
Modern vegetation at the Klasies River archaeological sites, Tsitsikamma coast, south-eastern Cape, South Africa: a reference collection
Methods – Herb, shrub, tree, grass, fern and geophyte voucher specimens were collected in 24 areas in the vicinity of the Klasies River sites, and further inland within a 5km radius, between 2013 and 2015. The collecting was done at different times of year so that all stages of the flowering, fruiting and seeding cycles for most plants could be sampled.
Key results – A total of 268 species, in 196 genera and 78 families were collected. Only 69 of these 268 species currently appear on the relevant database grid of the Integrated Biodiversity Information System (SIBIS), the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI). Our work clearly indicates the need for thorough and systematic collecting at archaeologically significant sites in the Cape region to provide further environmental proxies for the interpretation and contextualisation of the development of anatomically modern human behaviour.
Conclusions – The Klasies River landscape, although located within the broad Fynbos Biome, cannot be classified as such, as relatively few fynbos species are represented in the core area surrounding the sites. The vegetation is in fact a complex mosaic of thicket, forest and coastal vegetation. This densely interdigitated vegetation provides a wide variety of useful resources.
36 References.
1 item.
Keywords: COASTAL VEGETATION; EDIBLE PLANTS; FOREST; FYNBOS; KLASIES RIVER ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES; MEDICINAL PLANTS; SOUTH-EASTERN CAPE; SOUTHERN CAPE; THICKET; TSITSIKAMMA REGION
Document Type: Regular Paper
Publication date: April 1, 2017
Plant Ecology and Evolution (a continuation of Belgian Journal of Botany, incorporating Systematics and Geography of Plants) is an international journal devoted to ecology, phylogenetics and systematics of all ‘plant' groups in the traditional sense (including algae, cyanobacteria, fungi, myxomycetes), also covering related fields such as comparative and developmental morphology, conservation biology, evolution, phytogeography, pollen and spores, population biology, and vegetation studies. It is published by Meise Botanic Garden and the Royal Botanical Society of Belgium and contains original research papers, review articles, checklists, short communications and book reviews.
- Editorial Board
- Submit a Paper
- Subscribe to this Title
- Belgian Journal of Botany
- Systematics and Geography of Plants
- Ingenta Connect is not responsible for the content or availability of external websites