Editing Cape Town (section)

=== Flora and fauna ===
{{Main|Biodiversity of Cape Town}}
[[File:Peninsula Sandstone Fynbos - Cape Town 8.JPG|thumb|[[Peninsula Sandstone Fynbos]] growing in [[Table Mountain National Park]].]]

Located in a [[Conservation International]] [[biodiversity hotspot]] as well as the unique [[Cape Floristic Region]], the city of Cape Town has one of the highest levels of [[biodiversity]] of any equivalent area in the world.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Brochures, booklets and posters |url=http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/EnvironmentalResourceManagement/publications/Pages/BrochuresBooklets.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121223125053/http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/EnvironmentalResourceManagement/publications/Pages/Brochuresbooklets.aspx |archive-date=23 December 2012 |access-date=1 October 2011 |publisher=Capetown.gov.za}}</ref><ref name="fri1">{{Cite news |last=Friedman |first=Barbara |date=14 May 2021 |title=Cape Town recorded most sightings and species in world 2021 #CityNatureChallenge |url=https://www.capetalk.co.za/articles/416381/cape-town-recorded-most-sightings-and-species-in-world-citynaturechallenge2021 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519021337/https://www.capetalk.co.za/articles/416381/cape-town-recorded-most-sightings-and-species-in-world-citynaturechallenge2021 |archive-date=19 May 2021 |access-date=19 May 2021 |work=Lifestyle |publisher=capetalk.co.za |agency=Cape Talk 567 AM}}</ref>

These protected areas are a [[World Heritage Site]], and an estimated 2,200 species of plants are confined to Table Mountain – more than exist in the whole of the [[United Kingdom]] which has 1200 plant species and 67 endemic plant species.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Unique Biodiversity Poster |url=http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/EnvironmentalResourceManagement/publications/Documents/Biodiversity_poster-CT_Unique_Biodiv_SPECIES_2011-02.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725080811/http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/EnvironmentalResourceManagement/publications/Documents/Biodiversity_poster-CT_Unique_Biodiv_SPECIES_2011-02.pdf |archive-date=25 July 2012 |access-date=6 February 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Cape Town Tourism |title=Vote for Table Mountain – Cape Town Tourism |url=http://www.capetown.travel/votefortablemountain/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112172911/http://www.capetown.travel/votefortablemountain/ |archive-date=12 January 2012 |access-date=12 January 2013 |publisher=Capetown.travel}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Western Cape |url=http://www.southafricaholiday.org.uk/places/p_western_cape.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121210202319/http://www.southafricaholiday.org.uk/places/p_western_cape.htm |archive-date=10 December 2012 |access-date=12 January 2013 |publisher=Southafricaholiday.org.uk}}</ref> Many of these species, including a great many types of [[protea]]s, are endemic to the mountain and can be found nowhere else.<ref>A.G. Rebelo, C. Boucher, N. Helme, L. Mucina, M.C. Rutherford et al. 2006. Fynbos Biome, in: L. Mucina & M.C. Rutherford (eds). ''The Vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland.''</ref>

It is home to a total of 19 different [[phytochorion|vegetation types]], of which several are [[endemic]] to the city and occur nowhere else in the world.<ref>{{Cite web |title=National Spatial Biodiversity Assessment 2005 Targets |url=http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/stats/Documents/Vegetation%20Types.mht |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130824223150/http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/stats/Documents/Vegetation%20Types.mht |archive-date=24 August 2013 |access-date=24 February 2014 |publisher=Capetown.gov.za}}</ref>
It is also the only habitat of hundreds of endemic species,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Endemic Species of the city of Cape Town |url=http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/EnvironmentalResourceManagement/publications/Documents/Biodiv_fact_sheet_suppl_Endemic_spp_list_2010-03.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111101122444/http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/EnvironmentalResourceManagement/publications/Documents/Biodiv_fact_sheet_suppl_Endemic_spp_list_2010-03.pdf |archive-date=1 November 2011}}</ref> and hundreds of others which are severely restricted or threatened. This enormous species diversity is mainly because the city is uniquely located at the convergence point of several different soil types and micro-climates.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lemaire |first=Benny |last2=Dlodlo |first2=Oscar |last3=Chimphango |first3=Samson |last4=Stirton |first4=Charles |last5=Schrire |first5=Brian |last6=Boatwright |first6=James S. |last7=Honnay |first7=Olivier |last8=Smets |first8=Erik |last9=Sprent |first9=Janet |last10=James |first10=Euan K. |last11=Muasya |first11=Abraham M. |date=2015 |title=Symbiotic diversity, specificity and distribution of rhizobia in native legumes of the Core Cape Subregion (South Africa) |url=https://academic.oup.com/femsec/article/91/2/1/2467736 |url-status=live |journal=FEMS Microbiology Ecology |volume=91 |issue=2 |pages=1–17 |doi=10.1093/femsec/fiu024 |pmid=25764552 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427033901/https://academic.oup.com/femsec/article/91/2/1/2467736 |archive-date=27 April 2021 |access-date=19 January 2021 |via=Oxford Academic |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Linder |first=H. P. |date=2003 |title=The radiation of the Cape flora, southern Africa |url=http://doi.wiley.com/10.1017/S1464793103006171 |url-status=live |journal=Biological Reviews |volume=78 |issue=4 |pages=597–638 |doi=10.1017/S1464793103006171 |pmid=14700393 |s2cid=43101616 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210529140752/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1017/S1464793103006171 |archive-date=29 May 2021 |access-date=19 January 2021}}</ref>

Table Mountain has an unusually rich biodiversity. Its vegetation consists predominantly of several different types of the unique and rich Cape [[Fynbos]]. The main vegetation type is endangered [[Peninsula Sandstone Fynbos]], but [[critically endangered]] [[Peninsula Granite Fynbos]], [[Peninsula Shale Renosterveld]] and [[Afromontane|Afromontane forest]] occur in smaller portions on the mountain.

Rapid [[population growth]] and [[Urbanisation|urban sprawl]] has covered much of these ecosystems with development. Consequently, Cape Town now has over 300 [[threatened]] plant species and 13 which are now [[extinct]]. The [[Cape Peninsula]], which lies entirely within the city of Cape Town, has the highest concentration of [[threatened species]] of any continental area of equivalent size in the world.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The View from The Cape: Extinction Risk, Protected Areas, and Climate Change |url=http://perceval.bio.nau.edu/downloads/grail/climate_seminar/section2/Hannah_etal05.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130825180525/http://perceval.bio.nau.edu/downloads/grail/climate_seminar/section2/Hannah_etal05.pdf |archive-date=25 August 2013 |access-date=24 February 2014 |publisher=Perceval.bio.nau.edu}}</ref>

Tiny remnant populations of [[critically endangered]] or [[Extinct|near extinct]] plants sometimes survive on road sides, pavements and sports fields.<ref>[http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/EnvironmentalResourceManagement/publications/Documents/Biodiv_fact_sheet_8_threatened_species_2010-03.pdf]{{dead link|date=May 2017|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> The remaining ecosystems are partially protected through a system of over 30 [[List of nature reserves in Cape Town|nature reserves]] – including the massive [[Table Mountain National Park]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Table Mountain National Park |url=http://www.nature-reserve.co.za/cape-peninsula-national-park.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120605084259/http://www.nature-reserve.co.za/cape-peninsula-national-park.html |archive-date=5 June 2012 |access-date=9 July 2020 |publisher=nature-reserve.co.za}}</ref>

Cape Town reached first place in the 2019 iNaturalist City Nature Challenge in two out of the three categories: Most Observations, and Most Species. This was the first entry by Capetonians in this annual competition to observe and record the local biodiversity over a four-day long weekend during what is considered the worst time of the year for local observations.<ref name="Two Oceans">{{Cite web |date=7 May 2019 |title=Congratulations! Cape Town claims the top spot in the international City Nature Challenge 2019 |url=https://www.aquarium.co.za/blog/entry/cape-town-claims-the-top-spot-in-city-nature-challenge-2019 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190805185315/https://www.aquarium.co.za/blog/entry/cape-town-claims-the-top-spot-in-city-nature-challenge-2019 |archive-date=5 August 2019 |access-date=5 August 2019}}</ref>

A worldwide survey suggested that the extinction rate of endemic plants from the City of Cape Town is one of the highest in the world, at roughly three per year since 1900 – partly a consequence of the very small and localised habitats and high endemicity.<ref name="Rebelo 2019">{{Cite web |last=Rebelo |first=Tony |date=12 June 2019 |title=And we feature again !!! Cape Town in the forefront ... |url=https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2019-cape-town/journal/25459 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190805162241/https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2019-cape-town/journal/25459 |archive-date=5 August 2019 |access-date=5 August 2019 |website=iNaturalist}}</ref>