African Wildlife & Environment Issue 79

FAUNA, FLORA & WILDLIFE

types and common names of plants (not just birds and mammals). Before going any further, there are some environmental parameters that need to be met before a proper forest will develop. As a rule-of- thumb, for forest to thrive the annual rainfall needs to be around 1,000 mm pa or more (if less then there

are dependent on the whole community for their integrity. Thus, a forest is like an organism that needs all the parts to make a whole. This can also be referred to as a quasi-organism. Thus, forests create their own microclimate, and the individuals collectively function.

Mature Afromontane Forest with giant Podocarpus henkelii , a few understorey woody plants and strong herbaceous layer.

must be some supplementary water in the form of mist [hence Mist-belt Forests in KZN], rainfall run- off [tiny forest patches on the Cape Peninsula in boulder-strewn areas], or a supply of ground water [Maputaland Sand Forest {also mist} and Platbos]). There must also be some protection from fire, AND if the site is nutrient-poor, then there must be a source of alluvial accumulation.

Just for the record, we in South Africa have incorrectly called mangrove communities 'forest', as well as patches of closed Milkwood Sideroxylon inerme trees 'forest'. I say this as structurally and floristically they do not meet the quasi-organism definition, nor do they have the required stratification of true forest. This is another example of how critically important it is to have STANDARDISED names for vegetation

19 | African Wildlife & Environment | Issue 79 (2021)