The Biodiversity of Cape Town is the variety and variability of life within the geographical extent of the
City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality, excluding the
Prince Edward Islands. The terrestrial vegetation is particularly diverse and much of it is endemic to the city and its vicinity. Terrestrial and freshwater animal life is heavily impacted by urban development and habitat degradation. Marine life of the waters immediately adjacent to the city along the
Cape Peninsula and in
False Bay is also diverse, and while also impacted by human activity, the habitats are relatively intact.
Floristic region (phytochorion)
The
City of Cape Town lies within the
Cape Floristic Kingdom, by far the smallest and most diverse of the earth's
six floristic kingdoms,[1] an area of extraordinarily high diversity and
endemism, and home to over 9,000
vascular plant species, of which 69 percent are endemic.[2] Much of this diversity is associated with the
fynbos biome, a Mediterranean-type, fire-prone shrubland.[2] The economical worth of fynbos biodiversity, based on harvests of fynbos products (e.g.
wildflowers) and
eco-tourism, is estimated to be in the region of
R77 million a year.[2] Thus, it is clear that the Cape Floristic Region has both economic and intrinsic biological value as a
biodiversity hotspot.[2]
Cape Town is located within a
Conservation Internationalbiodiversity hotspot and is home to a total of 19 different and distinct
vegetation types. (This enormous variety is mainly because the city is uniquely located at the convergence point of a great many different soil types and micro-climates.)
These 19 vegetation types are mostly restricted to unusually small areas, and several are completely
endemic to the city – occurring nowhere else in the world. Vegetation types include the following.[3][4]
Of the thousands of plant species that are indigenous to Cape Town, 190 are known to be
endemic to the city - occurring nowhere else in the world. In addition, there are over a hundred animal species that are also restricted to the city.[5] Endemic plant species include the following.[clarification needed][6][7][8][9][10]
^A.B. Low & A.G. Rebelo (eds). Vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho & Swaziland, a companion to the vegetation map of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. Dept Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Pretoria. 85pp.
ISBN0-621-17316-9.
^A.G. Rebelo, C. Boucher, N. Helme, L. Mucina, M.C. Rutherford et al. 2006. Fynbos Biome, in: L. Mucina & M.C. Rutherford (eds). The Vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. Strelitzia 19, pp 52‐219.
^Anthony G. Rebelo, Patricia M. Holmes, Clifford Dorse & Julia Wood. Cape Town: Averting a Biodiversity Megadisaster? Unpublished MS.