Patterns of endemism in the limestone flora of South African lowland fynbos

Willis, Christopher K.; Cowling, Richard M.; Lombard, Amanda T.

doi:10.1007/bf00056292

Cited by 28 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 25 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Major (1998) noted that endemic species are frequently perennial herbs and shrubs. Studies around the world agree that endemic species tend to be shrubs, for instance in South Africa (Cowling and Holmes 1992;Trinder-Smith et al 1996;Willis et al 1996), and the Juan Fernandez Islands near Chile (Stuessy et al 1992). In New Zealand rare endemic species are not significantly different from other species in terms of life history traits (Rogers and Walker 2002), but a different study of New Zealand endemic species are more likely to be woody, and non-endemics are more likely to be herbaceous, like ferns, other seedless vascular plant, and orchids (McGlone et al 2001).…”

Section: Life History Traitsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Rare plants at the extremes of distribution: broadly and narrowly distributed rare species

Mills

Schwartz

2005

Biodivers Conserv

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The flora of North America north of Mexico was used to study rare species at the two extremes of geographic distribution: endemic species, those with large local populations but small geographic ranges, and suffusively rare species, those with small local populations but large geographic ranges. The taxonomic distribution, geographic distribution, and life history characteristics of the two groups were compared. Only 2% of North American species are suffusively rare, while 22.6% of species are endemic to one state or province. Suffusively rare species are significantly more likely to be seedless vascular plants and monocots than expected, and are less likely to be eudicots. Conversely, endemic species are more likely to be eudicots, and less likely to be monocots. Suffusively rare species are most abundant in Canada and the northeastern United States, whereas there are few endemic species in those areas. The highest proportions of endemic species are found in California, Florida, and Texas. Wetland habitats support many suffusively rare species, but few endemic species. Neither are common in alpine habitats. Suffusively rare and endemic species also differ in the dominant growth form. Suffusively rare species are most likely to be herbaceous eudicots, and less likely to be shrubs or shrub-herbs. Endemic species are also likely to be herbaceous, but are also frequently shrubs. A high proportion of endemic species exhibit plasticity in growth form, whereas few suffusively rare species have plastic growth forms. While both groups contain rare species, they differ considerably in geographic distribution and life history traits.

show abstract

Section: Life History Traitsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Rare plants at the extremes of distribution: broadly and narrowly distributed rare species

Mills

Schwartz

2005

Biodivers Conserv

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The latter is surprising, despite this biome's small size (0.6% of fire‐prone biomes in the subregion), for several reasons. Fire is considered vital in this biome (Cowling 1992), the fynbos is the major constituent of the geographically smallest floral kingdom (Low & Rebelo 1996), and there are many species endemic to the biome (see Lombard 1995; Picker & Samways 1996; Willis et al . 1996).…”

Section: Hierarchical Scope and Biome Coveragementioning

confidence: 99%

Burning issues for conservation: A critique of faunal fire research in Southern Africa

2003

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Fire is a key ecological process in several biomes worldwide. Although many conservation agencies have the protection of biodiversity as at least one of their major goals, information on the effects of fire on fauna in these biomes is fragmentary. Here we provide an overview of the published research undertaken to date on the effects of fire on fauna using examples from Southern Africa. We found that few studies have examined the effects of fire on amphibians or reptiles, and work on invertebrates is likewise sparse. The majority of studies that have been published are observational reports, and few experimental studies have been undertaken using an experimental fire regime, or over appropriately long time intervals. Replication was often not reported and where this was done, it was generally inadequate. The majority of the studies failed to report the area over which the studies were undertaken and sampling unit size was often not reported. Despite the importance of fire duration, ignition method, season and time of day of fire, few studies investigated these variables. We conclude that at present the information on the effects of fire on fauna in Southern Africa is fragmentary and, consequently, informed management decisions regarding the consequences of burning policies on the conservation of biodiversity both within and outside protected areas are problematic. We recommend that future studies, both in Southern Africa and elsewhere, be based on a suite of largescale and experimental approaches (the latter firmly grounded in the principles of sound experimental design), use non-classical statistics to explore the effects of large-scale or unreplicated fires, and where possible include baseline information such as that gathered in fragmentation experiments.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On large land masses, the formation of natural regional islands is associated with the development of distinctive local climatic, edaphic and/or vegetative characteristics. These islands often contain species assemblages with high proportions of localized taxa (Catling, 1995;Willis et al, 1996;Davis, 1997;Harding & Winterbourne, 1997;Lombard et al, 1997;Simmons et al, 1998;Schmiedal & Juergens, 1999). Localization may occur as a result of the region acting as an eco-climatically stable refuge for relict populations of old lineages or due to the region acting as an ecologically isolated centre of taxon divergence over evolutionary time (Cronk, 1997;Fjeldsá & Lovett, 1997;Fjeldsá et al, 1999).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing representation of localized dung beetles across a chronosequence of regenerating vegetation and natural dune forest in South Africa

Davis

Aarde

Scholtz

et al. 2002

Global Ecology and Biogeography

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Aim Species assemblages with high proportions of localized taxa occur in regional islands with a history of strong eco‐climatic separation from adjacent systems. Current disturbance in such islands of relictualism or endemism disrupts the distinctive local character in favour of regionally distributed taxa with a wider range of tolerances. However, rehabilitation of the system should restore the localized biota. Thus, we used biogeographical composition to assess progress towards restoration of the dung beetle fauna associated with such an island of endemism following dredge‐mining. Location The study was conducted in natural coastal dune forest and a 23‐year chronosequence of regenerating dune vegetation in the Maputaland centre of endemism, KwaZulu‐Natal, South Africa. Methods Dung beetles were trapped in eight stands of regenerating vegetation of different ages (< 1 year to ~21 years) and in four stands of natural dune forest with differing ecological characteristics defined by measurements of vegetative physiognomy and microclimate. Species groups defined from multivariate analysis of biogeographical distribution patterns and vegetation associations were used to demonstrate quantitative compositional changes in the dung beetle assemblages across the chronosequence to natural forest. Results Three biogeographical groups were defined. One group comprised species widespread in southern Africa or both southern and east Africa. The other two groups were endemic, one to the east coast and the other to Maputaland. There was a general trend from dominance by regionally distributed dung beetle taxa to dominance by locally distributed taxa across the chronosequence of regenerating vegetation from grassland, to open Acacia karroo thicket, to dense A. karroo‐dominated woodland. However, this trend was linked closely to the relative physiognomic and microclimatic similarity between the regenerating vegetation and natural forest. Thus, proportions of locally distributed taxa were lower in older chronosequence woodland (~18–~21 years) with its low canopy cover and open understorey than in dense early chronosequence woodland (~9–~12 years), which is physiognomically and microclimatically closer to species‐diverse natural forest with its dense canopy and understorey. Overall, the present dung beetle community comprises five species groups. Single widespread (21 spp.) and endemic groups (14 spp.) showed similar patterns of association with early chronosequence grassland and open thicket stands. A single widespread (3 spp.) and two endemic shade‐associated groups (3 and 11 spp.) showed differing patterns of association centred, respectively, in late chronosequence woodland, natural forest, or all shaded stands. Main conclusions At 23 years, vegetative regeneration is still at an early stage, but abundant activity of most, although not all species recorded in natural forest, is recovered with the closure of the woodland canopy at ~9 years. Compositional differences with respect to natural forest vary closely with vegeta...

show abstract

Patterns of endemism in the limestone flora of South African lowland fynbos

Cited by 28 publications

References 25 publications

Rare plants at the extremes of distribution: broadly and narrowly distributed rare species

Rare plants at the extremes of distribution: broadly and narrowly distributed rare species

Burning issues for conservation: A critique of faunal fire research in Southern Africa

Increasing representation of localized dung beetles across a chronosequence of regenerating vegetation and natural dune forest in South Africa

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About