SAEON Maputaland Coastal Plain site - South Africa

The study area falls within the Indian Ocean Coastal Belt Biome (IOCBB) and the “Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany hotspot”, considered to be one of Africa's most important biodiversity hotspots and centres of endemism (Van Wyk et al. 2001, Mucina et al. 2006, Smith et al. 2008, Dayaram et al. 2019). Significant uses include protected areas, commercial plantation forestry, natural resources areas outside of protected areas (indigenous forests, wetlands, and grasslands), settlements, and cultivation.
Aitken and Gale (1921) conducted the first botanical survey, and noted that the region was "unoccupied by white settlers," except for the Mseleni Mission Station. The area was rich in wetlands with lakes and lagoons, and they observed how a slight terrain drop led to numerous vleis and bogs, especially towards the coast (Aitken and Gale 1921). Their descriptions revealed a landscape with a high-water table and an abundant groundwater resource.
The dominant land cover was sand veld consisting of open grasslands dotted with “ilala” palm, relatively absent of tree forms other than scattered tree clumps which were more common towards the coast (Aitken and Gale 1921). They noted a diverse herbaceous flora, rich with bulbs, corms, tubers and “other such like storage organs” (Aitken and Gale 1921). Thicker bush was noted along streams like the Mseleni. The "Manguzi Bush" and the forest around the southern end of Kosi Lake were the only two true forests noted (Aitken and Gale, 1921).
Tinley and Van Riet (1981) synthesised all available information for the region and included maps of vegetation and major ecosystems. Their results provide an indication of a more wooded landscape compared to the early 1900’s. This trend in increased woody vegetation is evident when aerial photographs from 1942 to 1957 are compared. By 2023 this woody encroachment is even more evident.

Terrestrial diversity is extremely rich with >2500 vascular plant species (Moll, 1980, Van Wyk and Smith, 2001) which occur in a mosaic of ecosystems and ecological zones. In addition to the diverse template of terrestrial ecosystems (grassland, thicket, and forest) there are many types of aquatic communities, with an exceptional diversity of wetlands (Kramer 2003, Grundling et al. 2013a, 2018, Grundling 2014, Gabriel et al. 2018). Notably, the region is one of the richest areas with respect to wetlands in the country. Peatlands (wetlands containing accumulated deposits of organic matter) are locally common on the MCP, and account for 60% of all South Africa’s peat resources (Grundling et al. 2016).
The region’s diversity is attributed, in part, to the fact that it is a transition zone between the tropics and the subtropics, which reflects a mixing point of biota from the subtropical, the temperate south and west, and the tropical north (Aitken and Gale 1921, Lawrence 1947, Bruton and Cooper 1980, Perera et al. 2021).