8.1 3.1.2 biomes  (Page 4/6)

ACTIVITY: Do a poster to illustrate the Role-players in a Tree Ecosystem.

Bring pictures of animals, trees and other plants to class. The teacher will divide the class into groups.

Each group will prepare a poster to illustrate the mutual dependence of the trees, other plants and animals. Each group must present its poster to the restof the class.

Answer the following questions / follow the instructions arising from the class discussion:

QUESTIONS / INSTRUCTIONS

1. Supposing the tree on your poster was to fall over.
   1. Which organisms would die?
   2. Which organisms would move away?
   3. Which organisms would increase in number?
2. Describe the role played by trees in an ecosystem.
3. Ecologically speaking, why is it bad practice to rake up leaves under trees?
4. Name three more examples where humans harm ecosystems.

Fynbos

Fynbos grows in a 100-to-200-km-wide coastal belt stretching from Clanwilliam on the West coast to Port Elizabeth on the Southeast coast – forms part of the Cape floral kingdom , where it accounts for half of the surface area and 80% of the plant varieties. The fynbos in the western regions is richer and more varied than in the easternregions of South Africa.

Of the world's six floral kingdoms , this is the smallest and richest per area unit. Contrast it in size with the Holarctic kingdom, which incorporates the whole of the northern hemisphere apart from the tropical regions. The diversity of fynbos plants is extremely high, with over9000 species of plants occurring in the area, around 6200 of which are endemic , i.e. they do not grow anywhere else in the world.

The Cape Fynbos is the term given to a collection of plants that are mainly shrubs and is comprised of species belonging to South Africa's south westernand southern Cape. Fynbos can be defined as a shrubland with an unusual mixture of plant types of different shapes and sizes that have been termed, "growthforms". There are four of these growth forms; the proteoids - tall protea shrubs with large leaves; the ericoids – heath-like shrubs; reed-likeplants – the restoids; and bulbous herbs – the geophytes.

The mountain fynbos is found from Nieuwoudtville and Vanrhynsdorp south along the main mountain ranges to Cape Hangklip and the Cape Peninsula and then eastwards on themountains to near Grahamstown. The vegetation is characterised by ericoids (heather), restoids (reeds) and proteoid shrubs like proteas and conebushes.

Coastal fynbos is found along the western and southern coastlines of the Cape Province from sea-level to about 150m above sea-level, wherethe soil is usually alkaline to sour. There are two types:

Coastal fynbos of the West Coast sands, from the Cape Flats to Redelinghuys on the West Coast, and Coastal fynbos of the south coast limestone, from DangerPoint to Mossel Bay.

The Strandveld veld type is found mainly on the lower parts of the western coastal plains and could be regarded as a transitional stage between coastalfynbos and Karooveld. Some patches may be found on the southern coast as far as close to Port Elizabeth.