Patterns of vegetation and climate in the mediterranean zone of south africa

Abstract

A broadly defined mediterranean zone of South Africa includes regional climates of the desert, steppe, «true» mediterranean, and uniform rainfall types. Vegetation ranges from sparse succulent shrubland through sclerophyllous shrublands to forest. Various explanations of an experimental evidence for factors governing distribution of vegetation formations are summarised in this paper. © 1984 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.