Isotope evidence from soil carbon to reconstruct vegetation history in the south-western Cape Province

The nature and composition of the renoster shrubland vegetation found on the fine-textured soils of the south and south-western Cape Province prior to settlement has been the subject of much speculation. Stable carbon isotopic evidence from soil organic matter was used to reconstruct the palaeoecology of existing areas dominated by renoster shrubland in the winter-rainfall region of the south-western Cape. Three study sites were chosen. Isotopic δ13C analysis was carried out on 10-mg vegetation and 70-mg soil fraction samples. As expected the δ13C values of vegetation and litter reflect the photosynthetic pathways of the dominant floral components. 22 refs., 1 fig