Sand Forest2 Nibela Peninsula 24 05 2011

Southern African Sand Forest is a sand forest, or a

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

plant community A plant community is a collection or Association (ecology), association of plant species within a designated geographical unit, which forms a relatively uniform patch, distinguishable from neighboring patches of different vegetation types. The comp ...

of the

tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest is a habitat (ecology), habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature and is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-roun ...

biome A biome () is a distinct geographical region with specific climate, vegetation, and animal life. It consists of a biological community that has formed in response to its physical environment and regional climate. In 1935, Tansley added the ...

. It grows on ancient sand

dunes A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...

in northern

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

and southern

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

. In

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

these forests are known simply as Sand Forest, while in Mozambique they are known as Licuati Forest. The Southern African sand forest is part of the

Maputaland coastal forest mosaic The Maputaland coastal forest mosaic is a subtropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion on the Indian Ocean coast of Southern Africa. It covers an area of in southern Mozambique, Eswatini, and the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa. Mozambiq ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

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

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

s here may be of recent derivation and many

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

plant taxa comply with the concept of neo-endemics (recent locally evolved species), and

biological evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, resulting in certai ...

(notably

speciation Speciation is the evolutionary process by which populations evolve to become distinct species. The biologist Orator F. Cook coined the term in 1906 for cladogenesis, the splitting of lineages, as opposed to anagenesis, phyletic evolution within ...

) is still in an active phase.

Characteristics

Newtonia hildebrandtii Nibela Peninsula 24 05 2011

Cola greenwayi2 Nibela Peninsula 25 05 2011

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

fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

s and

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...

es are scarce, and the activities of

termites Termites are a group of detritophagous eusocial cockroaches which consume a variety of decaying plant material, generally in the form of wood, leaf litter, and soil humus. They are distinguished by their moniliform antennae and the sof ...

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 Allelopathy is a biological phenomenon by which an organism produces one or more biochemicals that influence the germination, growth, survival, and reproduction of other organisms. These biochemicals are known as allelochemicals and can have ben ...

effects which may bring about this zone of inhibition and this aids in limiting fires spreading from the neighboring savannah into the forest; creating a unique environment for itself.

List of trees (Incomplete)

List referencesPooley, E. (1993). ''The Complete Field Guide to Trees of Natal, Zululand and Transkei''. . * False Tamboti ('' Cleisanthus schlechteri'') * False White Ash ('' Pseudobersama mossambicensis'') * Flat-crown ('' Albizia adianthifolia'') * Galla-plum ('' Haplocoelum gallense'') * Glossy Flat-bean ('' Dalbergia nitidula'') * Green Thorn (''

Balanites maughamii ''Balanites maughamii'' (manduro, torchwood, , ) is a species of tree native to southern and eastern Africa. It ranges from Kenya through Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, the Caprivi Strip of Namibia, Eswatini, and the Northern Pr ...

'') * Green-apple (''

Monodora junodii ''Monodora junodii'' is a species of plant in the family Annonaceae. It is native to Eswatini, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler and Ludwig Diels, the German botanists who first formal ...

'') * Large Cluster-pear ('' Uvaria lucida'' subsp. ''virens'') * Lavender Fever-berry ('' Croton gratissimus'') * Lavender-leaved Croton ('' Croton pseudopulchellus'') * Lebombo Wattle (''

Newtonia hildebrandtii ''Newtonia hildebrandtii'', the Lebombo wattle (, ), is a medium-sized tree native to eastern Africa. It is a protected tree in South Africa. Description ''Newtonia hildebrandtii'' is a medium-sized tree growing to a height of about . The trunk ...

'') * Lowveld Milkberry ('' Manilkara mochisia'') * Marsh Fever-berry ('' Croton steenkampianus'') * Mozambique Coffee ('' Coffea racemosa'') * Pink Lannea ('' Lannea antiscorbutica'') * Pod Mahogany (''

Afzelia quanzensis ''Afzelia quanzensis'' (pod mahogany, , , ) is a species of tree native to sub-Saharan Africa. It ranges from Somalia and Democratic Republic of the Congo to South Africa. It is a protected tree in South Africa. It belongs to the subfamily Caesal ...

'') * Quar ('' Psydrax obovata'') * Quiver-leaf Fig ('' Ficus tremula'') * Red-hair Bush ('' Lasiodiscus pervillei'' subsp. ''pervillei'') * Red-heart Tree ('' Hymenocarida ulmoides'') * Saddle-pod ('' Wrightia natalensis'') * Sand Cabbage Tree (''

Cussonia arenicola ''Cussonia'' is a genus of plants of the family Araliaceae, which is native to the Afrotropics. It originated in Africa and has its center of distribution in South Africa and the Mascarene Islands. Due to their striking habit, they are a conspi ...

'') * Sand Canary-berry ('' Suregada zanzibariensis'') * Sand Forest Gardenia ('' Hyperacanthus microphyllus'') * Sand Ivory (''Berchemia sp. nov.'') * Sand Forest Num-num ('' Carissa tetramera'') * Sand knobwood ('' Zanthoxylon leprieuri'') * Sherbet Tree (''

Dialium schlechteri ''Dialium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, subfamily Dialioideae. Velvet tamarind is a common name for several species. The genus includes 37 species which range from the tropical Americas to sub-Saharan Africa, Madagasca ...

'') * Sneezewood ('' Ptaeroxylon obliquum'') * Stink Bushwillow (''

Pteleopsis myrtifolia ''Pteleopsis'' is a genus of plant in the family Combretaceae. ''Pteleopsis'' Engl. is often considered a synonym of ''Terminalia Terminalia may refer to: * Terminalia (festival) Terminalia () was an ancient Roman festival in honour of the ...

'') * Swazi Ordeal Tree (''

Erythrophleum lasianthum ''Erythrophleum'' is a genus of legume in the family Fabaceae. It includes ten species native to sub-Saharan Africa, Indochina, southern China, and northern Australia. Species ''Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is ...

'') * Tonga-kerrie ('' Cladostemon kirkii'') * Water Ironplum ('' Drypetes arguta'') * Wild Mandarin ('' Toddaliopsis bremekampii'') * Wild Mango (''

Cordyla africana ''Cordyla africana'' is a tall (up to ), deciduous African tree with a large, spreading, much-branched crown, and a bole of some dbh. It is a member of the large leguminous family Fabaceae, and is known as wild mango in some areas. It is found ...

'') * Zulu Coshwood ('' Cola greenwayi'') * Zulu Loquat ('' Oxyanthus latifolius'')

References

{{coord missing, South Africa Maputaland coastal forest mosaic Ecoregions of Africa Ecoregions of Mozambique Geography of KwaZulu-Natal Geography of Mozambique Forests of South Africa Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests

Origins

Characteristics

List of trees (Incomplete)

See also

References