THE VEGETATION OF SOUTH AFRICA, LESOTHO AND SWAZILAND by L. Mucina; M.C.RutherfordReview by: Milan ChytrýFolia Geobotanica, Vol. 43, No. 4 (2008), pp. 461-463Published by: SpringerStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23064490 .

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Folia Geobot (2008) 43:461-468 DOI 10.1007/s 12224-008-9026-5

Book Reviews

Jindrich Chrtek • Jan Pergl

© Institute of Botany, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic 2008

L. Mucina & M.C. Rutherford (eds.): THE VEGETATION OF SOUTH

AFRICA, LESOTHO AND SWAZILAND; Strelitzia 19, South African National

Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria, 2006, 807 pp. Price USD 60.-, ISBN-13: 978-1

919976-21-1, ISBN-10: 1-919976-21-3

South Africa is a biologically intriguing country. It contains several biomes, ranging from forest to desert, and includes both winter-rainfall and summer-rainfall areas and

their respective vegetation formations. It harbours the world's richest temperate

flora. The smallest of the World's floral kingdoms, Capensis, is also entirely

contained in this country. Although the diversity of South Africa's biomes and vegetation types is

enormous, it has been traditionally described and understood better than elsewhere

in Africa. Generations of botanists and ecologists working in the southern part of the

African continent were influenced by the classical 1:1,500,000 vegetation map with

explanatory text by Acocks (1953). A new map, somewhat simplified in comparison

with Acock's map and with some modifications reflecting new knowledge, was

compiled by Low and Rebelo (1996) on a 1:1,850,000 scale. A comprehensive

description of the ecology of South African vegetation was summarized in a multi

authored monograph by Cowling et al. (1997). However, the accumulation of new

data, local vegetation maps and phytosociological studies from different parts of

South Africa by the early 1990s indicated that it was already time to start a new

J. Chrtek (El) Institute of Botany, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, CZ-251 43 Pruhonice, Czech Republic e-mail: chrtek@ibot.cas.cz

Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Charles University, CZ-128 01 Praha 2, Czech Republic

J. Pergl Institute of Botany, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, CZ-251 43 Pruhonice, Czech Republic e-mail: pergl@ibot.cas.cz

^ Springer

This content downloaded from 194.29.185.109 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 15:01:57 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

462 J. Chrtek, J. Perg]

synthesis. Therefore the National Botanical Institute (now South African National

Biodiversity Institute) initiated a new vegetation map project. In its earlier stage M.

O'Callaghan and D.J. McDonald coordinated the project; in the later, synthetic stage

(since 2000) L. Mucina and M.C. Rutherford took over the coordination and

editorial responsibility. In total, more than 100 people contributed to the map or the

accompanying text.

The resulting product is impressive. This heavy, A4-format, full-color book

contains the new 1:1,000,000 vegetation map of South Africa in an atlas format

consisting of 31 map sheets and further ca. 750 pages of concise explanatory text

supplemented with a number of photographs, graphs and tables. At the highest hierarchical level the map distinguishes nine biomes on the South African mainland

(Fynbos, Succulent Karoo, Desert, Nama-Karoo, Grassland, Savanna, Albany

Thicket, Indian Ocean Coastal Belt and Forest) and two biomes on the South

African subantarctic Prince Edward Islands (Subantarctic Tundra and Polar Desert).

Besides biomes, two groups of azonal vegetation are recognized: Inland Azonal

Vegetation and Coastal Vegetation. These biomes and azonal vegetation types are

further divided into 435 vegetation units, which are mapped in 17,796 polygons. The number of vegetation units is over six times that of Acocks or Low & Rebelo, and

the number of polygons ca. 32 times the number in Acocks and almost five times

that in Low & Rebelo. Many of the vegetation units are very local, a fact reflecting the high level of endemism and high beta-diversity of South African flora. Besides

presentation on the printed mapping sheets, the map is also available as electronic

shape files on a compact disc placed in a sleeve within the book cover. In some

areas, this electronic map contains details that could not be presented on the scale of

the printed map.

The extensive text describes all vegetation units distinguished in the map,

beginning with the list of synonymous or overlapping names used in the previous literature, and giving accounts of their distribution, vegetation and landscape features, geology and soils, climate, list of important taxa, remarks on conservation

and references. Besides these basic descriptive chapters, the book contains an

extensive general introduction to each biome, which puts individual vegetation units

in a broader context. These introductory texts are most interesting for those readers

who are looking for a bigger picture of South African vegetation rather than for local

details. They clearly summarize how each biome is dependent on climate, geology and soils, what is the basic structure of its vegetation, how it depends on different

environmental factors including animals, and what is its conservation status, threats

and required management actions. These topics are standard in most of the existing

vegetation monographs from all around the World. However, The Vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland surpasses most of the other monographs by its

emphasis on the evolutionary and historical explanations of current biogeographical patterns. The authors put together different pieces of current evidence from

palaeogeography, palaeontology, palaeoecology and evolutionary ecology and used

this information to explain possible causes of modern patterns and processes in

South African vegetation. This is a great example of how our understanding of

modern vegetation patterns can be enhanced by considering the processes that

occurred in the past, an approach that is also worthwhile for vegetation ecologists from other parts of the World.

Spring!

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Book reviews

The Vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland is a unique book and map. Its uniqueness is not only due to that of the flora and vegetation of this part of the

World, but also due to the elaboration of a huge amount of primary data, literature

sources and novel approach to interpretation of modern vegetation patterns. With its

publication, South Africa has an excellent source of information on its rich

biodiversity, and global vegetation science reached a new frontier.

References

Acocks JPH (1953) Veld types of South Africa. Mem Bot Surv South Afr 28:1-192 Low AB, Rebelo AG (eds) (1996) Vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. Department of Environmental Affairs & Tourism, Pretoria

Cowling RM, Richardson DM, Pierce SM (eds) (1997) Vegetation of southern

Africa. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

Milan Chytry Department of Botany and Zoology, Masaryk University, Kotlarska 2, CZ-611 37

Brno, Czech Republic

W. Renema (ed.): BIOGEOGRAPHY, TIME AND PLACE: DISTRIBUTIONS, BARRIERS, AND ISLANDS; Springer Verlag, Dordrecht, 2007, xii + 414 pp. Price GBP 130.50, ISBN 978-1-4020-6373-2

The book has been published as the 29th volume within the series Topics in

Geobiology. Its inclusion in this series indicates that it attempts to cover various

interdisciplinary research fields that focus on the history of life and the Earth's

changing environment. The main topics of the book thus concentrate on

understanding biodiversity patterns resulting from changing palaeogeographic configurations and available migration routes. The aim of the editor and authors

was to bring together data obtained from studies of both the extinct and extant

organisms. In this way, the volume attempts to overcome the barriers in cooperation between palaeontologists and zoologists that may have resulted from assumed

incompleteness of fossil records and the underestimation of the importance of

evolutionary time scales.

The volume includes 12 individual diverse chapters written by 19 authors. Some

chapters provide a thorough review of a particular problem, while others are

composed as original papers intended for journal publication. The contributions

employ a wide array of various organismal models, such as protozoans (foraminifera),

aquatic invertebrates (corals, brachiopods, molluscs), and vertebrates (reptiles, birds, mammals). Many chapters deal with insular faunas especially from the point of view of the relative importance of dispersal and/or vicariance events. Another common and desired objective of the contributions is to recognize biodiversity patterns and the

processes responsible for their generation. The course of evolution in high diversity

hotspots is examined, and the current models explaining these processes are critically evaluated. Contrasting patterns and mechanisms of extinction events are further

described, with emphasis on interactions between local environmental effects and

global climatic changes.

Springer

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