The preservation of the Cape flora : status, causes of rarity, ideals and priorities

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dc.contributor.advisorSiegfried, W Ren_ZA
dc.contributor.authorRebelo, Anthony Gen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-10-14T12:30:02Z
dc.date.available2015-10-14T12:30:02Z
dc.date.issued1992en_ZA
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographies.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThe 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.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationRebelo, A. G. (1992). <i>The preservation of the Cape flora : status, causes of rarity, ideals and priorities</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14229en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationRebelo, Anthony G. <i>"The preservation of the Cape flora : status, causes of rarity, ideals and priorities."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, 1992. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14229en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationRebelo, A. 1992. The preservation of the Cape flora : status, causes of rarity, ideals and priorities. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Rebelo, Anthony G AB - 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. DA - 1992 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 1992 T1 - The preservation of the Cape flora : status, causes of rarity, ideals and priorities TI - The preservation of the Cape flora : status, causes of rarity, ideals and priorities UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14229 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/14229
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationRebelo AG. The preservation of the Cape flora : status, causes of rarity, ideals and priorities. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, 1992 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14229en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentPercy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithologyen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherConservation Biologyen_ZA
dc.titleThe preservation of the Cape flora : status, causes of rarity, ideals and prioritiesen_ZA
dc.typeDoctoral Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelDoctoral
dc.type.qualificationnamePhDen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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