Southern Afrotemperate Forest

Southern Afrotemperate Forest (the Southern Cape Forests) is a kind of tall, shady, multilayered indigenous South African forest. This is the main forest-type in the south-western part of South Africa, naturally extending from the Cape Peninsula in the west, as far as Port Elizabeth in the east. In this range (apart from the massive Knysna-tsitsikamma forest complex), it usually occurs in small forest pockets, surrounded by fynbos vegetation.

This forest ecosystem is a subtype of the general Afromontane forest, which can be found across Africa as far north as Ethiopia. However, it is distinguished from other types of forests in southern Africa by its relatively distinct range of species and its being confined to the far south-western corner of Africa – separated from the other forested areas to the east and north. Southern Afrotemperate Forest tends to grow on soils derived from sandstone and granite which are the dominant rock formations in the south-western Cape.

The Western Cape is prone to seasonal fires and the various types of fynbos vegetation that dominate here are all governed by the fire cycles. However, Southern Afrotemperate Forest is not adapted to fire, so is always restricted to "fire refugia" such as gorges, wet riverine areas, or rocky scree slopes where fires cannot reach. In the absence of veld fires, the taller forests tend to expand at the expense of the fynbos.

It is conventionally divided into three closely related subtypes:

This is a type of medium-height scree forest usually only found in small patches, growing on steep, rocky slopes and by mountain streams. It is endemic to the Western Cape.
Based on location and the species composition of the forests, this type is often informally divided into riverine forests (oewerbos in Afrikaans) and scree forests (dasbos in Afrikaans). The species composition of these two subtypes differs slightly, but they are still similar enough to be classed together as an ecosystem. The dominant, largest, and most obvious tree species are Metrosideros angustifolia, Brabejum stellatifolium, Cassine schinoides, Apodytes dimidiata, Cunonia capensis, Ilex mitis, Kiggelaria africana, Rapanea melanophloeos, Olinia ventosa, and Podocarpus elongatus.
Western Cape Talus forests naturally undergo periodic disturbance, flooding in the case of riverine forests, and rock-slides in the case of scree forests. Swift regeneration immediately follows. The natural cycle of disturbance of the surrounding fynbos vegetation is fire-driven, but this has little effect on the sheltered talus forests.

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Wikipedia