South Africa enjoys the third-highest level of biodiversity (biological diversity) in the world. The ecology is affected by many factors including the underlying bedrock (geology). The variety of landforms and vegetation zones have resulted in a remarkably high diversity of species in southern Africa. These vegetation habitats determined the type of animal species found:

The country's rich natural heritage is vast and staggering in its proportions. For example, over 3 700 marine species occur in South African waters and nowhere else in the world. The remarkable richness of South Africa's biodiversity is largely the result of the mix of tropical Mediterranean and temperate climates and habitats occurring in the country. Some 18 000 vascular plant species occur within South Africa's boundaries, of which 80% occur nowhere else. More plant species occur within 22 000 hectares (ha) of the Table Mountain National Park (formerly the Cape Peninsula National Park), than the whole of the British Isles or New Zealand.

	Photographer: EcoTravel Africa

The easiest way to describe the country's natural heritage is on the basis of a systematic classification of regions, or biomes. A biome is a broad ecological unit representing a major life zone, which extends over a large area, and contains relatively uniform plant and animal life closely connected with environmental conditions, especially climate.

South Africa is one of six countries in the world with an entire plant kingdom within its national confines. Known as the Cape Floral Kingdom, this area has the highest recorded species diversity for any similar-sized temperate or tropical region in the world.

Other biomes in the country are also of global conservation significance; for example, one-third of the world's succulent plant species is found in South Africa.

There are eight major terrestrial biomes, or habitat types, in South Africa. These biomes can, in turn, be divided into 70 veld types.

Grassland Biome
Savanna Biome
Succulent Karoo Biome
Nama Karoo Biome
Forest Biome
Fynbos Biome
Desert Biome
Thicket biome

The degree to which each of these biomes is threatened varies, depending on the fertility of the soil, the economic value derived from use of the area, human population pressures, and the extent to which the biome is conserved in protected areas.

Biodiversity values in South Africa

Source: Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism. Plant defined as angiosperm and gymnosperm. Data taken from the National Herbarium Pretoria Computerised Information System database, May 2003. Biome counts taken from Rutherford (1997) with thicket from Louw & Rebelo (1998). Veld types taken from Acocks (1988).

Ten vegetation zones cover Southern Africa.
The largest zone is the Kalahari Savannah, which comprise of grasslands and small groups of trees and covers most of Botswana, Namibia and part of South Africa. Deep sands underlie the vegetation. It occurs below 1 000 m and receives less than 400 mm rain per annum. Fossil dunes, dry river valleys and salt pans. It has no surface water.

The second largest zone is the Karoo Schrubland area, which covers most of South Africa. Rugged in parts, with canyons and valleys. Few perennial rivers. Many species are restricted to this zone. Includes Kaokoland, Damaraland, Richtersveld and Namaqualand.

The largest game parks in this region are found in the Mixed Woodland vegetation area, which comprise of grass, tree and also mountainous vegetation areas.This is a type of savanna characterised by relatively short trees, including Acacia and broad-leaved species.

It is also referred to as bushveld. Generally occurring at altitudes below 1 500 m, it includes much of the lowveld of Mpumalanga. It offers a wide diversity of species, but few are restricted to this biome.

Unique to South Africa is that the smallest vegetation biome in the world, the Fynbos, is found here. It covers a very small area in the south-western Cape and it is home to more than 7000 plant species. This is twice as many as is found in the whole of the United Kingdom. It is found on generally hilly or mountainous country and dominated by proteas, heaths, restios and bulbous plants. The vegetation zone receives rainfall in the winter only and a great number of species are restricted to this zone.

Dominated by large evergreen trees, Forests contain few mammals but many birds. The coastal and lowland forests occur along the eastern seaboard, while montane forest occurs in specific pockets about 1 200 m. The high rainfall is a feature of this zone. Only small fragments of true closed-canopy forest remain today.

At a global scale the vegetation of the world is sometimes described in terms of six Floristic Regions, often called the Floral Kingdoms of the world. The distinction between regions is based on distinctive suites of flowering plants, taking into account those (particularly families) that are exclusive (endemic) to the region. Of particular note to South Africans is that the Cape forms one of these distinct kingdoms; the Cape Floral Kingdom, covering 0.08% of the world's land surface, but containing about 3% of the world's plants. This is a precious resource to be proud of and to conserve for future generations. For more information about the Cape Floral Kingdom, see Fynbos Biome.

Veld types
John Acocks travelled very widely throughout South Africa during a 40-year period and sampled some 3300 sites, meticulously recording plant species at the various sites. He described vegetation patterns at a scale that is still smaller than the biome. He described 70 Veld Types in South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. One can refer to Acocks' book Veld Types of South Africa for the descriptions together with photographs, species compositions, and some other characteristics of each veld type.