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Climate and Conservation pp 80–91Cite as

Cape Floristic Region, South Africa

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Abstract

The highly diverse and unique Cape Floristic Region near the southern tip of South Africa has been a productive testing ground for evolving systematic conservation planning techniques. As protea plant species ranges contract, expand, and shift in response to climate change, new reserve selection methods are needed to account for this dynamism. Conservation planners are applying cutting-edge methods for integrating climate change species-distribution models into the design of connectivity and protected areas in the Cape Floristic Region. These modeling advances, when linked to specific land-use policies and opportunities for acquisition, provide a promising basis for implementing a set of actions to make conservation in the Cape robust to climate change.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. metrics for ecosystem services for the Tropical Ecology Assessment and Monitoring Network at Conservation International, and as a climate change researcher, University of California, USA

    Dave Panitz (researcher and manager)

  2. South African National Biodiversity Institute since, South Africa

    Guy Midgley

Authors
  1. Lee Hannah
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  2. Dave Panitz
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  3. Guy Midgley
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of California, Berkeley, USA

    Jodi A. Hilty (director) (director)

  2. environmental politics at Brandeis University and the Fletcher School at Tufts University, USA

    Charles C. Chester (assistant professor) (assistant professor)

  3. Wildlife Conservation Society, USA

    Molly S. Cross (coordinator) (coordinator)

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© 2012 Island Press

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Hannah, L., Panitz, D., Midgley, G. (2012). Cape Floristic Region, South Africa. In: Hilty, J.A., Chester, C.C., Cross, M.S. (eds) Climate and Conservation. Island Press/Center for Resource Economics. https://doi.org/10.5822/978-1-61091-203-7_7

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