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Cape Region (Delaware)
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The Cape Henlopen Region, or the Cape Region, is a region in Sussex County, in southern Delaware, on the Delmarva Peninsula. The region is part of the Salisbury, Maryland-Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area, the region takes its name from Cape Henlopen, as does the Cape Henlopen School District and Cape Henlopen State Park. Much of the populated areas are found along the Delaware Bay, Rehoboth Bay. Northern and western parts of the Cape Region are rural areas dominated by farmland, the area is often referred to as the Delaware Beaches. The Cape Region is situated on the Atlantic Coastal Plain, Rehoboth Beach has a mild subtropical climate consisting of hot, humid summers and mild winters. The highest official temperature recorded in Rehoboth Beach was 102 °F in 1997. The lowest official temperature recorded in Rehoboth Beach was -11 °F in 1982. At the 2010 Census, the total population of the Cape Region was 41,584 which is an increase of 10,998 from 30,856. The Cape Region tends to be more affluent than western parts of Sussex County
2.
South Africa
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South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa, is the southernmost country in Africa. South Africa is the 25th-largest country in the world by land area and it is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World or the Eastern Hemisphere. About 80 percent of South Africans are of Sub-Saharan African ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different Bantu languages, the remaining population consists of Africas largest communities of European, Asian, and multiracial ancestry. South Africa is a multiethnic society encompassing a variety of cultures, languages. Its pluralistic makeup is reflected in the recognition of 11 official languages. The country is one of the few in Africa never to have had a coup détat, however, the vast majority of black South Africans were not enfranchised until 1994. During the 20th century, the black majority sought to recover its rights from the dominant white minority, with this struggle playing a role in the countrys recent history. The National Party imposed apartheid in 1948, institutionalising previous racial segregation, since 1994, all ethnic and linguistic groups have held political representation in the countrys democracy, which comprises a parliamentary republic and nine provinces. South Africa is often referred to as the Rainbow Nation to describe the multicultural diversity. The World Bank classifies South Africa as an economy. Its economy is the second-largest in Africa, and the 34th-largest in the world, in terms of purchasing power parity, South Africa has the seventh-highest per capita income in Africa. However, poverty and inequality remain widespread, with about a quarter of the population unemployed, nevertheless, South Africa has been identified as a middle power in international affairs, and maintains significant regional influence. The name South Africa is derived from the geographic location at the southern tip of Africa. Upon formation the country was named the Union of South Africa in English, since 1961 the long form name in English has been the Republic of South Africa. In Dutch the country was named Republiek van Zuid-Afrika, replaced in 1983 by the Afrikaans Republiek van Suid-Afrika, since 1994 the Republic has had an official name in each of its 11 official languages. Mzansi, derived from the Xhosa noun umzantsi meaning south, is a name for South Africa. South Africa contains some of the oldest archaeological and human fossil sites in the world, extensive fossil remains have been recovered from a series of caves in Gauteng Province. The area is a UNESCO World Heritage site and has termed the Cradle of Humankind
3.
Table Mountain National Park
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The park is managed by South African National Parks. The property is included as part of the UNESCO Cape Floral Region World Heritage Site, the park contains two well-known landmarks, Table Mountain, for which the park is named, and the Cape of Good Hope, the most southwestern extremity of Africa. Arguments for a park on the Cape Peninsula, centred on Table Mountain. The Table Mountain Preservation Board was set up in 1952, and in 1957 its recommendation to the National Monuments Board was accepted, in the mid 1960s, the Cape Town City Council declared nature reserves on Table Mountain, Lions Head, Signal Hill, and Silvermine. This laid the foundations for the Cape Peninsula Protected Natural Environment area, however, environmental management was still bedeviled by the fragmented nature of land ownership on the Peninsula. Following a big fire above the city bowl in 1991, Attorney General Frank Kahn was appointed to reach consensus on a plan for rationalising management of the CPPNE. In 1995, Prof. Brian Huntley recommended that SANParks be appointed to manage the CPPNE, on 29 May 1998, then-president Nelson Mandela proclaimed the Cape Peninsula National Park. The park was renamed to the Table Mountain National Park. The park is not a contiguous area, the undeveloped mountainous areas which make up most of the park are separated by developed urban areas on shallower terrain. Thus the park is divided into three sections, as listed below. This section covers Signal Hill, Lions Head, Table Mountain proper, including the Back Table, Devils Peak, the Twelve Apostles, and Orange Kloof. It borders on central Cape Town in the north, Camps Bay and the Atlantic coast in the west, the Southern Suburbs in the east and this section was formed from the Table Mountain National Monument, Cecilia Forest, and Newlands Forest. Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden is not officially part of the national park and this section runs northwest-southeast across the Peninsula from the Atlantic seaboard to the False Bay coast. It covers Constantiaberg, Steenberg Peak and the Kalk Bay mountains and it borders on Hout Bay in the north-west, the suburbs of Constantia and Tokai in the north-east, Kalk Bay in the south-east, and Fish Hoek and Noordhoek in the south-west. This section was formed from the Tokai State Forest and the Silvermine Nature Reserve and it was formed from the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve. This area forms part of the Cape Floristic Region and as such supports a diversity of flora, much of which is rare. Protea, erica, restio and Asteraceae species, as well as geophytes, are all found in abundance, the main indigenous vegetation types are Peninsula Sandstone Fynbos and Cape Granite Fynbos, both of which are endangered and endemic to Cape Town - occurring nowhere else in the world. In addition, some sections of the park are the home of deep
4.
Cederberg
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The Cederberg mountains and nature reserve are located near Clanwilliam, approximately 300 km north of Cape Town, South Africa at about 32°30′S 19°0′E. The mountain range is named after the endangered Clanwilliam cedar, which is an endemic to the area. The mountains are noted for dramatic rock formations and San rock art, the Cederberg Wilderness Area is administered by CapeNature. Cederberg is now the accepted spelling for the area, which combines the English. The Cederberg mountains extend about 50 km north-south by 20 km east-west and they are bordered on the west by the Sandveld, the north by the Pakhuis Mountains, the east by the Springbok Flats and the south by the Kouebokkeveld Mountains and the Skurweberge. The main access road, the N7, runs to the west of the range, the nearest towns are Citrusdal to the southwest and Clanwilliam to the north. There are several mountains in the range, including Sneeuberg and Tafelberg. Tafelberg should not be confused with the Table Mountain in Cape Town, notable landmarks include the Maltese Cross, Wolfberg Arch and Wolfberg Cracks. The dominating characteristic of the area is sharply defined sandstone rock formations and this group of rocks contains bands of shale and in recent years a few important fossils have been discovered in these argillaceous layers. The fossils are of primitive fish and date back 450 million years to the Ordovician Period, the summers are very hot and dry, while the winters are wetter and cold with typical annual rainfall in the low-lying areas of less than 700 mm. The higher peaks receive a dusting of snow in winter, summer days are typically clear and cloudless. Due to the clear skies most of the year, it makes an excellent site for skywatching and has its own amateur observatory, the predominant vegetation is Mediterranean fynbos in the wetter south and west, changing to semi desert scrub in the north and east. The endangered Clanwilliam cedar of the family Cupressaceae and the snow protea of the Proteaceae are endemic to the area, the areas apex predators are the felids leopard and caracal. Other mammals include the rock hyrax or dassie, meerkats and other mongooses, larger antelopes, the vulnerable Cape mountain zebra, there are also many birds, small mammals, reptiles and insects. Other threatened species found in the Cederberg Wilderness Area include the cyprinids Clanwilliam yellowfish, in caves and overhangs throughout the area, San rock art can be found, evidence of the earliest human inhabitants. European settlement brought forestry and some agriculture, and led to destruction of the local cedar trees, with thousands felled for telephone poles, furniture. The European arrival also led to the elimination of the San population, the Cederberg was possibly the southernmost battleground of the Second Boer War. A small band of Boer guerrillas penetrated into this area from the Boer republics, hundreds of kilometres to the north, in this they failed, the farmers may have had little sympathy for the British but they had a fair notion of who was going to win the war
5.
De Hoop Nature Reserve
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De Hoop Nature Reserve is a nature reserve in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. It lies three hours from Cape Town in the Overberg region, near Cape Agulhas, the tip of Africa. Approximately 340 square kilometres in area, it is one of the largest natural areas managed by CapeNature, De Hoop is one of the components of the Cape Floral Region Protected Areas World Heritage Site. De Hoop Nature Reserve is flanked by protected area, the De Hoop Marine Protected Area. De Hoop Nature Reserves climate is Mediterranean, with warm summers, the reserve gets 380 mm of rain annually. In summer, winds blow in from the east, west and southeast, the vegetation De Hoop Nature Reserve is part of the worlds smallest and most threatened plant kingdom, known as the Cape Floral Kingdom. The reserve also contains one of the largest areas of the lowland fynbos. De Hoop is haven for both terrestrial and marine animals, the reserve has a total of 86 mammal species. These include the rare bontebok and Cape mountain zebra, eland, grey rhebok, chacma baboon, yellow mongoose, leopard, although rare, are also found in the reserve. The waters within the De Hoop Reserve support good populations of mammals such as dolphins. The bays of De Hoop are the grounds for southern right whales. The marine protected area of the reserve has a total of 250 species of fish, De Hoop supports a large number of resident and migratory bird species. The reserves total bird species count is 260, several water birds breed in the reserve. The reserve is home to the only remaining breeding colony of the rare Cape vulture. The eastern part of the reserve is used by the Denel Overberg Test Range for missile testing. There is no danger to hikers as the reserve closes the area well before the testing date, CapeNature Protected areas of South Africa De Hoop Nature Reserve travel guide from Wikivoyage De Hoop Nature Reserve
6.
Boosmansbos Wilderness Area
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The Boosmansbos Wilderness Area of 142 km2 is situated 20 km north of Heidelberg in the eastern Langeberg mountain chain of the Western Cape Province, South Africa. Boosmansbos, i. e. angry mans forest, is named after a resident hermit of the early 19th century who had known to scare youngsters who visited his apiaries. The elevation reaches 1,637 m at Grootberg peak, located at the center of the wilderness area, the tributaries of the Duiwenhoks River, which drain its southern slopes, tumble along precipitous gorges to 200 m above sea level on the southern perimeter. In the southwest the wilderness area encloses the Grootvadersbosch Nature Reserve of 250 ha, the wilderness area conserves mountain fynbos and valley forest. Among the special fynbos plants conserved are Erica and everlasting species as well as the rare Langeberg rambling aloe, important forest tree species occurring in the valleys are sickle-leaved yellowwood, stinkwood and red alder. The area receives rain in any month of the year, although mid summer and mid winter are the driest,64 km of footpaths allow access to the wilderness, among which a circular 27 km section which can be completed in two days. Protected areas of South Africa South African National Parks CapeNature, Boosmansbos SA places, Boosmansbos Heidelberg information page
7.
Swartberg
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The Swartberg mountains are a mountain range in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is composed of two mountain chains running roughly east-west along the northern edge of the semi-arid Little Karoo. To the north of the lies the other large semi-arid area in South Africa. Most of the Swartberg Mountains are above 2000 m high, making them the tallest mountains in the Western Cape and it is also one of the longest, spanning some 230 km from south of Laingsburg in the west to between Willowmore and Uniondale in the east. Geologically, these mountains are part of the Cape Fold Belt, much of the Swartberg is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Swartberg consists of two officially named ranges, the Smaller and the Greater Swartberg Mountains, the Smaller Swartberg are the westernmost of the two. Ironically, this range is the one, including the provinces highest peak. The famous Towerkop towers over the Klein Karoo town of Ladismith at a height of 2189 m, the peak is so named for its cleft peak, that, according to legend, was split by a spell and subsequent bolt of lightning. The Greater Swartberg is located to the east, with the line between the two ranges being the Gouritz River, which cuts a gorge directly through the range. This section, almost of a height, is slightly lower in elevation. These mountains are home to the Cango Caves in the exposed limestone basement rocks exposed by upliftment along a 300 km fault line runs along the southern flank of the Swartberg ranges. These are the most famous subterranean system in South Africa, located just north of Oudtshoorn, until the first pass was cut, these mountains were virtually insurmountable, and cut the Great Karoo off from the Little Karoo and from the coast. John Molteno, Beaufort West businessman first surveyed the range for a pass with Andrew Bain and they rode out from Beaufort West on horseback, in 1854, for a week-long ride to traverse the range and plan the routes. The pass was cut and the route completed in only 223 working days and it was also a huge economic step for the interior of the Cape Colony. For example, by 1870, an eighth of the countrys wool exports passed through the Meiringspoort, the Meiringspoort provides paved road transit through the Swartberg range, using the route largely carved by a river. The poort connects the town of De Rust in the south, with the town of Klaarstroom in the north and it also offers a spectacular drive through incredible rock formations, and is the setting for an annual half marathon that ends in the town of De Rust. Modern additions mean several different passes now cut different routes through the range and this pass, to the far west in the Klein Swartberge, connects the modern town of Laingsburg and the Rooinek pass in the north, with the Little Karoo to the south. It was built purely by a team of convicts without engineers
8.
Baviaanskloof Mega Reserve
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Baviaanskloof Mega Reserve is a protected area in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The Baviaanskloof - - lies between the Baviaanskloof and Kouga mountain ranges, the easternmost point of the valley is some 95 km NW of the coastal city of Port Elizabeth. The Baviaanskloof Forest Reserve was established in 1920 and it also includes the Groendal Nature Reserve and Formosa Nature Reserve, and encompasses private land. The Baviaanskloof area is one of outstanding beauty, owing to its spectacular land forms. The area is part of the Cape Floristic Region World Heritage Site as of 2004, Baviaanskloof at Eastern Cape Parks Friends Baviaanskloof Wilderness Area Eastern Cape Parks
9.
World Heritage Site
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A World Heritage Site is a landmark which has been officially recognized by the United Nations, specifically by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Sites are selected on the basis of having cultural, historical, scientific or some form of significance. UNESCO regards these sites as being important to the interests of humanity. The programme catalogues, names, and conserves sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common culture, under certain conditions, listed sites can obtain funds from the World Heritage Fund. The program was founded with the Convention Concerning the Protection of the Worlds Cultural and Natural Heritage, since then,192 state parties have ratified the convention, making it one of the most adhered to international instruments. As of July 2016,1052 sites are listed,814 cultural,203 natural, in 1959, the governments of Egypt and Sudan requested UNESCO to assist their countries to protect and rescue the endangered monuments and sites. In 1960, the Director-General of UNESCO launched an appeal to the Member States for an International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia, the campaign, which ended in 1980, was considered a success. The project cost $80 million, about $40 million of which was collected from 50 countries, the projects success led to other safeguarding campaigns, saving Venice and its lagoon in Italy, the ruins of Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan, and the Borobodur Temple Compounds in Indonesia. UNESCO then initiated, with the International Council on Monuments and Sites, the United States initiated the idea of cultural conservation with nature conservation. The International Union for Conservation of Nature developed similar proposals in 1968, the Convention came into force on 17 December 1975. As of June 2016, it has been ratified by 192 states, including 188 UN member states plus the Cook Islands, the Holy See, Niue, a country must first list its significant cultural and natural sites, the result is called the Tentative List. A country may not nominate sites that have not been first included on the Tentative List, next, it can place sites selected from that list into a Nomination File. The Nomination File is evaluated by the International Council on Monuments and Sites and these bodies then make their recommendations to the World Heritage Committee. There are ten selection criteria – a site must meet at least one of them to be included on the list, up to 2004, there were six criteria for cultural heritage and four criteria for natural heritage. In 2005, this was modified so there is now only one set of ten criteria. Nominated sites must be of outstanding value and meet at least one of the ten criteria. Thus, the Geneva Convention treaty promulgates, Article 53, PROTECTION OF CULTURAL OBJECTS AND OF PLACES OF WORSHIP. There are 1,052 World Heritage Sites located in 165 States Party, of these,814 are cultural,203 are natural and 35 are mixed properties
10.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
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Fynbos
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Fynbos is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located on the Western Cape of South Africa. This area is predominantly winter rainfall coastal and mountainous areas with a Mediterranean climate, the fynbos ecoregion is within the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome. This land has faced threats and still does, but due to the many economic uses conservation efforts are being made to help restore it. The word fynbos is often said to mean fine bush in Afrikaans. Typical fynbos foliage is ericoid rather than fine, the term, in its pre-Afrikaans, Dutch form, fynbosch, was recorded by Noble as being in casual use in the late 19th century. In the early 20th century, John Bews referred to, South-Western or Cape Region of Macchia or Fynbosch and he also refers to a high degree of endemism in the grasses in that region. However, in the technical, ecological sense, the constraints are more demanding, in the latter half of the 20th century, fynbos gained currency as the term for the distinctive vegetation of the southwestern Cape. The fynbos in the regions is richer and more varied than in the eastern regions of South Africa. Of the worlds six floral kingdoms, this is the smallest and richest per unit of area, the Holarctic kingdom, in contrast, incorporates the whole of the Northern Hemisphere north of the tropics. The diversity of plants is extremely high, with over 9000 species of plants occurring in the area, around 6200 of which are endemic. South Africas Western Cape has a level of diversity that exceeds that of the richest tropical rainforest in South America. Of the Ericas, over 600 occur in the fynbos kingdom and this is in an area of 46,000 km2 – by comparison, the Netherlands, with an area of 33,000 km2, has 1400 species, none of them endemic. Table Mountain in Cape Town supports 2200 species, more than the entire United Kingdom. Thus, although the covers only 6% of the area of southern Africa, it has half the species on the subcontinent –. The most conspicuous components of the flora are evergreen plants, many with ericoid leaves and gracile habit. Several plant families are conspicuous in fynbos, the Proteaceae are prominent, with such as Protea, Leucospermum. Proteas are represented by species and are prominent in the landscape, generally with large striking flowers, many of which are pollinated by birds. Most of these do not have anything like ericoid leaves, and nor do most Rhamnaceae, Fabaceae, Fynbos Ericaceae include more species of Erica than all other regions combined
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Western Cape
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The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated in the south-western part of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces in terms of area and population, with an area of 129,449 square kilometres and 5.8 million inhabitants. About two-thirds of these live in the metropolitan area of Cape Town. The Western Cape was created in 1994 from part of the former Cape Province, the Western Cape Province is roughly L-shaped, extending north and east from the Cape of Good Hope, in the southwestern corner of South Africa. It stretches about 400 kilometres northwards along the Atlantic coast and about 500 kilometres eastwards along the South African south coast and it is bordered on the north by the Northern Cape and on the east by the Eastern Cape. The total land area of the province is 129,462 square kilometres and it is roughly the size of England or the State of Louisiana. Its capital city and largest city is Cape Town, and some major cities include Stellenbosch, Worcester, Paarl. The Garden Route and the Overberg are popular tourism areas. The Western Cape is the southernmost region of the African continent with Cape Agulhas as its southernmost point, the coastline varies from sandy between capes, to rocky to steep and mountainous in places. The only natural harbour is Saldanha Bay on the west coast, however a lack of fresh water in the region meant that it has only recently been used as a harbour. But fresh water coming off Table Mountain and Devils Peak allowed the early European settlers to build Cape Town on the shores of this less than satisfactory anchorage, the province is topographically exceptionally diverse. Most of the province falls within the Cape Fold Belt, a set of parallel ranges of sandstone folded mountains of Cambrian-Ordovician age. The valleys between ranges are very fertile as they contain the weathered loamy soils of the Bokkeveld mustones. The far interior forms part of the Karoo and this region of the Province is generally arid and hilly with a prominent escarpment that runs close to the Provinces most inland boundary. The Escarpment marks the edge of South Africas central plateau. The principal rivers of the province are the Berg and Olifants which drain into the Atlantic Ocean, and the Breede and Gourits which drain into the Indian Ocean. The vegetation is extremely diverse, with one of the worlds seven floral kingdoms almost exclusively endemic to the province, namely the Cape Floral Kingdom. These evergreen heathlands are extremely rich in diversity, with at least as many plant species occurring on Table Mountain as in the entire United Kingdom
13.
Phytochorion
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A phytochorion, in phytogeography, is a geographic area with a relatively uniform composition of plant species. Adjacent phytochoria do not usually have a boundary, but rather a soft one. The region of overlap is called a tension zone. However, some prefer not to rank areas, referring to them simply as areas. Systems used to classify vegetation can be divided in two groups, those that use physiognomic-environmental parameters and characteristics and those that are based on floristic relationships. Several systems of classifying geographic areas where plants grow have been devised, most systems are organized hierarchically, with the largest units subdivided into smaller geographic areas, which are made up of smaller floristic communities, and so on. Phytochoria are defined as possessing a large number of endemic taxons. Floristic kingdoms are characterized by a degree of family endemism, floristic regions by a high degree of generic endemism. In the late 19th century, Adolf Engler was the first to make a map with the limits of distribution of floras. His Syllabus der Pflanzenfamilien, from the third onwards, also included a sketch of the division of the earth into floral regions. Other important early works on floristics includes Augustin de Candolle, Schouw, Alphonse de Candolle, Drude, botanist Ronald Good identified six floristic kingdoms, the largest natural units he determined for flowering plants. Goods six kingdoms are subdivided into units, called provinces. The Paleotropical kingdom is divided into three subkingdoms, which are subdivided into floristic provinces. Each of the five kingdoms are subdivided directly into provinces. There are a total of 37 floristic provinces, almost all provinces are further subdivided into floristic regions. Armen Takhtajan, in a widely used scheme that builds on Goods work, identified thirty-five floristic regions, each of which is subdivided into floristic provinces, guide to Standard Floras of the World. An annotated, geographically arranged systematic bibliography of the principal floras, enumerations, checklists, 2nd ed. pp. xxiv,1100. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
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Endemism
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The extreme opposite of endemism is cosmopolitan distribution. An alternative term for a species that is endemic is precinctive, the word endemic is from New Latin endēmicus, from Greek ενδήμος, endēmos, native. Endēmos is formed of en meaning in, and dēmos meaning the people, the term, precinctive, has been suggested by some scientists, and was first used in botany by MacCaughey in 1917. It is the equivalent of endemism, precinction was perhaps first used by Frank and McCoy. That definition excludes artificial confinement of examples by humans in far-off botanical gardens or zoological parks, physical, climatic, and biological factors can contribute to endemism. The orange-breasted sunbird is found in the fynbos vegetation zone of southwestern South Africa. The glacier bear is found only in limited places in Southeast Alaska, political factors can play a part if a species is protected, or actively hunted, in one jurisdiction but not another. There are two subcategories of endemism, paleoendemism and neoendemism, paleoendemism refers to species that were formerly widespread but are now restricted to a smaller area. Neoendemism refers to species that have arisen, such as through divergence and reproductive isolation or through hybridization. Endemics can easily become endangered or extinct if their restricted habitat changes, particularly—but not only—due to human actions, there were millions of both Bermuda petrels and Bermuda cedars in Bermuda when it was settled at the start of the seventeenth century. By the end of the century, the petrels were thought extinct, cedars, already ravaged by centuries of shipbuilding, were driven nearly to extinction in the twentieth century by the introduction of a parasite. Bermuda petrels and cedars are now rare, as are species endemic to Bermuda
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Wildflower
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A wildflower is a flower that grows in the wild, meaning it was not intentionally seeded or planted. Yet wildflower meadows of a few mixed species are sold in seed packets, the term can refer to the flowering plant as a whole, even when not in bloom, and not just the flower. Wildflower is not an exact term, terms like native species, exotic or, better, introduced species, of which some are labelled invasive species, imported and naturalized are much more accurate. The aim was to spread awareness of the heritage of native species and about the need for conservation, for example, Somerset has adopted the Cheddar Pink, London the Rosebay Willowherb and Denbighshire/Sir Ddinbych in Wales the rare Limestone Woundwort. Formerly published by the North American Native Plant Society Plantlife, UK organisation Wildflower in Cyprus Information on 1250 native plant species to North Cyprus
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Eco-tourism
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It means responsible travel to natural areas conserving the environment and improving the well being of the local people. Since the 1980s, ecotourism has been considered a critical endeavor by environmentalists, several university programs use this description as the working definition of ecotourism. Generally, ecotourism deals with interaction with components of the natural environments. Ecotourism focuses on responsible travel, personal growth, and environmental sustainability. Ecotourism typically involves travel to destinations where flora, fauna, Ecotourism is intended to offer tourists insight into the impact of human beings on the environment, and to foster a greater appreciation of our natural habitats. Responsible ecotourism programs include those that minimize the negative aspects of tourism on the environment. For these reasons, ecotourism often appeals to advocates of environmental and social responsibility, the term ecotourism, like sustainable tourism, is considered by many to be an oxymoron. Like most forms of tourism, ecotourism generally depends on air transportation, additionally, the overall effect of sustainable tourism is negative, where, like ecotourism, philanthropic aspirations mask hard-nosed immediate self-interest. An ecotourist is different from a tourist in the sense that, he or she is mindful of his environment, Ecotourism is a responsible tourism which conserves the environment and sustains the well being of local people. For many countries, ecotourism is not simply a marginal activity to finance protection of the environment, for example, in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Nepal, Kenya, Madagascar and territories such as Antarctica, ecotourism represents a significant portion of the gross domestic product and economic activity. Ecotourism is often misinterpreted as any form of tourism that involves nature, self-proclaimed practitioners and hosts of ecotourism experiences assume it is achieved by simply creating destinations in natural areas. According to critics of this commonplace and assumptive practice, true ecotourism must, above all, sensitize people to the beauty and these critics condemn some operators as greenwashing their operations, using the labels of green and eco-friendly”, while behaving in environmentally irresponsible ways. Currently, there are moves to create national and international ecotourism accreditation programs. National ecotourism certification programs have been put in place in such as Costa Rica, Australia, Kenya, Estonia. Ecotourism is a late 20th-century neologism compounded from eco- and tourism, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, ecotour was first recorded in 1973 and ecotourism, probably after ecotour, in 1982. One source claims the terms were used earlier, claus-Dieter Hetzer, an academic and adventurer from Forum International in Berkeley, CA, supposedly coined ecotourism in 1965 and ran the first ecotours in the Yucatán during the early 1970s. The failure to acknowledge responsible, low-impact ecotourism puts legitimate ecotourism companies at a competitive disadvantage, many environmentalists have argued for a global standard of accreditation, differentiating ecotourism companies based on their level of environmental commitment, creating a standard to follow. The decisions of the board would be sanctioned by governments, so that non-compliant companies would be required to disassociate themselves from the use of the ecotourism brand
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South African rand
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The South African rand is the currency of South Africa. The rand is subdivided into 100 cents, unlike the US dollar, the decimal separator between a rand and cent is expressed by a comma. The ISO4217 code is ZAR, from Dutch Zuid-Afrikaanse Rand, the rand is the currency of the Common Monetary Area between South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, and Namibia. Historical users of the South African rand included South West Africa, the rand takes its name from the Witwatersrand, the ridge upon which Johannesburg is built and where most of South Africas gold deposits were found. The cent and rand was introduced in the then Union of South Africa on 14 February 1961, a Decimal Coinage Commission had been set up in 1956 to consider a move away from the denominations of pounds, shillings, and pence, submitting its recommendation on 8 August 1958. It replaced the South African pound as legal tender, at the rate of 2 rand to 1 pound, the government introduced a mascot, Decimal Dan, the rand-cent man. This was accompanied by a jingle, to inform the public about the new currency. By February 1985, it was trading over R2 per dollar, by the time that State President PW Botha made his Rubicon speech on 15 August 1985, it had weakened to R2.40 per dollar. The currency recovered somewhat between 1986–88, trading near the R2 level most of the time and even breaking beneath it sporadically. The recovery was short-lived, however, and by the end of 1989, a host of local and international events influenced the currency after that, most notably the 1994 democratic election which had it weaken to over R3. This sudden depreciation in 2001 led to an investigation, which in turn led to a dramatic recovery. By the end of 2002, the currency was trading under R9 to the dollar again, the currency softened somewhat in 2005, and was trading around R6.35 to the dollar at the end of the year. At the start of 2006, however, the currency resumed its rally, however, during the second and third quarters of 2006, the rand weakened significantly. In sterling terms, it fell from around 9. 5p to just over 7p, late in 2007, the rand rallied modestly to just over 8p, only to experience a precipitous slide during the first quarter of 2008. This downward slide could be attributed to a range of factors, South Africas worsening current account deficit, the rand depreciation was exacerbated by the Eskom electricity crisis, which arose from the utility being unable to meet the countrys rapidly growing energy demands. By the end of 2014, the rand had weakened to R15.05 per dollar, the rapid drop in value was stemmed when the President back-tracked and announced that the better-known previous Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan, would instead be appointed to the post. By mid-January, economists were speculating that the rand could expect to see further volatility for the rest of 2016, by 29 April, it reached its highest performance over the previous 5 months, exchanging at a rate of 14. Coins were introduced in 1961 in denominations of 1⁄2,1, 2 1⁄2,5,10,20, in 1965, 2-cent coins replaced the 2 1⁄2-cent coins
18.
Biodiversity hotspot
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A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographic region with significant levels of biodiversity that is threatened with destruction. For example forests are considered as biodiversity hotspots, around the world,36 areas qualify under this definition. These sites support nearly 60% of the plant, bird, mammal, reptile. Only a small percentage of the land area within biodiversity hotspots is now protected. Several international organizations are working in ways to conserve biodiversity hotspots. They are chosen for their species richness, endemism, taxonomic uniqueness, unusual ecological or evolutionary phenomena, all biodiversity hotspots contain at least one Global 200 Ecoregion. Birdlife International has identified 218 “Endemic Bird Areas” each of which two or more bird species found nowhere else. Birdlife International has identified more than 11,000 Important Bird Areas all over the world, Plant life International coordinates several the world aiming to identify Important Plant Areas. Alliance for Zero Extinction is an initiative of a number of scientific organizations. They have identified 595 sites, including a number of Birdlife’ s Important Bird Areas. Papers such as Kareiva & Marvier have argued that the biodiversity hotspots, do not adequately represent taxa other than vascular plants. Do not protect smaller scale richness hotspots, do not make allowances for changing land use patterns. Hotspots represent regions that have experienced considerable habitat loss, but this does not mean they are experiencing ongoing habitat loss, on the other hand, regions that are relatively intact have experienced relatively little land loss, but are currently losing habitat at tremendous rates. A recent series of papers has pointed out that biodiversity hotspots do not address the concept of cost, the purpose of biodiversity hotspots is not simply to identify regions that are of high biodiversity value, but to prioritize conservation spending. The regions identified include some in the world, alongside others in the developing world. The cost of land is likely to vary between regions by an order of magnitude or more, but the biodiversity hotspot designations do not consider the conservation importance of this difference. However, the resources for conservation also tend to vary in this way. R. A. Mittermeier, C. G. Mittermeier, G. A. B. da Fonseca, spyros Sfenthourakis, Anastasios Legakis, Hotspots of endemic terrestrial invertebrates in Southern Greece
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New Caledonia
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New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean,1,210 km east of Australia and 16,136 km east of Metropolitan France. The Chesterfield Islands are in the Coral Sea, locals refer to Grande Terre as Le Caillou. New Caledonia has an area of 18,576 km2. Its population of 268,767 consists of a mix of Kanak people, people of European descent, Polynesian people, the capital of the territory is Nouméa. The earliest traces of human presence in New Caledonia date back to the Lapita period, the Lapita were highly skilled navigators and agriculturists with influence over a large area of the Pacific. British explorer Captain James Cook was the first European to sight New Caledonia, on 4 September 1774 and he named it New Caledonia, as the northeast of the island reminded him of Scotland. The west coast of Grande Terre was approached by Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse in 1788, shortly before his disappearance, from then until 1840, only a few sporadic contacts with the archipelago were recorded. Contacts became more frequent after 1840, because of the interest in sandalwood from New Caledonia, the trade ceased at the start of the 20th century. The victims of this trade were called Kanakas, like all the Oceanian people, the first missionaries from the London Missionary Society and the Marist Brothers arrived in the 1840s. In 1849, the crew of the American ship Cutter was killed, cannibalism was widespread throughout New Caledonia. On 24 September 1853, under orders from Napoleon III, Admiral Febvrier Despointes took formal possession of New Caledonia, a few dozen free settlers settled on the west coast in the following years. New Caledonia became a colony, and from the 1860s until the end of the transportations in 1897, about 22,000 criminals. Among the convicts were many Communards arrested after the failed Paris Commune, including Henri de Rochefort, between 1873 and 1876,4,200 political prisoners were relegated in New Caledonia. Only 40 of them settled in the colony, the rest returned to France after being granted amnesty in 1879 and 1880. In 1864, nickel was discovered on the banks of the Diahot River and with the establishment of the Société Le Nickel in 1876, mining began in earnest. The French imported labourers to work in the mines, first from neighbouring islands, then from Japan, the Dutch East Indies, the French government also attempted to encourage European immigration, without much success. The indigenous population was excluded from the French economy, even as workers in the mines, and they were ultimately confined to reservations. This sparked a violent reaction in 1878 as High Chief Atal of La Foa managed to unite many of the central tribes, the Europeans brought new diseases such as smallpox and measles
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Mediterranean climate
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A Mediterranean climate /ˌmɛdɪtəˈreɪniən/ or dry summer climate, is the climate typical of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin. The Mediterranean climate is characterised by dry summers and mild, moist winters, Mediterranean climate zones are associated with the four large subtropical high pressure cells of the oceans, the Azores High, South Atlantic High, North Pacific High, and South Pacific High. These climatological high pressure cells migrate by latitude according to the angle of the Sun, shifting north-eastward in the summer. These semi-permanent high pressure systems play a role in the formation of the worlds subtropical and tropical deserts as well as the Mediterranean Basins climate. The Azores High is associated with the Mediterranean climate found in the Mediterranean Basin, the Sahara Desert, the South Atlantic High is similarly associated with the Namib Desert and Kalahari Desert, and the Mediterranean climate of the western part of South Africa. Under the Köppen climate classification, hot climates and cool dry-summer climates are often referred to as mediterranean. Under the Köppen climate system, the first letter indicates the climate group, temperate climates or C zones have an average temperature above 0 °C, but below 18 °C, in their coolest months. The second letter indicates the precipitation pattern, Köppen has defined a dry summer month as a month with less than 30 mm of precipitation and with less than one-third that of the wettest winter month. Some, however, use a 40 mm level, the third letter indicates the degree of summer heat, a represents an average temperature in the warmest month above 22 °C, while b indicates the average temperature in the warmest month below 22 °C. Under the Köppen classification, dry-summer climates usually occur on the sides of continents. Under Trewarthas system, at least eight months must have average temperatures of 10 °C or higher, during summer, regions of mediterranean climate are dominated by subtropical high pressure cells, with dry sinking air capping a surface marine layer of varying humidity and making rainfall unlikely. In many Mediterranean climates there is a strong character to daily temperatures in the warm months. The majority of the regions with mediterranean climates have relatively mild winters, however winter and summer temperatures can vary greatly between different regions with a mediterranean climate. Or to consider summer, Athens experiences rather high temperatures in that season, in contrast, San Francisco has cool summers with daily highs around. In North America, areas with Csc climate can be found in the Olympic, Cascade, Klamath and these locations are found at high altitude nearby lower altitude regions characterized by a warm-summer mediterranean climate or hot-summer mediterranean climate. A rare instance of this occurs in the tropics, on Haleakalā Summit in Hawaii. In South America, Csc regions can be found along the Andes in Chile, the town of Balmaceda is one of the few towns confirmed to have this climate. Small areas with a Csc climate can also be found at elevations in Corsica
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Eastern Cape
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The Eastern Cape is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are Port Elizabeth and East London and it was formed in 1994 out of the Xhosa homelands of Transkei and Ciskei, together with the eastern portion of the Cape Province. Landing place and home of the 1820 settlers, the central and this resulted in several anomalies including the fact that the Province has four supreme courts and enclaves of KwaZulu-Natal in the province. The latter anomaly has fallen away with amendments to municipal and provincial boundaries. The province is made of Mpondo clan. Some of the Mpondo clan went to this province when they were running away from King Shakas war, Mpondo people are more closely related to Xhosa, as they use Xhosa as their main home language. The west is mostly semi-arid Karoo, except in the far south, the coast is generally rugged with interspersed beaches. Most of the province is hilly to very mountainous between Graaff-Reinet and Rhodes including the Sneeuberge, Stormberge, Winterberge and Drakensberg, the highest point in the province is Ben Macdhui at 3001m. Eastern Cape has a shoreline on its east which lines southward, the west is dry with sparse rain during winter or summer, with frosty winters and hot summers. The area Tsitsikamma to Grahamstown receives more precipitation, which is relatively evenly distributed. Further east, rainfall becomes more plentiful and humidity increases, becoming more subtropical along the coast with summer rainfall, the interior can become very cold in winter, with heavy snowfalls occasionally occurring in the mountainous regions between Molteno and Rhodes. Port Elizabeth, Jan Max,25 °C, Min,18 °C, Jul Max,20 °C, Min,9 °C Molteno & Barkly East, Jan Max 28 °C, Min 11 °C, Jul Max,14 °C, Min, -7 °C The landscape is extremely diverse. The western interior is largely arid Karoo, while the east is well-watered, the Addo Elephant National Park, situated 73 km from Port Elizabeth, was proclaimed in 1931. Its 743 km² offers sanctuary to 170 elephants,400 Cape buffalo and 21 black rhino of the very scarce Kenyan sub-species. The National Arts Festival, held annually in Grahamstown, is Africas largest and most colourful cultural event, every year for 11 days the towns population almost doubles, as over 50,000 people flock to the region for a feast of arts, crafts and sheer entertainment. The Tsitsikamma National Park is an 80 km long strip between Natures Valley and the mouth of the Storms River. In the park the visitor finds an almost untouched natural landscape, aliwal North, lying on a splendid agricultural plateau on the southern bank of the Orange River, is one of the countrys most popular inland resorts and is famous for its hot springs. The rugged and unspoilt Wild Coast is a place of spectacular scenery, whittlesea, Eastern Cape, situated in the beautiful Amatola Mountains, is now famous for the first wine estate in the province. The Eastern Cape is one of the poorest provinces in South Africa and this is largely due to the poverty found in the former homelands, where subsistence agriculture predominates
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KwaZulu-Natal
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KwaZulu-Natal is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu and Natal Province were merged. It is located in the southeast of the country, enjoying a long shoreline beside the Indian Ocean and its capital is Pietermaritzburg and its largest city is Durban. It is the 2nd most populous province in South Africa, with fewer residents than Gauteng. Two areas in KwaZulu-Natal have been declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, at around 92,100 km2 in area, KwaZulu-Natal is roughly the size of Portugal. It has three different geographic areas, the areas largest river, the Tugela, flows west to east across the center of the province. The coastal regions typically have subtropical thickets and deeper ravines, steep slopes host some Afromontane Forest, the midlands have moist grasslands and isolated pockets of Afromontane Forest. The north has a primarily moist savanna habitat, whilst the Drakensberg region hosts mostly alpine grassland, the province contains rich areas of biodiversity of a range of flora and fauna. The iSimangaliso Wetland Park and the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park have been declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, along with uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park and Ndumo, are wetlands of international importance for migratory species, and are designated as Ramsar sites. South Africa signed the 1971 Ramsar Convention to try to conserve and protect important wetlands because of their importance to habitats, the former Eastern Cape enclave of the town of Umzimkulu and its hinterland have been incorporated into KwaZulu-Natal following the 12th amendment of the Constitution of South Africa. The amendment also made changes to the southern border of the province. The northwesterly line of latitude and longitude traverses the province from the coast at Hibberdene to northeast Lesotho. KwaZulu-Natal has a varied yet verdant climate thanks to diverse, complex topography, generally, the coast is subtropical with inland regions becoming progressively colder. Temperature drops towards the hinterland, with Pietermaritzburg being similar in the summer, Ladysmith in the Tugela River Valley reaches 30 °C in the summer, but may drop below freezing point on winter evenings. The Drakensberg can experience heavy snow, with light snow occasionally experienced on the highest peaks in summer. The Zululand north coast has the warmest climate and highest humidity, one of these, eThekwini, is a metropolitan municipality and the other ten are district municipalities. The local seat of district municipality is given in parentheses. In 2012, the Ingonyama Trust owns 32% of the land in KwaZulu-Natal and this amounts to about three million hectares, occupied by over 4 million people. The Zulu king is the chairman of the Trust, the coastline is dotted with small towns, many of which serve as seasonal recreational hubs
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Sclerophyllous
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Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that has hard leaves, short internodes and leaf orientation parallel or oblique to direct sunlight. The word comes from the Greek sklēros and phyllon, sclerophyllous plants occur in many parts of the world, but are most typical in the chaparral biomes. The term was coined by A. F. W, schimper in 1898, originally as a synonym of xeromorph, but later was changed. Most areas of the Australian continent able to support woody plants are occupied by sclerophyll communities as forests, common plants include the Proteaceae, tea-trees, acacias, boronias, and eucalypts. The most common sclerophyll communities in Australia are savannas dominated by grasses with an overstorey of eucalypts, acacia shrublands also cover extensive areas. These traits make the majority of plants in these woodlands largely unpalatable to domestic livestock. It is therefore important from a perspective that these woodlands support a more or less continuous layer of herbaceous ground cover dominated by grasses. Sclerophyll forests cover a smaller area of the continent, being restricted to relatively high rainfall locations. They have a eucalyptus overstory with the understory also being hard-leaved, dry sclerophyll forests are the most common forest type on the continent, and although it may seem barren dry sclerophyll forest is highly diverse. For example, a study of vegetation in Seal Creek, Victoria. Even less extensive are wet sclerophyll forests and they have a taller eucalyptus overstory than dry sclerophyll forests,30 metres or more, and a soft-leaved, fairly dense understory. They require ample rainfall — at least 1000mm, sclerophyllous plants are all part of a specific environment and are anything but newcomers. By the time of European settlement, sclerophyll forest accounted for the vast bulk of the forested areas, most of the wooded parts of present-day Australia have become sclerophyll dominated as a result of the extreme age of the continent combined with Aboriginal fire use. Deep weathering of the crust over millions of years leached chemicals out of the rock, leaving Australian soils deficient in nutrients. Such nutrient deficient soils support non-sclerophyllous plant communities elsewhere in the world, however such deficient soils cannot support the nutrient losses associated with frequent fires and are rapidly replaced with sclerophyllous species under traditional Aboriginal burning regimens. With the cessation of traditional burning non-sclerophyllous species have re-colonised sclerophyll habitat in parts of Australia. Sclerophyllous plants generally resist dry conditions well, making them successful in areas of seasonally variable rainfall, the leaves are hard due to lignin, which prevents wilting and allows plants to grow, even when there isnt enough phosphorus for substantial new cell growth
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Shrubland
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Shrubland, scrubland, scrub or brush is a plant community characterised by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity and it may be the mature vegetation type in a particular region and remain stable over time, or a transitional community that occurs temporarily as the result of a disturbance, such as fire. A stable state may be maintained by natural disturbance such as fire or browsing. Shrubland may be unsuitable for habitation because of the danger of fire. The term shrubland was coined in 1903, shrubland species generally show a wide range of adaptations to fire, such as heavy seed production, lignotubers, and fire-induced germination. In botany and ecology a shrub is defined as a woody plant less than 8 m high. Tall shrubs are mostly 2–8 m high, small shrubs 1–2 m high, Mediterranean scrublands Mediterranean scrublands occur naturally in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biomes, located in the five Mediterranean climate regions of the world. Scrublands are most common near the seacoast, and have adapted to the wind. Low, soft-leaved scrublands around the Mediterranean Basin are known as garrigue in France, phrygana in Greece, tomillares in Spain, and batha in Israel. Interior scrublands Interior scrublands occur naturally in areas where soils are nutrient-poor. Florida scrub is another example of interior scrublands, dwarf shrubs Some vegetation types are formed of dwarf-shrubs, low-growing or creeping shrubs. These include the maquis and garrigues of Mediterranean climates, and the acid-loving dwarf shrubs of heathland and moorland, fynbos Maquis Prostrate shrub Semi-desert Shrub-steppe Shrub swamp Moorland
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Proteaceae
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The Proteaceae /ˌproʊtiˈeɪsiː/ are a family of flowering plants predominantly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises 83 genera with about 1,660 known species, together with the Platanaceae and Nelumbonaceae, they make up the order Proteales. Well-known genera include Protea, Banksia, Embothrium, Grevillea, Hakea, Dryandra, Australia and South Africa have the greatest concentrations of diversity. This is an image, seeing as the family is known for its astonishing variety and diversity of flowers. The genera of Proteaceae are highly varied, with Banksia in particular providing an example of adaptive radiation in plants. This variability makes it impossible to provide a simple, diagnostic identification key for the family, Proteaceae are generally trees, rarely of more than 40 m in height, and are usually of medium height or low or perennial shrubs, except for some Stirlingia species that are herbs. They are facultatively deciduous, rarely acaulescent, the portion of the collar is often thickened. Indumentum of three-celled hairs, sometimes glandular, rarely absent, the cell is usually elongated, acute. Roots lateral and short, often grouped in bundles with very dense root hairs, Plants usually hermaphroditic, more rarely monoecious, dioecious or andromonoecious. Flowers are usually perfect, actinomorphic, or zygomorphic, hypogynous, frequently large, flat or oblique, sometimes forming a gynophore. Hypogynous disk present and extrastaminal or absent, hypogynous glands 1-4, squamiform or elongated, fleshy, free or fused forming a lunate or annular nectary over the receptacle. Chromosomal number, n =5,7, 10-14,26,28, sizes range from small to very big according to species. Generally speaking, the feature of Proteaceae is the compound flower head or, more accurately. In many genera, the most obvious feature is the large and often very showy inflorescences, even this character, however, does not occur in all Proteaceae, Adenanthos species, for example, have solitary flowers. In most Proteaceae species, the mechanism is highly specialised. It usually involves the use of a pollen-presenter, an area on the style-end that presents the pollen to the pollinator, the pistil initially passes along the inside of the perianth tube, so the stigma, too, is enclosed within the cup. As the flower develops, the pistil grows rapidly, since the stigma is trapped, the style must bend to elongate, and eventually it bends so far, it splits the perianth along one seam. The style continues to grow until anthesis, when the begin to produce nectar
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Ericaceae
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The Ericaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acid and infertile growing conditions. The family is large, with c.4250 known species spread across 124 genera, the many well-known and economically important members of the Ericaceae include the cranberry, blueberry, huckleberry, rhododendron, and various common heaths and heathers. The Ericaceae contain a diverse range of taxa, including herbs, dwarf shrubs, shrubs. Their leaves are alternate or whorled, simple and without stipules. Their flowers are hermaphrodite and show considerable variability, the petals are often fused with shapes ranging from narrowly tubular to funnelform or widely bowl-shaped. The corollas are usually symmetrical, but many flowers of the genus Rhododendron are somewhat bilaterally symmetrical. Adanson used the term Vaccinia to describe a family. The name comes from the type genus Erica, which appears to be derived from the Greek word ereike, the exact meaning is difficult to interpret, but some sources show it as meaning heather. Historically, the Ericaceae included both subfamilies and tribes, within tribe Rhodoreae, five genera were described, Rhododendron L. Therorhodion Small, Ledum L. Tsusiophyllum Max. Menziesia J. E. Smith, that were transferred into Rhododendron. The move significantly increased the morphological and geographical range found within the group, the Ericaceae have a nearly worldwide distribution. They are absent from continental Antarctica, parts of the high Arctic, central Greenland, northern and central Australia, the family is largely composed of plants that can tolerate acidic, infertile conditions. Like other stress-tolerant plants, many Ericaceae have mycorrhizal fungi to assist with extracting nutrients from infertile soils and this trait is not found in the Clethraceae and Cyrillaceae, the two families most closely related to the Ericaceae. Most Ericaceae form a distinctive accumulation of mycorrhizae, in which grow in and around the roots. The Pyroloideae are mixotrophic and gain sugars from the mycorrhizae, as well as nutrients, in many parts of the world, a heath or heathland is an environment characterised by an open dwarf-shrub community found on low-quality acidic soils, generally dominated by plants in the Ericaceae. A common example is Erica tetralix and this plant family is also typical of peat bogs and blanket bogs, examples include Rhododendron groenlandicum and Kalmia polifolia. In eastern North America, members of this family grow in association with an oak canopy. Some evidence suggests eutrophic rainwater can convert ericoid heaths with species such as Erica tetralix to grasslands, nitrogen is particularly suspect in this regard, and may be causing measurable changes to the distribution and abundance of some ericaceous species
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Restionaceae
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The Restionaceae, also called restiads and restios, are a family of annual or perennial rush-like flowering plants native to the Southern Hemisphere, they vary from a few centimeters to 3 m in height. Following the APG IV, the family now includes the former families Anarthriaceae, Centrolepidaceae and Lyginiaceae, based on evidence from fossil pollens, the Restionaceae likely originated more than 65 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period, when the southern continents were still part of Gondwana. The family consists of tufted or rhizomatous, herbaceous plants, rush-like or bamboo-like in overall appearance and they belong to a group of monocotyledons that includes several similar families, such as the sedges, rushes, and true grasses. They have green, photosynthetic stems and leaves that have reduced to sheaths. Their flowers are small and in spikelets, which in turn make up the inflorescences. Male and female flowers are on separate plants and, like grasses, are wind-pollinated and they are often dominant elements of the flora in the Mediterranean climates of South Africa and Western Australia. They are the family in the Western Cape fynbos plant community. The South American species is similar to one of the New Zealand species. Four species are found in the Natal Drakensberg, one of which spills over into Mpumalanga, the vast majority of species, though, are to be found in the Cape Floristic Region and particularly plentiful on hard sandstone formations. The center of diversity lies in the Kogelberg, where more than a third of all Restionaceae may be found, restionacea can be found in Kirstenbosch, Cape Towns National Botanical Gardens. Also, many smaller species offer a variety of decorative features. The Restionaceae family has been recognized by most taxonomists, the AP-Website assumes 58 genera and 520 species, which agrees well with the Flora of China. The APG II system of 2003, recognizes this family and assigns it to the order Poales, the Cronquist system of 1981 also recognized this family and placed it in the order Restionales, in the subclass Commelinidae in class Liliopsida in division Magnoliophyta. Restionaceae in L. Watson and M. J. Dallwitz, the families of flowering plants, descriptions, illustrations, identification, information retrieval. Restionaceae in the Flora of China Florabase NCBI Taxonomy Browser
28.
Sandveld
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Veld, also spelled veldt, is a type of wide open rural landscape in Southern Africa. Particularly, it is an area covered in grass or low scrub, especially in the countries of South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Botswana. A certain sub-tropical woodland ecoregion of Southern Africa has been defined as the Bushveld by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Trees are found only in a few places—frost, fire, and grazing animals allow grass to grow, the word veld comes from the Afrikaans word for field. The etymological origin is older Dutch veldt, a spelling that the Dutch abandoned in favour of veld during the 19th century, decades before the first Afrikaans dictionary. Subsequent addition of the t in the spelling veldt seems to have been mainly an English confusion with the already obsolete Dutch usage. Precipitation mostly occurs in the months in the form of high-energy thunderstorms. Temperature is closely related to elevation, in general, the mean July temperatures range between 45 °F in the Lesotho Highlands and 60 °F in the Lowveld. January temperatures range between 65 °F and 80 °F, in Zimbabwe the precipitation averages around 30 to 35 inches on the Highveld, dropping to less than 15 inches in the lowest areas of the Lowveld. Temperatures are slightly higher than in South Africa, over the entire veld, seasonal and annual average rainfall variations of up to 40 percent are common. Damaging drought affects at least half the area about once every three or four years, it reduces plant and animal biomass to sustainable levels again, everywhere the average number of hours of annual sunshine varies from 60 to 80 percent of the total amount possible. Veld can be compared to the Australian terms outback or the bush, to the prairie of North America, to the pampas lowlands of South America. Someone from Yorkshire might equate wandering across the moors to walking through the veld, by extension, the veld can be compared to the boondocks or those places beyond the black stump in Australia. There is a sense in which it refers in essence to unimproved land and these areas are referred to as fields. The word is appropriate for land that is heavily forested, mountainous. The simplest explanation will be to say the word veld means natural vegetation, excluding vegetation like swamps and it does include mountains with vegetation but not deserts or mountains without natural vegetation. Whereas mountainous peaks and thick forests do not really fit in with the term veld, the word Renosterveld, rhinoceros-field, is now used to differentiate one of the major vegetation types of the Cape Floristic Region. A carefully husbanded sports field on which the game of Rugby is played in the middle of such as Cape Town or Johannesburg is referred to as a rugbyveld in the Afrikaans language
29.
Renosterveld
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It is an ecoregion of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome. Renosterveld directly translated in the Afrikaans language means rhinoceros-field, a reference to the high number of rhinoceroses seen by the Afrikaner settlers at the time. It may also derive its name from the renosterbos, which is a species of shrub found here. The dull grey colour of renosterbos is similar to the colour of a rhinos hide, renosterveld plants grow on rich soil, which makes them more nutritious than typical fynbos plants. Typically, renosterveld is largely confined to fine-grained soils - mainly clays and silts - which are derived from the shales of the Malmesbury and Bokkeveld Groups, in drier regions it also occurs on Cape Granite Suite-derived soils. Renosterveld usually grows in areas that have moderate rainfall of 300–600 mm per year. It can survive relatively frequent fires and this vegetation type is dominated by a species of grey-coloured plant called the renosterbos. However, the Proteas, Ericas and Restios - typical of fynbos habitats, there are few endemics to renosterveld vegetation alone, many of the species occurring in fynbos as well. However, species endemic to the Cape Floristic Region comprise about one-third of renosterveld plant species, typical renosterveld plants include, Grasses Themeda triandra Shrubs and small trees renosterbos, karee, wild rosemary, wild olive. Perennials geophytes from the iris, amaryllis, hyacinth, orchid, the original inhabitants of the Western Cape, the San and Khoi, used renosterveld plants for food, medicine and grazing. Because of their small populations and simple lifestyles, they did not cause a great deal of damage to this ecosystem. Many renosterveld trees and shrubs produce berries, which attract fruit-eating birds, during spring, renosterveld flowers attract a wide variety of pollinators, like bees, flies, beetles and sunbirds. Because of its soil fertility, it is probable that all the herds of large game in the fynbos biome occurred in renosterveld. Two of these only ever occurred within the biome, bluebuck. Of these large mammals, only the mountain zebra and leopard survived, all the other species became extinct in the fynbos biome, although many have been introduced into conservation areas from outside the region. The quagga and bluebuck are extinct, although there is a project to restore plains zebras with quagga-like markings, the high fertility of renosterveld soils has meant that most of the area has been converted to agriculture, mainly wheat. It is alleged that the shrub cover is a result of continuous grazing. Early records suggest that the renosterveld had abundant grasses, and that the game, with the establishment of European stock farmers, continuous grazing and the elimination of the diverse grazing-browsing fauna, the shrubby element was promoted
30.
Asteraceae
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Asteraceae or Compositae is a very large and widespread family of flowering plants. The family currently has 32,913 accepted species names, in 1,911 genera and 13 subfamilies, in terms of numbers of species, the Asteraceae are rivaled only by the Orchidaceae. Many members have composite flowers in the form of flower heads surrounded by involucral bracts, when viewed from a distance, each capitulum may have the appearance of being a single flower. The name Asteraceae comes from the type genus Aster, from the Greek ἀστήρ, meaning star, Compositae is an older but still valid name which refers to the fact that the family is one of the few angiosperm ones to have composite flowers. Most members of Asteraceae are herbaceous, but a significant number are also shrubs, vines, the family has a worldwide distribution, from the polar regions to the tropics, colonizing a wide variety of habitats. It is most common in the arid and semiarid regions of subtropical, the Asteraceae may represent as much as 10% of autochthonous flora in many regions of the world. Asteraceae is an important family, providing products such as cooking oils, lettuce, sunflower seeds, artichokes, sweetening agents, coffee substitutes. Several genera are of importance, including pot marigold, Calendula officinalis, Echinacea, various daisies, fleabane, chrysanthemums, dahlias, zinnias. Asteraceae are important in medicine, including Grindelia, yarrow. A number of species are considered invasive, including, most notably in North America, dandelion, the name Asteraceae comes to international scientific vocabulary from New Latin, from Aster, the type genus, + -aceae, a standardized suffix for plant family names in modern taxonomy. The genus name comes from the Classical Latin word aster, star, Compositae, an older but still valid name, means composite and refers to the characteristic inflorescence, a special type of pseudanthium found in only a few other angiosperm families. The study of family is known as synantherology. The vernacular name daisy, widely applied to members of family, is derived from its Old English name, dægesege, from dæges eage. This is because the open at dawn and close at dusk. Composite flowers have a distribution, and are found everywhere except Antarctica. They are especially numerous in tropical and subtropical regions, Compositae were first described in 1792 by the German botanist Paul Dietrich Giseke. Traditionally, two subfamilies were recognised, Asteroideae and Cichorioideae, the latter has been shown to be extensively paraphyletic, and has now been divided into 12 subfamilies, but the former still stands. The phylogenetic tree presented below is based on Panero & Funk updated in 2014, the diamond denotes a very poorly supported node, the dot a poorly supported node
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Elytropappus rhinocerotis
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Elytropappus rhinocerotis is a species of flowering plants in the daisy family, Asteraceae, endemic to South Africa. It is a very obvious component of the unique Renosterveld Vegetation Type, renosterbos is also relatively common in this area, unlike most plants associated with Renosterveld vegetation. As a consequence of livestock finding the plant relatively inedible, the Elytropappus rhinocerotis has spread in heavily grazed areas, Elytropappus rhinocerotis is a medicinal plant in traditional African medicine. The young tips of the branches are used in medicine to treat indigestion. The foliage tips are now added to wine or brandy for such medicinal consumption. Elytropappus rhinocerotis is cultivated as a plant for South African native plant, drought tolerant. It is also planted in landscaping and habitat restoration projects. A cultivar, which has a crisp, pure-white colour, is usually grown in gardens more than the direct species
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Afromontane
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Afromontane communities occur above 1, 500–2,000 metres elevation near the equator, and as low as 300 metres elevation in the Knysna-Amatole montane forests of South Africa. Afromontane forests are cooler and more humid than the surrounding lowlands. Other Afromontane regions include the Drakensberg range of southern Africa, the Cameroon Highlands, and the Cameroon Line volcanoes, including Mount Cameroon, Bioko, and São Tomé. Although some Afromontane enclaves are widely separated, they share a similar mix of plant species which are distinct from the surrounding lowland regions. Podocarps, of genera Podocarpus and Afrocarpus, are a tree, along with Prunus africana, Hagenia abyssinica, Juniperus procera. In the higher mountains, the Afromontane forest or woodland zone transitions to a higher Afroalpine zone of grasslands, shrublands, the plant families Curtisiaceae and Oliniaceae are Afromontane endemics and family Barbeyaceae is a near-endemic. In South Africa, Afromontane forests cover only 0. 5% of the land area. The Afromontane forests occur along the arc of the Drakensberg Range. The Afromontane forests generally occur in well-watered areas, including ravines, the Afromontane forests are intolerant of fire, and the frequent fires of the surrounding fynbos, savanna, and grassland limit the expansion of the forests. Despite their small area, the Afromontane forests of South Africa produce valuable timber, particularly the real yellowwood, Outeniqua yellowwood, the vegetation of Africa, a descriptive memoir to accompany the UNESCO/AETFAT/UNSO vegetation map of Africa by F. White. & Linder, H. P. Geographical affinities of the Cape flora, Eastern Afromontane Biodiversity Hotspot Eastern Afromontane, from Hotspots Revisited
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Southern Afrotemperate Forest
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Southern Afrotemperate Forest is a kind of tall, shady, multilayered indigenous South African forest. This is the main forest-type in the part of South Africa, naturally extending from the Cape Peninsula in the west. In this range, it occurs in small forest pockets. This forest ecosystem is a subtype of the general Afromontane forest, Southern Afrotemperate Forest tends to grow on soils derived from sandstone and granite which are the dominant rock formations in the south-western Cape. The Western Cape is prone to fires and the various types of fynbos vegetation that dominate here are all governed by the fire cycles. However, Southern Afrotemperate Forest is not adapted to fire, so is restricted to fire refugia such as gorges, wet riverine areas. In the absence of fires, the taller forests tend to expand at the expense of the fynbos. It is endemic to the Western Cape, based on location and the species composition of the forests, this type is often informally divided into riverine forests and scree forests. The species composition of two subtypes differs slightly, but they are still similar enough to be classed together as an ecosystem. Western Cape Talus forests naturally undergo periodic disturbance, flooding in the case of riverine forests, the natural cycle of disturbance of the surrounding fynbos vegetation is fire-driven, but this has little effect on the sheltered talus forests. The main threats to this ecosystem are from invasive alien plants, the natural habitat of Western Cape Talus is usually within catchment areas, and they thus perform an important function in regulating the water-systems and preventing erosion. They are also host to many hiking trails and have value as a source of medicinal plants. In addition, several species are endemic to forests and occur nowhere else in the world. The thicker, deeper, denser South-western Cape forests are dominated by larger afromontane trees and these tall woodlands are typically found in sheltered gorges and mountainous areas in the Western Cape. They also include the Cape Peninsula Forests such as those at Newlands Forest, Kirstenbosch, and Orangekloof, though not as rich in biodiversity as the Southern Cape Afrotemperate forests, these woodlands still contain a variety of endemic plants and animals which occur nowhere else in the world. The major threats come from invasive plants such as Australian cheesewood, bugweed, black wattle, lantana, privet. By far, the largest portion of Southern Afrotemperate Forest includes the enormous Knysna-Tsitsikamma forests and it extends from Mossel Bay in the Western Cape, eastwards into the Eastern Cape, nearly as far as Port Elizabeth. This is a tall, dense, species-rich forest in a moist, the highest canopy is formed from the intermeshed crowns of the most massive trees
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Roridula
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Roridula is a South African genus of plants restricted to the Cape Provinces. Its distribution is threatened due to the farming of rooibos, while having many of the adaptations of a carnivorous plant, such as the possession of insect-trapping sticky hairs, it does not directly digest the animals it traps. Instead, it has a relationship with Pameridea roridulae, a species of capsid bug. The plant obtains nutrients from the droppings of this symbiotic insect, a pair of fossilised leaves from Eocene Baltic amber have been attributed to the Roridulaceae. The amber is from sediments dated to 35–47 million years ago, definite fossils of carnivorous plant traps have never previously been found. Their location in the Baltic suggests that the genus Roridula, although now restricted to South Africa, was more widespread in the past. The species are, Roridula dentata L. Roridula gorgonias Planch, adaptations to foliar absorption of faeces, a pathway in plant carnivory. Roridulaceae in L. Watson and M. J. Dallwitz
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Bruniaceae
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Bruniaceae is a family of shrubs native to the cape region of South Africa. They are mostly restricted to the Cape Province, but a number of species occur in KwaZulu-Natal. Species belonging to the Bruniaceae are heath-like shrubs and they have small, hard, scaly leaves that are alternate but regularly set and overlapping. A distinct character is the black tip of the leaves when these are young. The inflorescence is a spike or spherical flowerhead with up to 400 flowers at the end of the stems. Individual flowers are tube-shaped and hermafrodite, there are five sepals which may be free or connected at their rim, the fruit is dry when ripe, opens with two or four valves and contains fleshy seeds. There are twelve genera, totalling 75 species, Audouinia Brongn, staavia Dahl Thamnea Sol. ex Brongn
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Melianthaceae
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The Melianthaceae are a family of flowering plants. The APG II system includes them within the rosid clade, all members of Melianthaceae proper are trees or shrubs found in tropical and southern Africa. Francoaceae are sometimes included in the family, a family consisting of two genera found in Chile. The family Greyiaceae is merged into Melianthaceae in the APG II system, the family Francoaceae is optionally included within Melianthaceae
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Stilbaceae
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Stilbaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales. Genera include, Anastrabe E. Mey. ex Benth, campylostachys Kunth Charadrophila Marloth Euthystachys A. DC. Stilbe P. J. Bergius Thesmophora Rourke
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World Wide Fund for Nature
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It was formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in Canada and the United States. It is the worlds largest conservation organization with five million supporters worldwide, working in more than 100 countries, supporting around 1,300 conservation. WWF is a foundation, with 55% of funding from individuals and bequests, 19% from government sources, the groups mission is to stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature. Currently, much of its work concentrates on the conservation of three biomes that contain most of the biodiversity, oceans and coasts, forests. Among other issues, it is concerned with endangered species, sustainable production of commodities. The Conservation Foundation, a precursor to WWF, was founded in 1947 by Fairfield Osborn in New York City in support of capitalism-friendly ecological practices. The advisory council included leading scientists such as Charles Sutherland Elton, G Evelyn Hutchinson, Aldo Leopold, Carl Sauer, and Paul Sears. It supported much of the work cited by Rachel Carsons Silent Spring, including that of John L. George, Roger Hale, Robert Rudd. In 1990, the Conservation Foundation was merged into WWF, after becoming an affiliate of WWF in 1985, the organization now known as the Conservation Foundation in the United States is the former Forest Foundation of DuPage County. The idea for a fund on behalf of endangered animals was initially proposed by Victor Stolan to Sir Julian Huxley in response to articles he published in the British newspaper The Observer, nicholson thought up the name of the organization. WWF was conceived on 29 April 1961, under the name of World Wildlife Fund, godfrey A. Rockefeller also played an important role in its creation, assembling the first staff. For sending experts to danger spots and training, making it all possible that their needs are met before it is too late. WWF has set up offices and operations around the world, the organization also began to run its own conservation projects and campaigns, and by the 1980s started to take a more strategic approach to its conservation activities. In 1986, the changed its name to World Wide Fund for Nature. However, it continued at that time to operate under the name in the United States. We shant save all we should like to, but we shall save a great deal more than if we had never tried, – Sir Peter Scott In 1996, the organization obtained general consultative status from UNESCO. WWFs giant panda logo originated from a panda named Chi Chi that had transferred from Beijing Zoo to London Zoo in 1958. The logo was founded by Young in 1966, the organization also needed an animal that would have an impact in black and white printing
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Ecoregion
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An ecoregion is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than an ecozone. All three of these are less or greater than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, the biodiversity of flora, fauna and ecosystems that characterise an ecoregion tends to be distinct from that of other ecoregions. Three caveats are appropriate for all bio-geographic mapping approaches, firstly, no single bio-geographic framework is optimal for all taxa. Ecoregions reflect the best compromise for as many taxa as possible, secondly, ecoregion boundaries rarely form abrupt edges, rather, ecotones and mosaic habitats bound them. Thirdly, most ecoregions contain habitats that differ from their assigned biome, biogeographic provinces may originate due to various barriers. Some physical, some climatic and some ocean chemical related, the history of the term is somewhat vague as it was used in many contexts, forest classifications, biome classifications, biogeographic classifications, etc. The concept of ecoregion of Bailey gives more importance to ecological criteria, while the WWF concept gives more importance to biogeography, there is significant, but not absolute, spatial correlation among these characteristics, making the delineation of ecoregions an imperfect science. Such transition zones are called ecotones, Ecoregions can be categorized using an algorithmic approach or a holistic, “weight-of-evidence” approach where the importance of various factors may vary. An example of the approach is Robert Bailey’s work for the U. S. The intended purpose of ecoregion delineation may affect the method used, according to WWF, the boundaries of an ecoregion approximate the original extent of the natural communities prior to any major recent disruptions or changes. WWF has identified 867 terrestrial ecoregions, and approximately 450 freshwater ecoregions across the Earth, the use of the term ecoregion is an outgrowth of a surge of interest in ecosystems and their functioning. In particular, there is awareness of issues relating to spatial scale in the study and it is widely recognized that interlinked ecosystems combine to form a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. The Global 200 is the list of ecoregions identified by WWF as priorities for conservation, Terrestrial ecoregions are land ecoregions, as distinct from freshwater and marine ecoregions. In this context, terrestrial is used to mean of land, WWF ecologists currently divide the land surface of the Earth into 8 major ecozones containing 867 smaller terrestrial ecoregions. The WWF effort is a synthesis of previous efforts to define. Many consider this classification to be decisive, and some propose these as stable borders for bioregional democracy initiatives. The eight terrestrial ecozones follow the major floral and faunal boundaries, identified by botanists and zoologists, ecozone boundaries generally follow continental boundaries, or major barriers to plant and animal distribution, like the Himalayas and the Sahara
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Albany thickets
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The Albany thickets is an ecoregion of dense woodland in southern South Africa, which is concentrated around the Albany region of the Eastern Cape. Thicket is vulnerable to fire and to grazing so has always been restricted to areas where these are less of a threat than on open plains. The climate is dry, especially as one proceeds inland, but the valleys are cooler than the surrounding terrain which is hot in summer, cold in winter. The thickets contain many endemic plants, in particular succulent Euphorbia species, the thicket is richest and most dense in the river valleys near the coast where it contains thorny shrubs with an undergrowth of creepers and succulent plants. As the river valleys climb inland and upstream the climate is drier, along with the fynbos ecoregions the Albany thickets comprise the Cape Floristic Region. Birds in this area include black goshawk, black-headed oriole and two species which are almost endemic to the Cape area, the orange-breasted sunbird and Cape siskin, a large part of the region has been converted for agriculture or reduced by grazing, especially by goats. This is a continuous threat especially in the valleys near the coast. Protected areas include Addo Elephant National Park near Port Elizabeth, the Groendal Wilderness Area near Uitenhage on the Swartkops River, and the Baviaanskloof Mega Reserve
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Global 200
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The Global 200 is the list of ecoregions identified by WWF, the global conservation organization, as priorities for conservation. So, for example, based on their levels of endemism, Madagascar gets multiple listings, ancient Lake Baikal gets one, the WWF assigns a conservation status to each ecoregion in the Global 200, critical or endangered, vulnerable, and relatively stable or intact. Over half of the ecoregions in the Global 200 are rated endangered, the WWF has identified 867 terrestrial ecoregions across the Earths land surface, as well as freshwater and marine ecoregions. The goal of classification system is to ensure that the full range of ecosystems will be represented in regional conservation. Of these ecoregions, the WWF selected the Global 200 as the ecoregions most crucial to the conservation of global biodiversity, the Global 200 list actually contains 238 ecoregions, made up of 142 terrestrial,53 freshwater, and 43 marine ecoregions. Several habitats, such as Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome, were determined to be more threatened than tropical rain forests, historically, zoologists and botanists have developed various classification systems that take into account the worlds plant and animal communities. Two of the classification systems most commonly used today were summarized by Miklos Udvardy in 1975. The biome system classifies the world into ecosystem types based on climate, each biogeographical realm contains multiple biomes, and biomes occur across several biogeographical realms. The WWF system represents a refinement of the system of biomes, biogeographical realms. Based on a comprehensive list of ecoregions, The Global 200 includes all major types, all ecosystem types. It focuses on each major type of every continent. It uses ecoregions as the unit of scale for comparison, WWF say ecoregions could be considered as conservation units at regional scale because they meet similar biological communities. Some ecoregions were selected over other ecoregions of the major habitat type or ecozone. Selection of the Global 200 relied on studies of 19 terrestrial, freshwater. Selection of the ecoregions was based on analyses of species richness, species endemism, unique higher taxa, unusual ecological or evolutionary phenomena, and global rarity of major habitat type. Global 200 ecoregion list is most helpful to conservation efforts at a scale, local deforestation, destruction of swamp habitats, degradation of soils. However, certain phenomena, such as bird or whale migration, depend on more complex parameters not used to define the current database, such as atmospheric currents and these would require gathering more information, and co-ordination of efforts between multiple ecoregions. However, the Global 200 ecoregions can help these efforts by identifying habitat sites and it may also help identify the origin of invasive species, and offer insights for slowing down or stopping their intrusion
