Abstract
Fruit trees and shrubs dominate the edible flora of Africa. Does their geographic distribution differ significantly from that of the woody flora in general? Based on analyses of macro-scale geographic variations in the species richness (hereinafter SR) of southern Africa’s trees and shrubs, there is a west-to-east trend of increasing edible-fruit-providing SR that is similar to that of woody plants as a whole and in accord with changes in climate and vegetation. Distinct from this pattern, the percentage of edible fruit-providing species increases northwards and towards the interior of Africa, with an unexpected broad subcontinental zone of relatively high percentages of edible fruit species separating rich nutritional resource areas (high edible SR) from nutritional deserts (low edible SR). This is consistent with humans and other wide-ranging vertebrates (e.g., elephants) dispersing edible fruit species into normally less than ideal (nutritional) environments during cyclical and/or episodic periods of wetter climate.
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