The winter rainfall district of south-western and southern Cape Province in South Africa comprises an EBA, which extends from the Cedarberg mountains near Clanwilliam, south to the Cape of Good Hope, and then eastwards to just west of Algoa Bay. This is the Cape shrubland (fynbos) zone of White (1983). The landscape is dominated by mountain ranges with an average altitude of 1,000-1,500 m. The prevalent vegetation is fynbos, which most characteristically occurs in the form of sclerophyllous shrubland 1-3 m tall. There is some overlap between this EBA and the South African forests (EBA 089), but the restricted-range species of the latter are birds of evergreen forest which seldom enter fynbos vegetation.

The restricted-range species are all widespread within the EBA (see Hockey et al. 1989). They are found in Cape fynbos and open, rocky areas from near sea-level to the higher mountain slopes. Two species are particularly associated with Protea bushes.

The Cape fynbos, often referred to as the Cape Floristic Region or Kingdom, is remarkable for the high levels of plant diversity and endemism; a total of approximately 8,579 vascular plant species have been recorded in this biome, of which about 68% are endemic (WWF/IUCN 1994). Lowland fynbos is highly threatened by crop farming and urbanization, and both lowland and mountain fynbos are affected by commercial afforestation, dam-building and uncontrolled burning (D. G. Allan in litt. 1993). Large parts of the Cape lowlands, where not cultivated, are today occupied by secondary shrubland. However, the restricted-range birds all appear to be adaptable to man-modified habitats, and none is classified as threatened. A more widespread threatened species which occurs in the EBA is Cape Griffon Gyps coprotheres (classified as Vulnerable).

About 35 protected areas have been established to conserve the Cape fynbos, principally because of its botanical importance (see IUCN 1992b), and it is estimated that 26% of the EBA is included within protected areas (Allan and Nuttall 1995).

Stattersfield, A. J., Crosby, M. J., Long, A. J. and Wege, D. C. (1998) Endemic Bird Areas of the World. Priorities for biodiversity conservation. BirdLife Conservation Series 7. Cambridge, UK: BirdLife International.

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Endemic Bird Area factsheet: Cape fynbos. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/eba/factsheet/105 on 27/12/2024.