Forest & Thicket by

^ Climate Classification ^

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Climate factors:
Climate classification
Forest- Temperate Climate.
Thicket- Sub tropical Climate

Altitude:

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Thicket Biome is about 2-3m
Forest Biome is range in altitude from sea level to above 2000 meters.

Maximum and Minimum Temperatures:

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Thickets- The climate is very dry, but the maximum temperature is 25.9 degrees Celsius and the minimum is 12.8 degrees Celsius.
Forests- The maximum temperature is about 25 degrees Celsius and the minimum is 17-16 degrees Celsius.

Presence or absence of frost:

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Forests- are restricted to frost-free areas.
Thickets- The frost is has an occurrence and is the primary driver of the boundary in the thicket biome of south Africa.

Average rainfall/ precipitation for the year:

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Forest Biome: It has a mean annual rainfall of more than 525mm in the winter rainfall region and more than 725 mm rainfall in the summer rainfall region.
Thicket Biome: Has a precipitate of 200-950 mm per annum.

Water availability:

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Forests serve as our natural water collection, storage and delivering it into streams. The eastern part does not have much water as it does not rain all the time, which sometimes leads to lack of access of water.

Edaphic Factors:

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Type of soil
Thicket: occupies poor and fertile soil and variable topographic position, The soil is often quite shallow and varies from sandy to clay soil that is rich in lime.
Forest: Forest soils form where it is not too hot, and not too cold. Soils that formed under deciduous forests are very fertile and productive agricultural lands because of the decomposing leaves at the soil surface. However, soils formed under pine trees are usually more acidic and sandy, and are less suited to growing crops.
Ph Forest: pH value of less than 7 and
Thicket: Ph value ranges from 4.8 to 7.0

characteristics of plant species in a Forest:

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There's 3 levels of plants found in a forest biome which include the 3 most common plant species such as:

Stinkleaf-semi woody well branched perennial shrub the colors range from pink to dark blue they plants have a unique dotted pattern on the petals

Yellow wood -a tree that grows upright and can grow up to 22m up height with a canopy of covering 10m.the colors on the leaves vary evergreen leaves that also form a bluish green color the bark of the tree itself is smooth greyish and has no longitudinal . the tree grow over other species as they collect sun allowing pollen to be transported as the leaves of the trees are exposed to other species

White pear-bright green leaves and smooth pale gray bark ,they tend to form white flowers that bloom with a sweet fragrant the flower seeds rise with a black flattened bean shaped fruit -the larger the tree the faster it will grow -the wood from the tree also has economic value and the leaves have medicinal properties

characteristic of reptile species :

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There's a huge diversity of reptiles ranging from ;snakes ,crocodiles, lizards ,turtles ,frogs
4 common species include the:

Boom slang ;snake with a very long slender bodies they have a common green body color while having a lighter color on the bellies they reach to a length of 1.5m .they live in low located trees/shrubs and will also lay on th grounds of the forests to absorb sun light

black rain frog :short black fat bodied frog with glandular skin with protruding black eyes

knysna dwarf chameleon : small chameleon with a rough bodied scales have fused eyelids

characteristics of mammals: 4 main mammal species found forest biome

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ape fruit bat -medium sized bat with greyish brown color -with a distinctive yellow chest they have quite large ears and large black eyes to help see in the might times they roost in the trees.the bats are important to the forest as they are the main seed dispersing agent to trees as well as the pollinators for the trees tat pollinate in the nighttime

Bush pigs -large heavy pigs with rough hair that differ in both color and length variation the fur color varies from reddish to a brown and vene black dominant color .the pigs can weigh up to 180kg . their found in the edges of the forest and travel over long distances to consume enough food .they also feed on insects bulbs and lizards

Vervet monkey -relatively small monkey compared to other monkey species and only reach 400 to 600 mm of height and very long tails they have a presence of a green color on the top of the face while the males have a blue colored scrotum with a red penis -important to the forest system as they also have system of seed dispersal and maintain some populations of animals to sustain densities
Birds -paradise flycatcher -small bird reaching the height of only 17cm -brown maroon coloured wings and back with dark velvety blue heaf and chest area feed on the the ground or higher up the canopy

The provinces the biomes are found:

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Forest Biome - occurs in patches, in areas such as Knysna of the Western Cape as well as KwaZulu Natal, the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Mpumalanga.
Thicket Biome- occurs along the coasts of KwaZulu Natal and the Eastern Cape.

Capital or important cities in the Biome:

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Forest- Mpumalanga, Limpopo and Knysna
Thicket- Coast of Eastern Cape eg: Port Edward, Coast of KwaZulu-Natal Eg: Elephant Coast, Vallets of the Gamtoos, The fish River

National Parks found in the Biome:

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Kruger National Park, Golden Gate Highlands National park, Kgaladi Transfrontier Park.

endangered species

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-Knysna sea horse
Small delicate creature with a head like a horse and a tail with a perfect tails it’s a specie that is part of the estuaries and the South African fishing industry development the species major threat is habitat loss caused from deforestation

flagship species

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Thicket biome :

African savannah elephant
Albany adder
Tree daisie
Addo dung beetle

forest biome :

Samango monkey
Cape parrot
Gaboon adder
Rumohra fern
Blue duiker

Maps:

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Thicket Biome=

Maps:

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Forest Biome=

economic importance of both thicket an forest biome:

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forest biome :forests found in Mpumalanga, Knysna kwa Zulu natal (all in south africa )...provide good wood ,timber raw materials ,vegetables and fruits which then add economic value

ex: timber used for construction and furniture making whereas the wood is used for paper and other essential products

thicket biome : The thicket plays a big role when having a variety of different species of plants and Birds, the Thicket has rare bird species that can only be found in the biome which is then used as a “ site seeing “

general physical characteristics :

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thicket :closed shrub land dominated by evergreen
-the biome itself is filled with a variety of shrubs, vines and stem vines with a little herbaceous cover -when the there's an overlap of vegetation graze the succulent species then are first to disappear then bush lumps remain .

forests
-occur in patches
-continuous canopy cover
-comprising in mostly evergreen trees ,herbaceous plants such as ferns
- dominated by trees and woody vegetation
-moderate climates
-rich in soil nutrients

Thicket Biome:

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Characteristics of plant species in a Thicket:

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Thicket biome
characterized by sparse dense ,spiny evergreen ,shrub vegetation

Including short trees ,low intertwining shrubs and vines but they are no distinct layer of trees and shrubs. The vegetation ranges from shrub-land to low forest. There are many evergreen and succulent trees and shrubs. Many of the plants have spines.

Rainfall Pattern:

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Thicket- Summer rainfalls are much Rainer than Winter rainfalls
Forest- almost an equal amount of Rainfall in summer and the Winter seasons.

Referencing

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Referencing

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http://pza.sanbi.org/vegetation/forests

Abiotic and PHYSIOGRAPHIC & ECONOMIC FACTORS Refrencing:

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→, V., 2021. Biomes of South Africa Thicket. [online] DeVos Education. Available at: < https://pbhslifescience.wordpress.com/2015/09/07/biomes-of-south-africa-thicket/#:~:text=Subtropical%20thicket%20occupies%20landscapes%20of,that%20is%20rich%20in%20lime.
.> [Accessed 10 March 2021].

Erskin, V., 2021. 6 Best South African National Parks | Bookmundi. [online] Bookmundi.com. Available at: [Accessed 9 March 2021].

https://www.google.com/search?q=coasts+of+kwazulu+natal&oq=coasts+of+kw&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j33i22i29i30l9.8246j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Images:
https://www.google.com/search?q=thicket+biome+in+the+winter&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwiSpq2l36jvAhXJEGMBHV3VDz8Q2-cCegQIABAA&oq=thicket+biome+in+the+winter&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzoECAAQQzoCCAA6BggAEAcQHjoECAAQGDoECAAQHjoGCAAQBRAeUMOcBliEywZg48wGaABwAHgAgAGKBogBtCuSAQsyLTIuNi4yLjIuMZgBAKABAaoBC2d3cy13aXotaW1nwAEB&sclient=img&ei=nlBKYJLfMcmhjLsP3aq_-AM

Rainfall Graph:

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Main Threats

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Forest- Forest threats have been occurring as it is a continuous Cycle and have long been threatened by a variety of destructive agents, but the main ones are:
1. Frequency and time of fire events.
2. Hurricanes
3. Droughts
4. Insect outbreaks which cause global climate change, making the forests ecosystems prone to damage.

Thicket- The thicket biome’s main threat is bush-clearing, thicket is extremely dense making it unsuitable for goat farming and as a result clearing for agriculture is the main land use activity.