Little Karoo in spring celebration

The South African veld is characterised by a number of very different biomes. Each has unique flora and fauna, the prevalent species giving it identity. Within each biome lies further subdivisions of recognisable vegetation groupings, caused by many factors such as elevation, slope, soil, rainfall, temperature and human involvement.

Similar to blue mountains in the distance becoming multicoloured as one comes closer, detail and variety multiply under the scrutiny of increasing proximity.

The Little Karoo has been divided into 19 habitat types by Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015. Some of these regions are dominated by one or a few plant species. Others present greater equality among participant species, resulting in spectacular diversity in one spot, such as seen in this photo.

The plant world could therefore also have a kind of GINI Index for habitat diversity, indicating the amount of spread among constituent species in a region, as the economists use to show that countries concentrate all the income in a small proportion of their population or spread it widely.