Rate Of Return
African Birdlife|July - August 2020
Fynbos is a fire climax community, which means that it requires fire to persist. The dominance of fynbos in the south-western tip of Africa is intimately linked to the occurrence of fires.
Peter Ryan
Rate Of Return
Fynbos became the dominant vegetation type in the region some 4 million years ago, when fire displaced most of the region’s forests. However, recent studies indicate that fire played a key role in the evolution of this unique flora at least 20 million years ago and may have shaped its earliest origins some 70 million years ago.

Fynbos plants use a variety of strategies to survive fires. Some re-sprout from underground storage organs, some store their seeds in woody cones that only open after fire, and others rely on ants to bury their seeds, which require specific chemical signals found in wood smoke to germinate. Linked to these diverse survival strategies, plants also differ in their ideal inter-fire interval. Some species, like the fire lilies, emerge immediately after a fire, flower and set seed, then remain dormant until the next fire. For them, frequent fires are beneficial. Others, like some proteas, are obligate re-seeders that require sufficient time between fires for their seeds to germinate and grow into plants large enough to produce a good crop of seeds before the next fire.

Botanists still debate the ideal fire frequency, but it is generally thought to be in the range of 12 to 20 years, depending on rainfall – higher rainfall generally leads to faster regrowth and thus shorter intervals between fires. However, it is clear that at a landscape scale, plant diversity is maximised by having a mosaic of different-aged stands of fynbos.

This story is from the July - August 2020 edition of African Birdlife.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the July - August 2020 edition of African Birdlife.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM AFRICAN BIRDLIFEView All
EXPLORING NEW HORIZONS
African Birdlife

EXPLORING NEW HORIZONS

Keith Barnes, co-author of the new Field Guide to Birds of Greater Southern Africa, chats about the long-neglected birding regions just north of the Kunene and Zambezi, getting back to watching birds and the vulture that changed his life.

time-read
5 mins  |
May/June 2024
footloose IN FYNBOS
African Birdlife

footloose IN FYNBOS

The Walker Bay Diversity Trail is a leisurely hike with a multitude of flowers, feathers and flavours along the way.

time-read
6 mins  |
May/June 2024
Living forwards
African Birdlife

Living forwards

How photographing birds helps me face adversity

time-read
10 mins  |
May/June 2024
CAPE crusade
African Birdlife

CAPE crusade

The Cape Bird Club/City of Cape Town Birding Big Year Challenge

time-read
5 mins  |
May/June 2024
water & WINGS
African Birdlife

water & WINGS

WATER IS LIFE. As wildlife photographer Greg du Toit knows better than most.

time-read
1 min  |
May/June 2024
winter wanderer
African Birdlife

winter wanderer

as summer becomes a memory in the south, the skies are a little quieter as the migrants have returned to the warming north. But one bird endemic to the southern African region takes its own little winter journey.

time-read
1 min  |
May/June 2024
when perfect isn't enough
African Birdlife

when perfect isn't enough

Egg signatures and forgeries in the cuckoo-drongo arms race

time-read
5 mins  |
May/June 2024
Southern SIGHTINGS
African Birdlife

Southern SIGHTINGS

The late summer period naturally started quietening down after the midsummer excitement, but there were still some classy rarities on offer for birders all over the subregion. As always, none of the records included here have been adjudicated by any of the subregion's Rarities Committees.

time-read
4 mins  |
May/June 2024
flood impact on wetland birds
African Birdlife

flood impact on wetland birds

One of the features of a warming planet is increasingly erratic rainfall; years of drought followed by devastating floods. Fortunately, many waterbirds are pre-adapted to cope with such extremes, especially in southern Africa where they have evolved to exploit episodic rainfall events in semi-arid and arid regions. But how do waterbirds respond to floods in areas where rainfall - and access to water - is more predictable? Peter Ryan explores the consequences of recent floods on the birds of the Western Cape's Olifants River valley.

time-read
5 mins  |
May/June 2024
a star is born
African Birdlife

a star is born

It’s every producer’s dream to plan a wildlife television series and pick the right characters before filming.

time-read
2 mins  |
May/June 2024