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The preservation of the Cape flora : status, causes of rarity, ideals and priorities
Includes bibliographies.
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| Main Author: | |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology
2015
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| _version_ | 1867613283144433665 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Rebelo, Anthony G |
| author2 | Siegfried, W R |
| author_browse | Rebelo, Anthony G Siegfried, W R |
| author_facet | Siegfried, W R Rebelo, Anthony G |
| author_sort | Rebelo, Anthony G |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Includes bibliographies. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/14229 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:33:40.116Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publishDateRange | 2015 |
| publishDateSort | 2015 |
| publisher | Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology |
| publisherStr | Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/14229 The preservation of the Cape flora : status, causes of rarity, ideals and priorities Rebelo, Anthony G Siegfried, W R Conservation Biology Includes bibliographies. The Cape Floristic Region (CFR), covering 90 000 km2, comprises one of the world's six floral kingdoms. With 8600 species, of which 68 per cent are endemic, it ranks amongst the richest of temperate and tropical floras. Although 19 per cent of the CFR occurs in nature reserves, by far the majority of the preserved area comprises Mountain Fynbos. Only 0.5 and 3 per cent of the original extent of Renoster Shrub/and Lowland Fynbos is preserved, respectively. In this study Fynbos vegetation is identified as the richest habitat for Red Data Book (RDB) plant, freshwater fish, amphibian, butterfly, and reptile species in southern Africa. The greater Cape Town metropolitan area is identified as containing by far the highest richness of RDB plant, butterfly, reptile and amphibian species in the CFR Thus, this area ranks globally as one of the most urgent conservation priorities. The study also illustrates that previously used methods for evaluating priority conservation areas have under-rated species-poor areas containing a high proportion of RDB species. By collecting for species richness, a far more realistic picture of threatened areas can be obtained from RDB taxa. This study predicts, using a priori hypotheses based on ecological traits, and finds, that seed dispersal and regeneration strategies are most strongly correlated with rarity, most specifically with distributional area. Using distributional data for the Proteaceae, this study estimates that 95 per cent of all vascular plant species in Fynbos can be preserved in 16 per cent of the area. It also identifies the sites that require preservation if the maximum protection of floral diversity is to be realized. Two null models for evaluating the efficiency of a spatial configuration of reserves are proposed. Utilizing an iterating selection procedure, this study explores various algorithms, based on species richness and rarity, to construct ideal reserve configurations. This study provides the first empirical confirmation that the ideal approach to designing a reserve configuration is to identify areas of high endemism and richness in distinctive vegetation types within particular biogeographical regions. Thus, this study pioneers the use of RDB data to identify priority conservation regions, provides one of the first assessments of the causes of rarity in plants and establishes useful null models and algorithms for the identification and testing of ideal reserve locations in the design of integrated reserve networks. Not only does this study contribute towards theoretical reserve selection procedures, but it provides one of the most advanced frameworks for the preservation of a top conservation priority in the world, the CFR. 2015-10-14T12:30:02Z 2015-10-14T12:30:02Z 1992 Doctoral Thesis Doctoral PhD http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14229 eng application/pdf Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology Faculty of Science University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Conservation Biology Rebelo, Anthony G The preservation of the Cape flora : status, causes of rarity, ideals and priorities |
| thesis_degree_str | Doctoral |
| title | The preservation of the Cape flora : status, causes of rarity, ideals and priorities |
| title_full | The preservation of the Cape flora : status, causes of rarity, ideals and priorities |
| title_fullStr | The preservation of the Cape flora : status, causes of rarity, ideals and priorities |
| title_full_unstemmed | The preservation of the Cape flora : status, causes of rarity, ideals and priorities |
| title_short | The preservation of the Cape flora : status, causes of rarity, ideals and priorities |
| title_sort | preservation of the cape flora status causes of rarity ideals and priorities |
| topic | Conservation Biology |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14229 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT rebeloanthonyg thepreservationofthecapeflorastatuscausesofrarityidealsandpriorities AT rebeloanthonyg preservationofthecapeflorastatuscausesofrarityidealsandpriorities |