Cape Lowland Freshwater Wetland

This type of riparian vegetation and its accompanying ecosystem is found in the Western Cape, South Africa, on freshwater floodplains, along the lower stretches of rivers and around seasonal vleis and estuaries.

The Cape Flats used to have a great many wetlands, rivers and seasonal vleis, but these have largely been drained and built over for housing.

Some of the most noticeable and dominant species are Senecio halimnifolius, Paspalum vaginatum, Pennisetum macrourum, Triglochin bulbosa, Bolboschoenus maritimus and Juncus krausii.

[1][2] These ecosystems are threatened by invasive alien plants such as Kikuyu grass, Water Hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes), Red River Gum (Eucalyptus cladocalyx) and Port Jackson (Acacia saligna), as well as the draining and diversion of water for agricultural reasons and development.

A significant proportion of these wetlands have now been transformed and lost and the ecosystem as a whole is now classed as endangered.