The Albany thickets is an

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

of dense woodland in southern

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

, which is concentrated around the Albany region of the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

(whence the region's name originates).

Geography

The

thicket A thicket is a very dense stand of trees or tall shrubs, often dominated by only one or a few species, to the exclusion of all others. They may be formed by species that shed large numbers of highly viable seeds that are able to germinate in t ...

s grow on well-drained sandy soils in the wide valleys of the

Great Fish The Great Fish River (called ''great'' to distinguish it from the Namibian Fish River) ( af, Groot-Visrivier) is a river running through the South African province of the Eastern Cape. The coastal area between Port Elizabeth and the Fish Riv ...

Sundays The Sundays were an English alternative rock band, formed in the late 1980s, which released three albums throughout the 1990s. The band's beginnings came with the meeting of singer Harriet Wheeler and guitarist David Gavurin while attending ...

and

Gamtoos River Gamtoos River or Gamptoos River is a river in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. It is formed by the confluence of the Kouga River and the Groot River and is approximately long with a catchment area of . Course The Gamtoos river system ...

in the

and, extending further northwest, in the valleys of the

Cape Fold Belt The Cape Fold Belt is a fold and thrust belt of late Paleozoic age, which affected the sequence of sedimentary rock layers of the Cape Supergroup in the southwestern corner of South Africa. It was originally continuous with the Ventana Mount ...

. Thicket is vulnerable to fire and to grazing so has always been restricted to valley areas where these are less of a threat than on open plains.

Climate

The climate is dry, especially as one proceeds inland, but the shady valleys are cooler than the surrounding terrain which is hot in summer, cold in winter and receives irregular rainfall.

Flora

The thickets contain many endemic plants, in particular

succulent In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...

Euphorbia ''Euphorbia'' is a very large and diverse genus of flowering plants, commonly called spurge, in the family Euphorbiaceae. "Euphorbia" is sometimes used in ordinary English to collectively refer to all members of Euphorbiaceae (in deference to t ...

'' species and can be divided into three sections of varying habitat. The thicket is richest and most dense in the river valleys near the coast where it contains thorny shrubs with an undergrowth of creepers and succulent plants. As the river valleys climb inland and upstream the climate is drier and the vegetation less dense. Finally the shrubland in mountain valleys to the northwest consists of predominantly the porkbush (''Portulacaria afra'') and

jade plant ''Crassula ovata'', commonly known as jade plant, lucky plant, money plant or money tree, is a succulent plant with small pink or white flowers that is native to the KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa, and Mozambique; ...

(''Crassula ovata'') succulents, along with

boxthorn ''Lycium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. The genus has a disjunct distribution around the globe, with species occurring on most continents in temperate and subtropical regions. South America has the mos ...

(''Lycium austrinum''),

jacketplum ''Pappea capensis'' is a South African tree in the family Sapindaceae. It is the only species in the genus ''Pappea''. Common names Common names include Jacket plum, Indaba tree and bushveld cherry. In other languages, it is known as: ' (Afri ...

(''Pappea capensis''), ''

Euclea undulata ''Euclea'', from the Greek '' eukleia'' meaning "glory and fame", denotes a group of flowering plants in the Ebenaceae or ebony family. They were described as a genus by Linnaeus in 1774. The genus includes evergreen trees and shrubs, nati ...

'', ''

Rhigozum obovatum ''Rhigozum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae. ''Rhigozum'' is a flowering shrub or small tree which is native to the drier areas of Africa. It can grow to 3 metres in height. This genus is characterised by branches w ...

'',

aloe ''Aloe'' (; also written ''Aloë'') is a genus containing over 650 species of flowering succulent plants.WFO (2022): Aloe L. Published on the Internet;http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-4000001341. Accessed on: 06 Nov 2022 The most wi ...

s and ''

Schotia afra ''Schotia afra'' is a flowering plant in the legume family, Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Detarioideae. It occurs in Southern Africa. The genus was named for Richard van der Schot by Jacquin who was the director of the Imperial Gardens ...

''. Along with the

fynbos Fynbos (; meaning fine plants) is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. This area is predominantly coastal and mountainous, with a Mediterranean clim ...

ecoregions the Albany thickets comprise the Cape Floristic Region.

Fauna

Birds in this area include

black goshawk The black sparrowhawk (''Accipiter melanoleucus''), sometimes known as the black goshawk or great sparrowhawk, is the largest African member of the genus ''Accipiter''.Arkive. Black goshawk (''Accipiter melanoleucus''). In: Arkive: Images of Lif ...

black-headed oriole The black-headed oriole (''Oriolus larvatus'') is a species of bird in the family Oriolidae. It is found in Africa and has a very striking appearance with a bright yellow body, contrasting black head and flesh-coloured beak. Taxonomy and sy ...

and two species which are almost

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the Cape area, the

orange-breasted sunbird The orange-breasted sunbird (''Anthobaphes violacea'') is a species of small, predominantly nectar-feeding bird that is endemic to the fynbos shrubland biome of southwestern South Africa. It is the only member of the genus ''Anthobaphes'', in th ...

and Cape siskin. There is one near-endemic mammal

Duthie's golden mole Duthie's golden mole (''Chlorotalpa duthieae'') is a species of mammal in the family Chrysochloridae. It is endemic to South Africa. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, moist savanna, temperate grassland, ar ...

(''Chlorotalpat duthieae'') and in the inland valleys,

Addo Elephant National Park Addo Elephant National Park is a diverse wildlife conservation park situated close to Gqeberha in South Africa and is one of the country's 20 national parks. It currently ranks third in size after Kruger National Park and the Kgalagadi Transfro ...

is home to

African bush elephant The African bush elephant (''Loxodonta africana'') is one of two extant African elephant species and one of three extant elephant species. It is the largest living terrestrial animal, with bulls reaching a shoulder height of up to and a body ...

(''Loxodonta africana''),

black rhinoceros The black rhinoceros, black rhino or hook-lipped rhinoceros (''Diceros bicornis'') is a species of rhinoceros, native to eastern and southern Africa including Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Tanzania ...

(''Diceros bicornis'') and

antelope The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelope comprise a wastebasket taxon defined as any of numerous Old World grazing and browsing hoofed mamm ...

s such as

bushbuck The Cape bushbuck (''Tragelaphus sylvaticus'') is a common and a widespread species of antelope in sub-Saharan Africa.Wronski T, Moodley Y. (2009)Bushbuck, harnessed antelope or both? ''Gnusletter'', 28(1):18-19. Bushbuck are found in a wide ran ...

(''Tragelaphus scriptus''),

grey rhebok The grey rhebok or gray rhebuck (''Pelea capreolus''), locally known as the ''reebok'' in Afrikaans, is a species of antelope native to South Africa, Lesotho, and Eswatini (Swaziland). The specific name ''capreolus'' is Latin for 'little goat' ...

(''Pelea capreolus''), mountain reedbuck (''Redunca fulvorufula''),

common eland The common eland (''Taurotragus oryx''), also known as the southern eland or eland antelope, is a savannah and plains antelope found in East and Southern Africa. It is a species of the family Bovidae and genus '' Taurotragus''. An adult male is ...

(''Taurotragus oryx''),

greater kudu The greater kudu (''Tragelaphus strepsiceros'') is a woodland antelope found throughout eastern and southern Africa. Despite occupying such widespread territory, they are sparsely populated in most areas due to declining habitat, deforestation, ...

(''Tragelaphus strepsiceros''),

red hartebeest The red hartebeest (''Alcelaphus buselaphus caama''), also called the Cape hartebeest or Caama, is a subspecies of the hartebeest found in Southern Africa. More than 130,000 individuals live in the wild. The red hartebeest is closely related to t ...

(''Alcelaphus buselaphus''),

Cape grysbok The Cape or southern grysbok (''Raphicerus melanotis'') is a small antelope that is endemic to the Western Cape region of South Africa between Albany and the Cederberg mountains. Description left, Illustrated in ''The Book of Antelopes'' (18 ...

(''Raphicerus melanotis'') and

common duiker The common duiker (''Sylvicapra grimmia''), also known as the grey or bush duiker, is a small antelope and the only member of the genus ''Sylvicapra''. This species is found everywhere in Africa south of the Sahara, excluding the Horn of Africa ...

(''Sylvicapra grimmia'').

Threats and preservation

A large part of the region has been converted for agriculture or reduced by grazing, especially by goats. This is a continuous threat especially in the river valleys near the coast, which are also vulnerable to clearance for urban areas and tourist resorts. Protected areas include Addo Elephant National Park near

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, So ...

, the Groendal Wilderness Area near

Uitenhage Uitenhage ( ; ), officially renamed Kariega, is a South African town in the Eastern Cape Province. It is well known for the Volkswagen factory located there, which is the biggest car factory on the African continent. Along with the city of Port E ...

on the

Swartkops River Swartkops River, also Zwartskop River, (Afrikaans: ''black hills'') is a watercourse in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The source of the Swartkops is near Cockscombe Mountain, and it flows east into the Algoa Bay of the Indian Ocean ...

, and the

Baviaanskloof Mega Reserve Baviaanskloof Mega Reserve is a protected area in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Characteristics The Baviaanskloof - (Dutch for "Valley of Baboons") - lies between the Baviaanskloof and Kouga mountain ranges. The easternmost point of ...

References

External links

* {{Regions of Africa Afrotropical ecoregions Ecoregions of South Africa Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub Sclerophyll forests