Fire Regimes in the Biomes of South Africa

Abstract

Evidence of ancient fires is available from the Palaeozoic, Mesozoic and Tertiary Periods in various parts of the world (West 1965; Komarek 1971a; Kozlowski and Ahlgren 1974). In South Africa modern evidence shows that most plant formations are subject to burning at one time or another but the frequency with which this may take place differs greatly. Biomes such as the grassland, savanna and fynbos are adapted to regular and frequent firing and have many plant species whose evolutionary development accords with community behavioural responses to fire (Bews 1925; Bayer 1955; Bean 1962; Levyns 1966a; Gordon-Gray and Wright 1969). Other biomes such as the evergreen forest and karoo, however, are rarely subject to fires.