The Cape Peninsula is one of the most biodiverse and imperilled landscapes in the world. Much of the upland vegetation is protected by Table Mountain National Park, but it faces significant threats from surrounding urban areas. It is also has perhaps the best biodiversity data in South Africa.

Most of the Fynbos Node’s research on the Cape Peninsula is in collaboration with SANParks (Table Mountain National Park) focused on detecting, monitoring and managing the impacts of fire, invasive species and climate change on biodiversity. We employ a range of tools at this site from remote sensing to maintaining the longest running vegetation monitoring plots in the Fynbos Biome, and possibly the country.

For a list of published research, most with links to open datasets, see here. We also maintain a live online weather station at Constantiaberg Peak and a network of temperature and humidity loggers exploring topoclimates across the Park.