The Climate of Swartboskloof

The research programme in Swartboskloof evolved with the aim of providing further understanding of the functioning of mountain fynbos ecosystems, through comparison with other fynbos ecosystems, and with mediterranean-type ecosystems on other continents (see Preface). This chapter provides a description of the salient features of the climate of the Swartboskloof study site to facilitate these comparisons. We begin by examining the climate of Swartboskloof in a mediterranean-climate context. We describe features of the climate that influence the biota and hydrology, namely rainfall, temperature, vapour pressure deficit, radiation, evaporation, wind and droughts. We also describe the fire climate of the study site.