Grasslands of the World.pdf - Disasters and Conflicts - UNEP

A.R. PALMER
Grasslands of South Africa 99
reach 8–10 m in height, are eaten by domestic herbivores only when short.
When the endangered black rhinoceros were recently re-introduced to this
region, adult animals knocked the tall succulents down to eat the new leaves at
the tops of the shrubs.
The mesic thicket type contains far fewer leaf and stem succulents and
is composed primarily of multistemmed woody shrubs such as Scutia myrtina
, Olea europea var. africana , Rhus longispina , R. incisa and R. undulata .
Succulent taxa include numerous species of the genera Aloe, Euphorbia ,
Gasteria and Crassula , although these growth forms do not represent a major
component of the standing biomass.
Succulent karoo
The succulent karoo biome occurs in the winter rainfall regions of the southern
and southwestern portions of South Africa . The flora of the biome comprises
mainly shrubs (0.5–1.5 m) and dwarf shrubs (