PHYTOGEOGRAPHY of NAMIBIA: I.E. Geographical Distributions of Plants

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PHYTOGEOGRAPHY OF NAMIBIA: i.e. geographical distributions of plants. The world flora may be mapped in different ways depending on the botanical criteria used for defining mapping units. When spatial data are used without considering the precise criteria used to define such data, results may be confusing. Two research traditions in biogeography are generally recognized, namely ecological and historical biogeography (Rosen 1988), however there are approaches that fit neither of these traditions. Ecological phytogeography is based on growth form of plants regardless of their taxonomic identity, e.g. biomes; or based on growth form and/or floristic composition, regardless of distribution ranges of taxa. Historical phytogeography is based on the total geographical range of taxa, regardless of their growth forms, e.g. the flora (the constituent plant taxa of an area, usually global); or phytogeographic region (an area with its own distinctive complement of species). It is a taxon-centred approach focussed on species, genera and/or families. The follow maps show the various ways in which the vegetation and flora of Namibia have been interpreted and mapped. Biomes Vegetation Vegetation structure structure Biomes Endemism Diversity Endemism Diversity Mendelsohn et al. 2002. Atlas of Namibia. David Phillip Publishers, Cape Town. White (1983)’s divisions in Namibia 22 Dry deciduous forest & secondary grassland 28 Mopane woodland & scrub woodland 35 Transition:woodland to Acacia deciduous bushland & wooded grassland. 36 Transition: mopane scrub woodland to Karoo-Namib shrubland 44 Kalahari Acacia wooded grassland & deciduous bushland 47 Brachystegia thicket && edaphic grassland 51 Bushy Karoo-Namib shrubland 56 Kalahari/Karoo-Namib transition 74 The Namib desert (Namib) 75 Herbabeous swamp & aquatic 76 Halophytic vegetation Kaokoveld Gariep Centres of plant diversity and endemism (Van Wyk & Smith 2000 ) The Greater Cape Floristic Region (GCFR) Is it only south of the border? Or in Namibia? (Born, J., Linder, H.P. & Desmet, P. 2007. The Greater Cape Floristic Region . Journal of Biogeography 34: 147–162) Floristic groups of Namibia (Craven 2009).

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