Southern African Sand Forest
Encyclopedia
Southern African Sand Forest is a subtropical forest
ecoregion
of the Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests
] Biome
. It grows on ancient sand dunes in northern KwaZulu-Natal
and southern Mozambique
. In South Africa
these forests are known simply as Sand Forest, while in Mozambique they are known as Licuati Forest.
, and frequent sand mobilization events during climatic changes have resulted in some reworking of the dunes. The geological history of the region suggests that the current ecosystem
s here may be of recent derivation and many endemic plant taxa comply with the concept of neo-endemics (recent locally evolved species), and biological evolution (notably speciation
) is still in an active phase.
s and moss
es are scarce, and the activities of termites appear to limit the accumulation of leaf litter. Sand forest has a distinct boundary and also exhibits a narrow zone of 1–2 m of nearly bare soil directly bordering it. There are indications that sand forest has allelopathic effects which may bring about this zone of inhibition and this aids in limiting fires spreading from the neighboring savannah in to the forest; creating a unique environment for itself.
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
ecoregion
Ecoregion
An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...
of the Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests
Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests
The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest biome, also known as tropical dry forest, is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive several hundred centimeters of rain per year, they have long dry seasons...
] Biome
Biome
Biomes are climatically and geographically defined as similar climatic conditions on the Earth, such as communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms, and are often referred to as ecosystems. Some parts of the earth have more or less the same kind of abiotic and biotic factors spread over a...
. It grows on ancient sand dunes in northern KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal is a province of South Africa. Prior to 1994, the territory now known as KwaZulu-Natal was made up of the province of Natal and the homeland of KwaZulu....
and southern Mozambique
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
. In South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
these forests are known simply as Sand Forest, while in Mozambique they are known as Licuati Forest.
Origins
Sand forests are thought to be relics of coastal dune forests which have been separated from the ocean for more than a million years as the shoreline has shifted slowly eastwards over the millennia. Dunes have accreted on the southeast African coastal plain since the PliocenePliocene
The Pliocene Epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 2.588 million years before present. It is the second and youngest epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene Epoch...
, and frequent sand mobilization events during climatic changes have resulted in some reworking of the dunes. The geological history of the region suggests that the current ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
s here may be of recent derivation and many endemic plant taxa comply with the concept of neo-endemics (recent locally evolved species), and biological evolution (notably speciation
Speciation
Speciation is the evolutionary process by which new biological species arise. The biologist Orator F. Cook seems to have been the first to coin the term 'speciation' for the splitting of lineages or 'cladogenesis,' as opposed to 'anagenesis' or 'phyletic evolution' occurring within lineages...
) is still in an active phase.
Characteristics
Of the 225 Maputaland Centre plant endemic species, 30 are associated with sand forest and 20 are restricted to this vegetation type. Species typical of moist forests, such as fernFern
A fern is any one of a group of about 12,000 species of plants belonging to the botanical group known as Pteridophyta. Unlike mosses, they have xylem and phloem . They have stems, leaves, and roots like other vascular plants...
s and moss
Moss
Mosses are small, soft plants that are typically 1–10 cm tall, though some species are much larger. They commonly grow close together in clumps or mats in damp or shady locations. They do not have flowers or seeds, and their simple leaves cover the thin wiry stems...
es are scarce, and the activities of termites appear to limit the accumulation of leaf litter. Sand forest has a distinct boundary and also exhibits a narrow zone of 1–2 m of nearly bare soil directly bordering it. There are indications that sand forest has allelopathic effects which may bring about this zone of inhibition and this aids in limiting fires spreading from the neighboring savannah in to the forest; creating a unique environment for itself.
List of Trees (Incomplete)
List references- Pod Mahogany (Afzelia quanzensis)
- Flat-crown (Albizia adianthifoliaAlbizia adianthifoliaAlbizia adianthifolia is a tree in the Fabaceae family. It is commonly known as the Flat-crown. Its range extends from eastern South Africa to Tropical Africa.-Description:...
) - Green Thorn (Balanites maughamii)
- Sand Ivory (Berchemia sp. nov.)
- Sand Forest Num-num (Carissa tetramera)
- False Tamboti (Cleisanthus schlechteri)
- Tonga-kerrie (Cladostemon kirkii)
- Mozambique Coffee (Coffea racemosa)
- Zulu Coshwood (Cola greenwayi)
- Wild Mango (Cordyla Africana)
- Lavender Fever-berry (Croton gratissimusCroton gratissimusCroton gratissimus is a tropical African shrub or small tree with corky bark, growing to 8 m and belonging to the family of Euphorbiaceae or spurge...
) - Lavender-leaved Croton (Croton pseudopulchellus)
- Marsh Fever-berry (Croton steenkampianus)
- Sand Cabbage Tree (Cussonia arenicola)
- Glossy Flat-bean (Dalbergia nitidula)
- Sherbet Tree (Dialium schlechteri)
- Water Ironplum (Drypetes arguta)
- Swazi Ordeal Tree (Erythrophleum lasianthum)
- Quiver-leaf Fig (Ficus tremula)
- Galla-plum (Haplocoelum gallense)
- Red-heart Tree (Hymenocarida ulmoides)
- Sand Forest Gardenia (Hyperacanthus microphyllus)
- Pink Lannea (Lannea antiscorbutica)
- Red-hair Bush (Lasiodiscus pervillei subsp. pervillei)
- Lowveld Milkberry (Manilkara mochisia)
- Green-apple (Monodora junodii)
- Lebombo Wattle (Newtonia hildebrandtii)
- Zulu Loquat (Oxyanthus latifolius)
- False White Ash (Pseudobersama mossambicensis)
- Quar (Psydrax obovata)
- Sneezewood (Ptaeroxylon obliquum)
- Stink Bushwillow (Pteleopsis myrtifolia)
- Sand Canary-berry (Suregada zanzibariensis)
- Wild Mandarin (Toddaliopsis bremekampii)
- Large Cluster-pear (Uvaria lucida subsp. virens)
- Saddle-pod (Wrightia natalensis)
- Sand knobwood (Zanthoxylon leprieuri)