Namaqualand is a winter-rainfall desert of some 50 000 km 2, located in north-western
South Africa. For a desert ecosystem, the region is characterized by a unique selective …

The plant diversity of the Cape Floristic Region is regarded as being exceptional in an
ecological and evolutionary context. The region supports about double the number of …

The distribution and abundance of trees can be strongly affected by disturbance such as fire.
In mixed tree/grass ecosystems, recurrent grass‐fuelled fires can strongly suppress tree …

The role of fire in determining biome distribution in South Africa has long been debated.
Acocks labelled veld types that he thought were 'fire climax'as 'false'. He hypothesised that …

Like island-endemic taxa, whose origins are expected to postdate the appearance of the
islands on which they occur, biome-endemic taxa should be younger than the biomes to …

This paper investigates the role of heterogeneity and speciation/extinction history in
explaining variation in regional scale (c. 0.1–3000 km2) plant diversity in the Cape Floristic …

We present the approach and results of an intuitive, expert-based map** exercise to
identify subtropical thicket (including Acocks'(1953) Valley Bushveld, Noorsveld and …

The origin of the grassy habit during the Eocene and the development of C4 grasses during
the Miocene/Pliocene boundary are discussed before the origin of primary and secondary …

In order to define criteria for long-term climate change models in Southern Africa, an
overview of the available pollen data during the Late Quaternary is needed. Here we …

Aim The high amount of species diversity concentrated in southern Africa has been
attributed to palaeoclimatic factors, and the timing of radiations in some taxa corresponds to …