribute significantly to the diversity of the Cape flora. Such a model could be generally useful for understanding the generation and maintenance of diversity in biodiversity hotspots, and may even scale up to explain continental biodiversity.
Data from: Are forest‐shrubland mosaics of the Cape Floristic Region an example of alternate stable states?
The idea of alternate stable states (ASS) has been used to explain the juxtaposition of distinct vegetation types within the same climate regime. ASS may explain the co‐existence of relatively inflammable closed‐canopy Afrotemperate Forest patches ("Forest") within fire‐prone open‐canopy Fynbos in the Cape Floristic Region (CFR) on sandstone‐derived soils. We evaluated the hypothesis that although fire and local topography and hydrology likely determined the paleogeographic boundaries of Forest, present‐day boundaries are additionally imposed by emergent edaphic properties and disturbance histories. We studied vegetation and edaphic properties of Forest‐Transition‐Fynbos vegetation at two sites within the CFR on sandstone‐derived soils and tracked historical change using aerial photography. Whereas Forest and Fynbos have changed little in extent or density since 1945, Transition vegetation increased into areas formerly occupied by Fynbos. Forest soils were ubiquitously more nutrient‐rich than Fynbos soils, with Transition soils being intermediate. These edaphic differences are not due to geological differences, but instead appear to have emerged as a consequence of different nutrient cycling within the different ecosystems. Soil nutrients are now so different that a switch from Fynbos to Forest is unlikely, in the short term (i.e. decades). Floristically and nutritionally, Transitional vegetation is more similar to Fynbos than Forest and may be less resilient to changes in exogenous drivers (e.g., fire). Our findings are consistent with the idea that geologically Forest and Fynbos are largely fire‐derived long‐term ASS, with the stability of each state reinforced by marked soil nutrient differences. In contrast, the intermediate Transitional vegetation that might switch states is unlikely to be stable.
Data from: Topography as a driver of diversification in the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa
The rugged topography of the Cape Floristic Region (CFR), South Africa, is frequently invoked to explain the spectacular radiation of the Cape flora, but the mechanisms involved remain unclear. Where recent authors emphasize the importance of elevation gradients as stimuli for ecological speciation, earlier workers stressed the role of topography as an isolating mechanism, particularly in montane lineages. Using six Cape plant lineages, we tested whether elevation niches are phylogenetically conserved. We then assessed whether high-elevation species are more consistently range-restricted than low-elevation species, and whether high-elevation sisters show stronger range exclusivity (allopatry) and weaker ecological and phenotypic differentiation, suggestive of nonecological speciation. Elevation niches tend to be phylogenetically conserved. Also, high-elevation species are more consistently range-restricted than low-elevation species, potentially explaining the generally stronger range exclusivity of high-elevation sisters. While the high-elevation zone is less homogeneous ecologically, more data are required to demonstrate that high-elevation sister species show generally weaker ecological and phenotypic differentiation. Topographic complexity promotes geographical isolation at high elevations, thereby providing opportunities for nonecological, vicariant speciation. While recognizing the need for additional data, we suggest that the upland and lowland floras of the CFR may differ with regard to predominant speciation mode.
FIGURE 22 in Two new relict Syncordulia species found during museum and field studies of threatened dragonflies in the Cape Floristic Region (Odonata: Corduliidae)
FIGURE 22. Distribution of 'gomphomacromiine' Afrotropical Corduliidae. Nesocordulia and Syncordulia species are not indicated separately, but the number of species in each region is provided. Idomacromia species are separated (diamond: I. jillianae Dijkstra & Kisakye; inverted triangle: I. lieftincki Legrand; standing triangle: I. proavita Karsch; star: both I. lieftincki and I. proavita).
FIGURES 17–21 in Two new relict Syncordulia species found during museum and field studies of threatened dragonflies in the Cape Floristic Region (Odonata: Corduliidae)
FIGURES 17–21. Geographical distribution of Syncordulia species in South Africa (17) and the Western Cape (18–21). Legend: solid circles: verified records; dotted circles: observations; crossed circles: unverified records. (17–18) S. gracilis; (19) S. legator n. sp.; (20) S. venator; (21) S. serendipator n. sp.
FIGURES 9–12 in Two new relict Syncordulia species found during museum and field studies of threatened dragonflies in the Cape Floristic Region (Odonata: Corduliidae)
FIGURES 9–12. Syncordulia male appendages in dorsal (left), lateral (right) and ventral (S. serendipator n. sp. only) view. (9) S. gracilis; (10) S. legator n. sp.; (11) S. venator; (12) S. serendipator n. sp.
FIGURES 13–16 in Two new relict Syncordulia species found during museum and field studies of threatened dragonflies in the Cape Floristic Region (Odonata: Corduliidae)
FIGURES 13–16. Syncordulia female abdomen tip in lateral (left) and ventral (right) view. (13) S. gracilis; (14) S. legator n. sp.; (15) S. venator; (16) S. serendipator n. sp.
FIGURES 5–8 in Two new relict Syncordulia species found during museum and field studies of threatened dragonflies in the Cape Floristic Region (Odonata: Corduliidae)
FIGURES 5–8. Syncordulia male secondary genitalia in lateral view. The penis is indicated by dotted lines, as its position is variable. (5) S. gracilis; (6) S. legator n. sp.; (7) S. venator; (8) S. serendipator n. sp.
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