Cape Flats Dune Strandveld is anendangered vegetation type. This is a unique type of Cape Strandveld that is endemic to the coastal areas aroundCape Town, South Africa, including theCape Flats.[1][2]
Strandveld means “beach scrub” in theAfrikaans language. It covers and stabilisessand dunes on the beaches around Cape Town, and is incredibly colourful in spring when it bursts into flower. It supports a very highbiomass of browsing animals, and in the past it was grazed by large herds.
The stronglyalkaline, calcareous dune sand of the coast lies over a base of olderlimestone. In some places, this limestone juts out of the dune sand, and forms impressive beach cliffs.Succulents form a high proportion of Strandveld plants, consequently, fires are much less common in Strandveld than in the neighbouringFynbos vegetation.
Cape Flats Dune Strandveld isendangered. More than half of the Cape’s Strandveld has been lost to urbanisation and the building of beach resorts, and only 14 percent of this unique vegetation type is actually conserved.
Nature preserves with Cape Flats Dune Strandveld habitat include:
Cape Strandveld vegetation is typically composed of areas of tall, evergreen shrubs, with great numbers of bulbs, grasses, succulents and annual flowers growing in between. Historically, dense forests of largeMilkwood trees used to exist at Noordhoek, Olifantsbos, Macassar and Gordons Bay.
Plants that are naturally found in Cape Strandveld include shrubs such asChrysanthemoides monilifera,Olea exasperata,Metalasia muricata,Roepera flexuosum,Rhus laevigata andRhus glauca; succulents such as Sour figs (Carpobrotus acinaciformis andCarpobrotus edulis) andMesembryanthemum species;Restios; herbs such asgeraniums and a great variety of daisies (Senecio elegans,Senecio burchellii,Dimorphotheca pluvialis and many others).
Larger trees that are indigenous to coastal Strandveld include:
There are alsoendemic plant species such asLampranthus tenuifolius.
The most similar vegetation types to CFDS areLangebaan Dune Strandveld andOverberg Dune Strandveld .[4][5]
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