Flora and vegetation of Australia
The flora of Australia is characterized by a high proportion of endemic plant species and genera, so that Australia is managed as its own flora kingdom Australis . It includes mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania . Around 20,000 species of seed plants have been described. The most species-rich genera are eucalyptus and acacia with around 600 and 1000 species. These two genera shape the vegetation of Australia to a large extent . In the arid areas, grasslands of the dry steppes dominatewhich are dominated by the genera Triodia (Spinifex) and Astrebla (Mitchell-Gras). The various rainforests take up a very small area, but are very species-rich and are home to many original species. Due to the special features of species diversity and biodiversity described below , Australia is counted among the world's megadiversity countries .
Geographical requirements
Australia is an old continent and around 7.7 million km² in size. Only the mainland and Tasmania belong to the flora of the Australis; Guinea Although part of the Australian continent, but not of the Australian Flore Reich (depending on the author is the Guinea Palaeotropical or Ozeanis assigned). The average altitude is only 330 m, and only 13 percent of the land area is over 500 m.
The climate in Australia is characterized by a high level of solar radiation and low rainfall, which are due to the subtropical high pressure belt. The high solar radiation causes a high evaporation ( evaporation ). Australia is the driest continent after Antarctica . In the north there is summer rains , which are caused by the monsoons from November to March and are very reliable. For the rest of the year there is a drought in the north. However, a narrow strip in the northeast receives high rainfall all year round. However, many tropical lows are blocked by the mountains of New Guinea. Winter rain prevails in the south. In the arid zone in between, only off-season rains occur that do not occur annually. Two thirds of the country receive less than 250mm of rain per year. In the southeast corner, both zones overlap. The tropical cyclones occur on the east coast between the 10th and 25th parallel. Australia is affected by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), with drought prevailing in El Niño years.
The land forms of Australia are characterized by plateaus, hill countries and stone deserts. The country is divided into three physiogeographical regions:
- Eastern Uplands: The mountainous and hilly regions in the east are geologically younger than the rest. They slope gently to the west, while in the east the slope to the narrow coastal plains is relatively steep. The Great Dividing Range is not particularly high with a maximum elevation of 2228 m ( Mount Kosciuszko ) and only has small areas of alpine vegetation.
- Interior Lowlands: The interior lowlands consist of flat areas with deeply weathered Mesozoic and Cenozoic sediments. The area is arid to semi-arid and mainly comprises the Great Artesian Basin with the Murray - Darling system and the large salt lakes.
- Western Plateau: The plateau in the west is the geologically oldest area and comprises two thirds of Australia. There are low table lands and sand plains. Except in the southwest and north they are very arid. In contrast to the deserts of other continents , the large deserts located here are covered by perennial vegetation ( hummock grassland ).
The soils are very old and therefore poor in nutrients, especially phosphorus and nitrogen , but also sulfur and potassium , as well as the micronutrients molybdenum , copper , zinc , boron and manganese . The main differences to the soils of the northern hemisphere are a very low content of organic material, the poorer surface structure and the predominance of mycorrhiza . In the arid zone, deeply weathered red silicate sands, earthy sands and loams (rudosols, tenosols) predominate, in western and central Australia also laterites . In the south there are also flat, weathered limestone soils and clay soils ( vertosols ), in the west there are also shallow, stony soils. Salt and gypsum floors are also very common.
biodiversity
Endemism
80 to 90 percent of the seed plant species in Australia are endemic . This high level of endemism is due to the continent's long isolation. Australia is therefore run as its own flora kingdom Australis . There are two endemic centers within Australia: the northern rainforests and the south-western part with a Mediterranean climate and hard-leaf vegetation .
The degree of endemism among families is much lower. Crisp et al. name the following endemic families: Akaniaceae s. str., Anarthriaceae , Atherospermataceae , Austrobaileyaceae , Blandfordiaceae , Boryaceae , Cephalotaceae , Dasypogonaceae , Doryanthaceae , Ecdeiocoleaceae , Emblingiaceae , Gyrostemonaceae , Tetracarpaeaceae , Xanthore . However, these families are all sparse or monotypical . A number of other families in their area only extend a little beyond Australia, so they are sub-demic: Casuarinaceae , Centrolepidaceae , Eupomatiaceae , Goodeniaceae , Hydatellaceae , Stylidiaceae and the former family of Epacridaceae, which is now a subfamily, the Styphelioideae , within the Ericaceae . Other families characteristic of Australia are the Chenopodiaceae , Proteaceae , Cunoniaceae , Myrtaceae and the Pittosporaceae .
Of the approximately 2500 genera in Australia, around 566 are endemic. The two largest genera, acacia sl and eucalyptus , are also found outside of Australia. However, almost all species of these genera are endemic to their respective habitats.
Flowering plants
Around 17,600 species of Bedecktsamern are known, the total number is estimated at 19,000 to 21,000. In comparison, the total number of ferns and flowering plants in Germany is around 2800, Austria's around 2950. 113 species of the naked species are likely to be fully known. They are 96 percent endemic.
| The 10 most species-rich plant families | |
|---|---|
| family | Species number |
| Fabaceae ( s. Lat. ) | 2400 |
| Myrtaceae | 1858 |
| Poaceae | 1302 |
| Asteraceae | 1221 |
| Proteaceae | 1116 |
| Orchidaceae | 650 |
| Cyperaceae | 650 |
| Epacridaceae | 424 |
| Euphorbiaceae | 395 |
| Goodeniaceae | 377 |
Of the ten most species-rich families in Australia, only three are not simultaneously among the most species-rich in the world: These are the Proteaceae, Epacridaceae and the Goodeniaceae.
In the most species-rich family Fabaceae , the genus of acacia ( Acacia sl) stands out with around 1000 species. The genus Acacia sl is also widespread in Africa , but is found in Australia with far more different species. In contrast to their African relatives, the species have no thorns , and their leaves are replaced by phyllodes , transformed petioles. The acacias, which are called "wattles" here, dominate large parts of the interior. Other species-rich genera are Daviesia and Pultenaea .
Among the Myrtaceae , Eucalyptus is the most species-rich genus. Even after the division into two genera, the genus Eucalyptus still has around 600 species, the largest separated genus Corymbia around 110. Other species-rich genera are Melaleuca (250), Verticordia (100) and Leptospermum (80).
The sweet grasses are particularly abundant in the savannahs and in the dry interior of the country, even if there are no very species-rich genera. The most important genera for the vegetation are Triodia , Plechtrachne and Spinifex . With 310 species, the grasses represent the largest group of neophytes .
The Proteaceae are represented with 46 genera, 37 of which are endemic. The most important genera are Grevillea (352), Hakea (150), Banksia (80), Persoonia (98) and Dryandra with around 95 species exclusively in Southwest Australia. The Proteaceae includes macadamia , the only commercial food plant from Australia. The species usually grow as shrubs in the understory of eucalyptus and acacia forests, as well as in heaths.
Around a quarter of the orchids grow as epiphytes in the tropical rainforests, the others terrestrially in the rest of the country. The most species-rich genera are Caladenia and Pterostylis , each with around 100 species.
Other genera with over 100 species are Eremophila (214, endemic, Scrophulariaceae ), Cyperus (150, Cyperaceae ), Stylidium (150, Stylidiaceae ), Goodenia (140, Goodeniaceae ), Boronia (131, Rutaceae ), and Olearia (130, Asteraceae) ). The numbers given in the Flora of Australia are partially out of date, so there are already over 220 species described in the genus Stylidium in Australia.
Cryptogams
The vascular spore plants (ferns and bear moss) are not particularly numerous with around 450 species in 150 genera due to the largely dry continent. The degree of endemism is also not particularly high at 40 percent.
The number of known species of moss is around 1850, with the total number being estimated at around 2200. Only around 25 percent of them are endemic.
The mushrooms of Australia have hardly been researched until now. It is estimated that only five to ten percent of the species have been described, including the squid mushroom introduced into Europe . The number of species is estimated at around 250,000. The lichens are represented by 3,154 known taxa , of which around 35 percent are endemic.
The number of algae species is estimated at 22,000, of which only around half have been described.
Research history
The botanical history of Australia began in 1770, when Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander collected Australian plants, especially in Botany Bay, during the course of James Cook's first voyage . However, they have not published their results. Banks sent several botanists on research trips to Australia in the following decades, the most important of them being Robert Brown , who collected several thousand specimens from 1801 to 1803. Of his planned flora ( Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen ), however, only the first volume appeared. It already included 2040 taxa. In 1814 Brown published a list of 4,200 taxa, and after an expedition inland in 1849 a list of around 7,000 taxa. The work of Joseph Dalton Hooker , who in 1860 recognized the floral relationships with the other continents, were also fundamental to understanding flora . For a long time, research into flora started in Europe, and from the 1850s onwards the research centered on the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew . The first Flora australiensis of George Bentham published (1863-1878) in England. The first major taxonomist to work in Australia itself was Ferdinand Mueller , who was the Government Botanist of Victoria from 1853 to 1896 . Since Mueller's time, the majority of research has taken place in the country itself. In the 20th century, separate floras were developed for all states. The Flora of Australia project has existed since 1981 , which is designed for 59 volumes and will include vascular plants and lichens. In parallel, the Fungi of Australia and the Algae of Australia are published.
Floral relationships
The flora of Australia is shaped by the fact that Australia belongs to the southern continent of Gondwana , which lasted until 40 million years ago. After that, with the continent's north migration, the climate became drier. In the Pliocene there was contact between the Australian and Melanesian flora of Southeast Asia. The closest floristic relationships exist with the Gondwana neighbors New Zealand, South America, New Caledonia and New Guinea, whereby these are sister relationships and not ancestor / descendant relationships.
Connections to other continents
Regardless of the high level of endemism, the Australian flora has strong relationships with other areas. A distinction is made between four flor connections (tracks). They contain those taxa that Australia has in common with other parts of the world:
- South Pacific Connection:
- Southern part: Australia shares these floral elements with New Zealand and the south of South America. These include Nothofagus , Araucariaceae , Winteraceae , Podocarpaceae ( Austrobaxus , Pilgerodendron , Libocedrus , Paduacedrus ), all of which grow in cool-tempered areas. This connection is a common Gondwana legacy.
- The northern part connects Northwest Australia with New Guinea , West Malesia , New Caledonia and Fiji and includes several species of monsoon forests . In the past, this element of flora was interpreted to mean that the species immigrated to Australia. Today they are seen as part of the Gondwana flora.
- The equatorial connection represents the tropical element of the flora. It has long been interpreted as an invasive element and connects Australia with Africa, India and Malesia. The 177 genera include Celtis , Beilschmiedia and Ilex . In addition to the tropical, part of the monsoon flora belongs here, possibly it reflects a pantropical flora around the late-Cretaceous Tethys. This connection is also a Gondwana legacy.
- The Trans-Indian Ocean Link includes taxa that Australia shares with Africa but not with India or Melanesia. These include the Proteoideae (subfamily of the Proteaceae), Haemodoraceae and Adansonia . The origin of this connection is unclear, both secondary loss in India and recent spread are discussed.
- The last element is the pan-temperate connection with Festuca , Poa and Euphrasia : it connects Australia with the temperate areas of the northern hemisphere. The origin of this connection is unclear.
Floral elements and regions
Within Australia, a distinction is made between three large floral elements , which at the same time correspond to floral regions within Australia. This means that these floral elements also have their distribution focus in the region of the same name. These three correspond to the older florists from Burbidge, plus two smaller elements:
- The Torres element (tropical zone near Burbidge) includes the tropical eucalyptus savannas and the deciduous monsoon savannahs.
- The Bass Element (Temperate Zone) includes the temperate eucalyptus forests with sclerophyllous shrubs (acacia, Proteaceae, Epacridaceae, Myrtaceae) in the cool, temperate areas with winter rain. There is a strong floristic division between the south-east and the south-west, with a high degree of endemism especially in the south-west (125 endemic genera). This is due to the long separation, as the Nullarbour Plain has been a barrier since the early Tertiary .
- The Eyre element (Eremean zone) comprises the species or the area of dry Central Australia: the desert steppes, hummock, mulga and mallee. The area is roughly equivalent to the area with less than 250 mm of precipitation. The flora is young and shaped by many cosmopolitan families: Poaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Brassicaceae , Aizoaceae . However, this zone has 85 endemic genera. The drought has been particularly pronounced since the Miocene (15 million years). The species that are now dry-adapted developed in parallel from species in adjacent temperate areas, so there was no radiation of their own . This is especially true for the acacias, also for Eremophila and Dodonaea . However, the Chenopodiaceae ( Sclerolaena , Maireana ) experienced significant radiation.
These three floral elements correspond to the autochthonous element of the older literature. In addition, two further elements are distinguished:
- The Tumbuna element are the temperate to subtropical rainforest elements such as Nothofagus . They are relics of the Eocene rainforest and of Gondwanian origin. They occur from Tasmania to the highlands of New Guinea. This floral element also includes Araucaria , Podocarpus , Dacrydium , Anacolosa , Myrtaceae, Proteaceae, but also the ancient plant families of the rainforests (see below ).
- The Irian element encompasses many species of the tropical rainforest and has a strong relationship with Malesia and southern New Guinea in particular. In Australia it is only present in the northern tropical rainforest areas. This floral element was previously called the intrusive element because it was believed that these species migrated from the north to Australia. This is doubted today.
Ecological adjustments
A common characteristic for most locations with the exception of the rainforests is nutrient poverty, especially phosphorus. Therefore, the proportion of plants that live in a symbiosis with so-called mycorrhizal fungi is higher than in other continents. An alternative to this is the formation of proteoid roots to improve the phosphate uptake , which occurs mainly in the Proteaceae. These plants usually have no mycorrhiza.
Australia is very poor in deciduous trees. Most woody plants have persistent, hard leaves. They are scleromorphic : the leaves are relatively small, and the stomata are often sunken. Sclerophylly is not only an adaptation to the drought, but also to the lack of nutrients, i.e. a peinomorphosis . Sclerophyllous is not limited to the arid areas, but is also the rule in the precipitation-rich but nutrient-poor areas in the southeast. In the arid regions there is a lack of large succulents , as are common on other continents. Herbaceous leaf succulents are only found on salt sites.
Another environmental factor that shapes all of Australia (again with the exception of the rainforests) is fire , an integral part of the Australian environment. Most often, fires do not occur in the arid interior, but in the relatively rain-rich southeast, where precipitation is, however, quite irregular and periods of drought are frequent. Here fires occur about every three to 10 years, in the southwest, however, about every 10 to 20 years, and in the rest of the country about every 20 or more years. Every year between four and ten percent of the country's area burns. There are two basic strategies for plants to survive fire: The formation of large quantities of seeds, which either accumulate in the soil or are stored in woody fruits. The seeds germinate after a fire or are only scattered after the fire. The other strategy is that the plants are fire-resistant (e.g. through thick bark) or at least have organs that can withstand fire, for example underground storage organs with dormant buds. Which are widely used tubers (lignotuber) many eucalyptus trees that characterize the Mallee. The nutrients stored in the tubers allow them to be sprout again quickly after a fire. Some species only bloom directly after a fire, such as the grass trees , so that the seeds can germinate with relatively little competition and are well supplied with nutrients from the ash.
Fossil story
Precambrian to Jurassic
Fossil stromatolites from the northwest are among the oldest fossils in the world at 3.46 to 3.52 billion years old. The first land plants are from the Silurian / Devonian known from Victoria: the herbaceous Baragwanathia -Flora was from Urfarnen ( Rhynia and Trimerophyten embossed) and grew up near the equator, humid locations. In the Middle Devonian the first bush and tree shaped occurred lycophytes on, in the late Devonian horsetails , ferns and progymnosperm .
In the early Carboniferous , tree-shaped lycophytes such as Bumludendron queenslandii dominated , in contrast to the northern hemisphere, there was little coal formation in Australia . In the cooler late Carboniferous, seed ferns ( Notoracopteris , Fedekurtzia , Botrychiopsis ) dominated. After the Gondwana glaciation in the late Carboniferous / early Permian, the Glossopteris flora emerged , the first Gondwana flora to dominate in the Permian. In the Triassic, conifers , lycophytes and cycads dominated . These groups died out many times in the Jura and were replaced by new taxa: Bennettitales , Caytoniales ; ferns, horsetail and conifers were still common. At that time, Australia was in mid to high latitudes (35–65 ° S). The flora was relatively cosmopolitan and had only a few Gondwana elements.
chalk
Today's Australian flora has its origins in the Cretaceous Period . At that time, the Gondwana connection with the Antarctic was still upright, Australia was at very high latitudes (50–80 ° S). The climate was mild and open forests dominated. At the Barremium - Aptium border , the first Bedecktsamer immigrated to Gondwana, representatives of the Magnoliids . At the beginning of the Cretaceous conifer forest predominated with an undergrowth of ferns, cycads and Bennettites. The change in the flora towards the Bedecktsamern occurred only gradually. In the Valangian , the Podocarpaceae and Araucariaceae , both conifers, became more common and dominated the vegetation over large areas. The bedrocks also became more frequent, as can be seen from the fossil deposit of the Winton Formation (Queensland).
In the Turonian , the connection to Antarctica via Tasmania was still present. The first recent Podocarpaceae and the first Proteaceae appeared. Nothofagus first appeared in the Campanium . The proteins became particularly diverse in the Maastrichtian with Macadamia , Grevillea and other genera.
At the end of the chalk all the plant families that were prominently represented in the Tertiary were already present. In the late Cretaceous period, forests from Podocarpaceae and Proteaceae dominated the tree layer and an undergrowth from Proteaceae, Winteraceae , Trimeniaceae and Ilex .
Tertiary
In the Paleocene , the conifers played a major role, along with some of the old Gondwana families such as Proteaceae, less the Casuarinaceae, Myrtaceae and Fagaceae. In the Eocene , the role of conifers decreased significantly, while the pollen of Nothofagus increased sharply. The flora of a site near Anglesea is similar in diversity and composition to today's rainforests in North Queensland, with the laurel family dominating. The oldest leaf fossil of a Myrtaceae ( Myrtaciphyllum ) was also found here, while pollen is known from the entire Tertiary. The laurel plants are also dominant at other sites, as well as Elaeocarpaceae, Myrtaceae, Proteaceae and Podocarpaceae. A warm-temperate to tropical climate prevailed in South Australia and enabled diverse, closed forests, the related taxa of which can be found in Queensland today. The pan-Australian Nothofagus forest, which is often mentioned in the literature, should not have existed, as there is not a single macrofossil on the mainland, only widespread pollen finds. The Tasmanian flora was already similar to today's.
Oligocene and Miocene are difficult to separate. The flora was much less diverse and the leaves became scleromorphic and smaller. This is interpreted as a consequence of the separation of Australia from the Antarctic: The ice cap formation of the Antarctic and changed ocean currents made the climate drier. The Myrtaceae became more common, the sclerophyllous genus Leptospermum appeared. The Proteaceae also became more common, the grasses , Chenopodiaceae and Mimosaceae ( Acacia ) appeared for the first time. Although Acacia is only known from one leaf fossil throughout the Tertiary, the genus as a Gondwana element must be much older. At the end of the Miocene, the Australian plate met the Sunda plate , but due to the lack of fossils, no flora exchange is known.
In the Pliocene , which is poor in megafossils, the trend towards more recent taxa continued.
quaternary
During the ice ages in the Quaternary were Tasmania and New Guinea joined with Australia, the glaciation covered large parts of Tasmania and small areas of the southeastern mountains. During the glaciations, the rainforests retreated, and in the interglacial periods they returned - in a constantly changing composition. Little is known about the arid parts. Humans have been influencing flora and vegetation for at least 40,000 years. Around the same time, a number of mammals died out, the absence of which may also have led to changes in vegetation. Around 12,000 years ago, the Chenopodiaceae and grass steppes in South Australia were replaced by casuarina and eucalyptus forests, with the eucalyptus species becoming more and more prevalent over time. The cause is assumed to be more frequent fire events, which Eucalyptus can bear better. How much man changed the fire regime is not known, since fires have been known in Australia since the Tertiary.
After the colonization by Europeans, there was extensive clearing and the introduction of foreign species ( see below ).
vegetation
The structure of the Australian vegetation today mostly follows the structural formations that RL Specht established in 1970. Specht divided the vegetation in a two-dimensional table according to the aspects of life form and height of the highest vegetation layer and soil cover of this layer ("foliar projective cover"). The most important formations are therefore closed forests, open forests, "woodlands" (roughly equivalent to the savannah ), shrub vegetation and grasslands. This structure was followed by RH Groves in the introductory volume of the Flora of Australia and in the Australian vegetation . A more recent breakdown, which also takes floristic aspects into account, is the subdivision into major vegetation groups (“Major Vegetation Groups”, MVG) published by the National Land and Water Resources Audit in the Australian Native Vegetation Assessment 2001. The following illustration follows the Australian vegetation , whereby the MVG are integrated into the larger groups.
rainforests
Rainforests can be found along the entire north and east coast from the Kimberley Ranges to Tasmania. They thus include the tropical zones to the cool-temperate zone. They are closed forests with over 1200 mm annual precipitation. They cover around 30,000 km², and around 13,000 km² have been lost since European settlement. The rainforests of MVG 1, “Rainforest and vine thickets” (rainforest and liana thickets) correspond to the classification in MVG. There are various approaches to classifying the rainforests, one of which is frequently used by Webb, who classifies them according to physiognomic-structural criteria, not floristic: he further subdivides liana, fern and moss forests according to leaf size, duration of foliage and complexity .
Northern rainforests
The tropical and subtropical monsoon rainforests are very species-rich. Here you can find several original representatives of the Bedecktsamer: Bubbia and Tasmannia ( Winteraceae ), Galbulimima ( Himantandraceae ), Eupomatia ( Eupomatiaceae ), Austrobaileya (Austrobaileyaceae) and Idiospermum (Calycanthaceae). These occurrences are considered relic occurrences. The rainforests are very discontinuous.
- The rainforest remnants in the Kimberley Ranges consist of 400 to 500 micro-locations (“pockets”) in hard-to-reach places, which have only been known since the 1960s and are usually only a few hectares in size. They are semi-evergreen liana forests ("semi-evergreen mesophyll forests", SDMVF) with a tree height of up to 15 meters. The occurrence is probably due to the lack of fire events at the locations.
- The rainforests in the Northern Territory include Kakadu National Park and Arnhem Land . There are deciduous liana forests that are poor in epiphytes, which is due to the monsoon seasonality of the rainfall.
- The Cape York Peninsula has extensive monsoon rainforests (260,000 hectares) that reach 14 degrees south latitude. There are three forest types: The semi-deciduous mesophyll vine forest ("semi-deciduous mesophyll vine forest") reaches a height of 25 to 50 meters and is characterized by many lianas and epiphytic vascular plants. The trees form buttress roots. The evergreen liana forest ("evergreen notophyll vine forest") is characterized by palm trees ( Livistonia , Archontophoenix , Calamus ) and is up to 20 meters high. The sand dune rainforest populates the coastal sand dunes on the east and west coasts.
- The Atherton Tablelands form the largest contiguous rainforest area with around 800,000 hectares. It extends from the lowland forests on the coast to the montane rainforests on the plateau (800 m above sea level). A distinction is made between eleven larger forest types. The most common is the simple notophyll vine forest ("simple notophyll vine forest" = SNVF) with plenty of lianas, tree ferns and epiphytes.
Especially in the hinterland of the Atherton Tablelands there is a very wide transition zone to the open park savannah, especially with the grass tree Xanthorrhoea . To the south, the monsoon rainforest changes into the temperate rainforest.
Southern rainforests
The southern temperate rainforests are characterized by cool-tempered climates and occur in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. They are characterized by the absence of woody lianas and buttress roots. The tree layers are mostly dominated by only one species, which change depending on the location: these are representatives of the genera Atherosperma , Athrotaxis , Ceratopetalum , Diselma , Doryphora , Eucryphia , Lagarostrobos and Phyllocladus , but especially Nothofagus , the one with Nothofagus cunninghami and Nothofagus moore the most important species. The trees rarely grow taller than 30 meters, sometimes less than 5 meters. With the exception of Nothofagus gunnii , all trees and shrubs are evergreen. Ferns, mosses and lichens are very species-rich; the latter two groups make up the majority of the epiphytes. In the rain forests of New South Wales is amongst the Wollemia ( Wollemia nobilis home), one in 1994 discovered conifer.
Especially in Tasmania and Victoria there is a wide transition zone to the eucalyptus-dominated Tall Open Forests. The rainforest species form the lower layer, while the eucalyptus, which are around 50 meters high, form the upper layer that does not close the crown. This zone forms in areas with rare fires (intervals 80 to 400 years), where the rainforest can survive, but the eucalyptus can regenerate after fires.
High open forests
The tall, open forests ("Tall Open Forest", MVG 2), also known as "wet scleropyhll forest", are dominated by eucalyptus species. The tree layer is over 30 meters high and its foliage covers 30 to 70 percent of the ground area. The tallest eucalyptus such as Eucalyptus regnans can be found here, which can reach heights of over 100 meters. The eucalyptus have tall, shaft-like trunks and open crowns with hanging leaves. They are fast growing. The undergrowth consists of rainforest, grass and sclerophyllous ferns, or sclerophyllous shrubs, depending on the location. In Eastern Australia, tree ferns are often found in the understory ( Cyathea and Dicksonia ). Forests occur in locations with high, reliable rainfall (1000 to 2000 mm), with the driest month having over 50 mm of rainfall. Fires occur at large intervals, at intervals of over 80 years, rainforests can develop as undergrowth. Only large fires destroy the tree layer, smaller fires only destroy the undergrowth. The large eucalyptus are sensitive to fire and have no lignotuber . After a fire they regenerate via seeds and form stocks of the same age and height. The forests are spread from Queensland to Tasmania. In New South Wales and Queensland Eucalyptus microcorys , Eucalyptus cloeziana and Eucalyptus grandis are characteristic, in Victoria and Tasmania Eucalyptus regnans ("Mountain Ash") and Eucalyptus obliqua , in Southwest Australia Eucalyptus diversicolor (Karri) and Eucalyptus marginata (Jarrah). The 30,000 km² represent around two thirds of the original stock. They represent important types of wood, the forests were also cleared for agriculture.
Open eucalyptus forests
In the open eucalyptus forest ("Eucalyptus open forests", MVG 3) 10 to 30 meter high eucalyptus dominate, which cover the ground by 30 to 70 percent. They occur in regions with over 600 mm of precipitation: in the southeast between Adelaide and Brisbane; in Tasmania; in Arnhem Land and in the southwest corner of Western Australia, here with 20 endemic genera. In the understory, shrubs predominate ( Acacia , Daviesia , Hakea , Hibbertia , Leptospermum and Leucopogon ), but also herbaceous ( Dianella , Lepidosperma , Lomandra ) and ferns ( Adiantum , Pteridium ). Grasses form the undergrowth on more nutrient-rich soil.
Fires play a very important role in these forests and occur every three to five years. After 10 years there will be 15 tons of fuel per hectare. All species have at least one fire resistant stage. Some species, for example, only open their seed pods after a fire ( Banksia ). The eucalyptus species form lignotubes from which they regenerate after a fire. After a fire there is no succession in the classical sense, but after a fire the same species occur as immediately before it. Many species form seeds with elaiosomes and are spread by ants.
Today , open eucalyptus forests are still around 240,000 km², around 100,000 km² have been lost since the European settlement. The forests are mostly located near population centers and are important for the use of wood, as water protection areas and for local recreation.
Tropical eucalyptus woodlands
This vegetation (“Tropical eucalypt woodlands / grasslands”, MVG 12, also “ bunch-grass savannas”) occurs in the monsoon-influenced northern Australia on the sandstone plateaus of Kimberley and in the Northern Territory. The area covers 250,000 km², with hardly any areas being cleared. The tree layer consists of different eucalyptus, the undergrowth of large annual grasses, especially different types of sorghum .
Woodlands
The woodlands correspond most closely to the German term savannah : they are dominated by trees over two meters high that do not form a closed crown, as well as by grassy (often C4 grasses ) in the undergrowth. They cover around 1.94 million km². Around 80 percent of all eucalyptus species occur here, which dominate both structurally and floristically. The acacia woodlands are covered in the next section.
The most common are the medium-high woodlands with a height of six to twelve meters, which are particularly found in the Great Dividing Range of Eastern Australia.
Eucalyptus Woodlands
The woodlands dominated by eucalyptus (MVG 5) represent the largest proportion with around 700,000 km², in Queensland and Victoria they are the most common vegetation group. Around 300,000 km² has been lost since the settlement. The forms range from the tall species Eucalyptus moluccana and Eucalyptus microcarpa ("gray box woodlands") with a height of up to 17 meters to the dwarf trees Eucalyptus brevifolia ("snappy gum") with a height of three meters. The eucalyptus woodlands mediate between the humid forests and the very dry areas of Central Australia. In the north they cover a large part of the tropical area influenced by the monsoons.
Melaleuca -Woodlands
The mostly low-growing myrtle heaths ( Melaleuca ) are distributed all over Australia, they only form large, closed stands in the semi-arid north, which is influenced by the monsoon, especially on the Gulf of Carpentaria . These Woodlands (MVG 9) cover around 90,000 km². Because of their paper-like rind, they are also called "paperbarks". This bark makes them fire-resistant. The most important species in these woodlands are Melaleuca nervosa and Melaleuca viridiflora .
Rest of the Woodlands
Deciduous forests (part of MVG 10) occur in the tropical north with seasonal rain, a rarity in Australia. They are dominated by the genera Lysiphyllum ( Caesalpiniaceae ) and Terminalia ( Combretaceae ). The rebirth and flowering begins around two months before the rainy season, which occurs very reliably.
Woodlands that are not dominated by eucalyptus or acacias occur only in small areas, in addition to those already described there are Callitris Woodlands (MVG 7) with around 28,000 km² and Casuarina Woodlands (MVG 8) with around 60,000 km².
Acacia formations
Acacias dominate in drier areas, with winter rain below 250 mm, with summer rain below 350 mm precipitation. The Australian acacias are characterized by the absence of thorns and the formation of phyllodes as organs of assimilation instead of leaves. The acacia formations are divided into three vegetation groups (MVG): Forests and savannas (MVG 6) with 560,000 km², open savannah (MVG 13) with 115,000 km² and the "shrublands" (MVG 16) with 650,000 km².
Northeast Australia
The open forests and woodlands in the semi-arid northeast are often dominated by one species. However, large areas were felled for arable farming and grassland, especially in moist locations over clay soils. The grasslands are mostly dominated by neophytes ( Cenchrus ciliaris , Chloris gayana , Panicum maximum ).
A typical formation is "Brigalow" ( Acacia harpophylla ), which covers around 60,000 km² in Queensland and New South Wales. Brigalow forms the moist (Mesian) end of the acacia formations and grows in areas with 500 to 750 mm of winter rain and becomes up to 20 meters high. Here as in the following, the dominant species and the vegetation are referred to by the same name. "Lancewood" ( Acacia shirleyi ) and "Bendee" ( Acacia catenulata ) have grasses as an understory. Gidgee ( Acacia cambagei ) replaces Brigalow in the drier area and surrounds the arid core of the continent from the east. In the drier area to be followed are “Boree” ( Acacia tephrina ), “Georgina Gidgee” ( Acacia georginae ), which can grow up to eight meters high and form an open savannah. The “prickly acacia” ( Acacia nilotica ), which was introduced around 1890 as a shade and fodder plant and now covers around six million hectares , also occurs in these areas .
South australia
North of the Great Australian Bight and the Spencer Gulf dominate woodlands and open woodlands of the Western Myall ( Acacia papyrocarpa ) together with Casuarina cristata and Myoporum platycarpum . They reach heights of up to ten meters and grow in areas with 200 to 250 mm of precipitation. From central Queensland to south New South Wales, Myall ( Acacia pendula ) occurs in areas with 375 to 550 mm of precipitation. Temperate grasses such as Danthonia and Stipa dominate the undergrowth . Large areas of sheep are also used in South Australia.
Central and Western Australia
In these areas the acacias form low woodlands and shrub formations. They form the dominant woody formations of arid Central Australia. The most characteristic species is Mulga ( Acacia aneura ), which alone or in various societies covers around 1.5 million km².
Mulga grows in areas with 200 to 500 mm of precipitation mainly over red soil, more rarely on calcareous soil. Typical are growth densities of 100 to 300 trunks per hectare with a height of 2 to 3 meters. At the moister eastern edge of the distribution there are 8000 trunks per hectare and 10 to 15 meters in height. The undergrowth consists of shrubs, with Eremophila dominating with around 100 species. In addition, come Senna , Dodonaea and maireana ago. The herb / grass layer is usually also present, albeit with gaps. The grasses are mostly perennial tussock grasses such as Eragrostis eriopoda and Monochather paradoxa .
In central Australia, the acacias form societies with the hummock grasses ( Triodia and Plectrachne ). Examples are Kanji ( Acacia pyrifolia ) in the tropical north in the Pilbara region, or the acacia-hummock areas south of the Great Sand Desert, mixed with mallee .
Mulga stocks are important areas for sheep farming. Mulga is the most important forage shrub, especially in dry seasons.
Mallee
The "scrubs and shrublands" (bushes and bush formations, MVG 14) consist of two to ten meters high eucalyptus bushes. The species known as Mallee have lignotuber and are multi-stemmed. There are around 200 species of Mallee eucalyptus. They form the driest eucalyptus communities and occur most frequently in areas with 200 to 350 mm (130 to 800) of rainfall, especially in Mediterranean climates with winter rain (zonobiom IV). Single-stemmed eucalyptus dominate when there is more rain, and acacias when there is less. The area in which they occur extends from 117 ° (Western Australia) to 147 ° east longitude, and especially from 25 ° to 36 ° south latitude, and covers around 250,000 km².
The core zone with 250 to 400 mm of precipitation on limestone soil is referred to as a typical Mallee. In the east there are two types of Mallee: the Eucalyptus incrassata type with a species-rich undergrowth of sclerophyllous shrubs in the south-temperate area and the semi-arid, Eremean Mallees with Eucalyptus socialis , Eucalyptus dumosa and others dominated by semi-succulent Chenopodiaceae in the undergrowth . In the west there is a smooth transition from the multi-stemmed Mallees to the single-stemmed Woodlands, especially in the Goldfields area . In drier areas the malls become higher. In general, the malls in the west are higher at the same locations and reach up to 27 meters, while in the east they do not exceed nine meters.
Fire is an important factor in the Mallee. The eucalyptus scatter their seeds especially after fire, while there is no seed bank in the soil. The fire interval in the core area is around 20 years.
Heathens
The heathlands of Australia (Heathlands, MVG 18) are similar to the fynbos in South Africa. They cover around 25,000 km² and occur scattered in large areas of humid to subarid Australia, sometimes as undergrowth of bushes, woodlands and open forests. Even by Australian standards, the soils are poor in nutrients, especially phosphorus and nitrogen . The vegetation consists of three layers. The top layer consists of broad-leaved, sclerophyllous shrubs that are around two meters high ( Banksia , Allocasuarina , Leptospermum , Xanthorrhoea ). Many are characterized by bradyspore fruits that only open after a fire. Around 1500 species from 87 genera have seeds with elaiosomes , which means they are spread by ants ( myrmecochory ). This makes the pagans the worldwide center of myrmecochory. The second layer is formed by the Epacridaceae, which with their 25 genera replace the actual Ericaceae in Australia . They form a 0.5 to 11.5 meter high layer. Various representatives of the Cyperaceae , Liliales , Orchidaceae and Restionaceae grow in the lower layer .
Chenopodiac bushes
The Chenopodiaceae bushes (MVG 22) cover around 550,000 km², mainly south of the tropics in areas between 125 and 266 mm of rain. The distribution center is in South Australia with around 250,000 km². From the family Chenopodiaceae there are 33 genera, 28 of which are endemic. The most common genera are Sclerolaena (66 endemic species), Atriplex (59), Maireana (57), Chenopodium (15), Rhagodia (14), and Dysphania (10). They are xeromorphic salt plants (halophytes) that are both drought and salt tolerant. The bushes usually stay smaller than 1.5 meters, the ground cover is 10 to 30 percent. The soil layer consists mainly of grasses ( Danthonia , Stipa , Eragrostis , Aristida ), although there are also a number of introduced annual grasses ( Lolium , Vulpia , Hordeum , Bromus ) and herbaceous plants ( Trifolium , Medicago ).
Fires are rare here, regeneration takes place in most species by seeds. Large areas are affected by grazing and rabbits, 25 percent of the area severe, another 40 percent moderate. Around 2.75 million sheep graze in the Chenopodiac bushes.
Grasslands
The grasslands take about 2.4 million square kilometers a large part of the area of Australia. In addition to the two types discussed in more detail, there are also various grasslands, sedge swamps and the like, which are summarized in MVG 21 "Other grasslands, herblands, sedgelands and rushlands" and cover almost 100,000 km², especially in New South Wales and Tasmania.
Tussock grasslands
The Tussock or Mitchell grassland (MVG 19) takes up around 530,000 km². It extends from the tropical to the semi-arid areas, especially in West Queensland (280,000 km²), in the central Northern Territory, and partly in South Australia. This pure grassland occurs in the summer rain area between 250 and 750 millimeters of annual precipitation. This grassland is dominated by clump grasses, especially species of the genus Astrebla , as well as Danthonia ( Austrodanthonia ), Dicanthium , Eragrostis , Poa , Themeda , Sorghum , Stipa , Heteropogon , Ophiuros , Oryza , Spinifex and Bursaria . These grasses are bound to Cretan marl and alluvial soils. In the strongly swelling soils, tree roots cannot survive, which is why the area is free of trees despite sufficient rainfall. The tussock grassland is extensively grazed in many cases. The main risk is from excessive grazing pressure and too frequent fires. Around 60,000 km² have been lost since European settlement.
Spinifex or Hummock Grasslands
The Hummock Grassland (MVG 20) is dominated by hedgehog grasses ( Triodia , called Spinifex) and covers around 1,756,000 km², especially in central Australia. It is the vegetation with the greatest area coverage. The grasses form large clumps to pads with a diameter of up to four meters and usually one meter in height. Zygochloa dominates the sand dunes of the Simpson Desert , Strzelecki Desert and the Tirari Desert . Of the ten species of the genus Triodia , Triodia basedowii , Triodia pungens and Triodia irritans are predominant, in the north-west Plectrachne schinzii is also populating. They are sclerophyllous grasses with extremely xeromorphic leaves. The soil cover is often only 40 percent. In large areas there is a macromosaic of grassland and mulga ( Acacia aneura ). Spinifex grassland occurs in areas with 200 to 300 millimeters, strongly varying annual precipitation on sandy and skeletal soils on terrain with little relief.
Special locations
Salt marshes and mangroves
The mangroves take up around 11,500 km² and are mainly found north of the tropics and consist of around 40 species from 17 families. The area of the salt marshes is unknown, in New South Wales it is around 6000 km². In the often hypersaline tropical area, succulent species of the genera Sesuvium and Batis as well as grasses predominate. The stocks are very patchy. In the Mediterranean area, shrubby Chenopodia ( Halosarcia , Sclerostegia ) and Frankenia predominate, the vegetation is not closed. In the temperate area the vegetation is closed, in addition to Scarcocornia quinquefolium there are some endemic genera from the Salicornieae tribe. Many neophytes occur in the salt marshes, some of which are classified as threatening the local flora: Spartina anglica , Cortaderia scloaria , Juncus acutus , Baccharis halimifolia .
Coastal dunes
Coastal dunes extend over half of the Australian coastline. The flora includes around 250 native species, the most important of which are Scaevola (Goodeniaceae), as well as Spinifex and Sporobolus (Poaceae). Many neophytes occur particularly in the southeast, around 100 are known: Chrysanthemoides monilifera and Ammophila arenaria were originally introduced to fortify dunes and displace the native flora.
Aquatic vegetation and wetlands
The brackish to hypersaline salt lakes in the interior are characteristic of Australia . Submers grow in them Ruppia (Ruppiaceae), Lepilaena ( Potamogetonaceae ) and Lamprothamnium papulosum ( Characeae ), while the marshes resemble those of the coast. Above three times the seawater salt concentration, almost only the green alga Dunaliella salina grows , which can withstand up to five times the seawater concentration .
The largest river system is the Murray - Darling system with a catchment area of around one million square kilometers. The flood plain is around 9000 km². These areas are covered by forests of the River Redgum ( Eucalyptus camaldulensis ), a little further from the river also by the Black Box ( Eucalyptus largiflorens ). The understory is herbaceous and is dominated by Poaceae, Cyperaceae, and Asteraceae.
Alpine and sub-alpine vegetation
The alpine and subalpine areas occur only on Tasmania (6480 km²) and in the southeast of the mainland (Victoria, New South Wales, 5180 km²). Fire hardly plays a role here. As on the other continents, the alpine tree line is due to the 10 ° C summer isotherm . The subalpine level is characterized by woodlands. In Tasmania it occurs between 915 and 1200 m above sea level and is characterized by Eucalyptus coccifera and Eucalyptus gunnii with bush undergrowth. On the mainland, the snow gum ( Eucalyptus pauciflora ) with an undergrowth of shrubs and grasses forms the subalpine level between 1400 and 1900 m.
Heaths ( Podocarpus , Grevillea , Hovea ), moors , as well as grass and herb vegetation with Poa , Celmisia and a rich herbal flora, mainly from asteraceae grow above the tree line .
Human influence did not begin until the mid-19th century with grazing mainly by cows. For this purpose, the areas were regularly burned down. In addition to being eroded and scorched, trampling is harmful to many societies, especially the moors.
Moors
Bogs as they are known as raised bogs or rain bogs from the northern hemisphere, which are mainly formed from peat moss ( sphagnum ) and which are the main peat formers, are very rare in Australia and mostly of small extent. They can be found from montane locations up to alpine altitudes. They occur in New South Wales, in the Australian Capital Territory and in Victoria at altitudes between 300 and 1500 m with a total area of about 0.03 km². Tasmania's largest sphagnum deposits are located at altitudes between 600 m and 1360 m. Peat moss bogs cover around 13 km². The most common peat moss in Australia is Sphagnum cristatum . There are also five other types of peat moss: Sphagnum australe , Sphagnum fuscovinosum , Sphagnum perichaetiale , Sphagnum novozelandicum and Sphagnum falcatulum . They are associated with sour grasses (Cyperaceae). Representatives of the Australheide family (Epacridaceae) appear as dwarf shrubs . Local swamping can also occur in the eucalyptus forests in Southeast and Southwest Australia. The peat is formed here from the root mass of Restionaceae .
One of the largest swamp areas in Australia is the Wingecarribee Swamp in southeast New South Wales with extensive peat moss communities and sedge beds . The peat formation began 14,700 years ago with a height increase of 24 centimeters in 100 years. The peat thickness of this bog is between 3 and 6 meters.
On the west side of Tasmania there are extensive sedge swamp bogs . The so-called "buttongrass moorlands" with Gymnoschoenus sphaerocephalus as the stand-forming sour grass are characteristic. They cover the gently rolling hills like a cloth, often in a mosaic-like interlocking with eucalyptus forests. The sedges grow on wet, very acidic, nutrient-poor soils that have emerged from Precambrian sediments . They occur in flat valleys and on slopes up to montane layers with layers of peat up to 10 centimeters thick and form when there is precipitation above 2000 mm.
These moors cover over 5000 km² of the Australian state. The main peat producer is the root mass of Restionaceae and Cyperaceae. Due to the summer dry periods, the degree of decomposition of the peat is very high. The nutrient-poor bogs are home to over 200 plant species of which many species are found only here as Epacris corymbiflora , Euchiton poliochlorus , Gaimardia amblyphylla , distichophyllum Haemodorum , Hydatella filamentosa , Milligania johnstonii , Oreobolus tholicarpus , Oschatzia saxifraga , Schoenus biglumis , Winifredia sola or related with the peat moss Moss Ambuchanania leucobryoides . "Buttongrass moorlands" are the first stage in the succession to the rainforest. These moors can also be found to a lesser extent in eastern Tasmania and also in the states of New South Wales and Victoria, mostly in poorly drained valleys.
Influence of man
Humans have influenced the Australian environment since the continent was settled around 50,000 years ago. The Aborigines used fire in the countryside for hunting, to stimulate green fodder for game and to keep corridors clear. They selectively harvested edible plants and planted bush gardens . It is not known whether and to what extent the extinction of the megafauna (herbivores and predators) that began at the same time as the colonization had an impact on the vegetation.
Danger
After the settlement by Europeans from 1788, the influence of humans became much stronger: large areas, especially in the south and south-east, but also in the south-west, were cleared and converted into arable land and pastures. Today around 61 percent of the country's area is used for agriculture, 6 percent of which as arable land. Around 42 million hectares are used for forestry. The annual clearing of natural vegetation is around 600,000 hectares.
Of the originally existing areas, around 43 percent of all forests have been cleared. Over 60 percent of the coastal wetlands in the south and east were lost. Almost 90 percent of the temperate savannahs and the Mallee have been cleared. In the southeast of the country, 99 percent of the temperate lowland grasslands have been lost. 75 percent of the rainforests have been cleared.
76 plant species have died out since the arrival of the Europeans. The main causes are agriculture and grazing, followed by some distance from urban development.
Around 5.4 million km² or 70 percent of the land area is grazed. In the rainier areas in the south and southwest, the natural vegetation has been replaced by sown willows. In the arid areas, too much pasture intensity leads to degradation of the landscape. The freely accessible watering holes built by humans increase the survival rate of wild and farm animals during periods of drought and lead to even greater pressure on the vegetation.
Neophytes
Around 2500 species have been introduced into Australia by Europeans since they were settled, so they are neophytes ("alien species"). The most numerous families include the Fabaceae with 180, the Asteraceae with 230 and the Poaceae with 310 species. The origins of the neophytes are diverse: Europe, the Mediterranean, North, tropical and South America, tropical and South Africa as well as East Asia.
There are three types of settlement:
- Some species were consciously planted, for example to improve pastures, such as Trifolium subterraneum or Lolium perenne , or as dune reinforcement, such as Ammophila arenaria .
- Other species overgrown from gardens, such as Oxalis pes-caprae , Rhodomyrtus tomentosa or Amaranthus powellii .
- Many were brought in unconsciously, for example in contaminated seeds such as Cirsium vulgare .
Some species are assessed as positive: they are useful, but hardly harm the native flora: Examples are Trifolium subterraneum or Stylosanthes humilis . Others are considered undesirable (undesirable weeds) as they are of no use ( Cirsium vulgare , Hordeum spp., Xanthium occidentale ).
The most important category, however, are the "obnoxious weeds", the invasive plants that aggressively displace natural vegetation. Around 220 species are also counted. These include, for example, the brown alga Undaria pinnatifida , which is displacing the native seaweed in Tasmania, or the root pathogen Phytophthora cinnomomi , which is already causing extensive proteaceae and epacridaceae to die off. Echium plantagineum displaces pasture grass and damages the liver of the horses that eat it. Species that permanently change a location or even the landscape are called “transformer plants”. Examples are nitrogen-fixing plants that enrich the soil with nutrients, or grasses that change the fire regime. The aforementioned Acacia nilotica also belongs here . Other species classified as dangerous are the shrubs Prosopis , Parkinsonia aculeata and Tamarix aphylla , the liana Cryptostegia grandiflora , the aquatic water hyacinths ( Eichhornia crassipes ) or the water fern Salvinia molesta .
protection
In 2004 there were 7,720 protected areas in Australia with a total of 80 million hectares; in 1997 there were 5,645 areas with 60 million hectares, including 12 world natural heritage areas. There are many different types of protected areas : the strongest protection against interference is in national parks, the first of which, the Royal National Park southeast of Sydney, was established in 1879 as the second in the world. In the Wildlife Reserves, Fauna Sanctuaries, Nature Reserves, and Conservation Parks that are subordinate to the individual states, protection is somewhat less stringent. The Flora Reserves and Forest Reserves represent representative forest areas. An important goal is the restriction of large-scale clearing, but the forest balance is negative: the clearing outweighs the regrowth. Around half of the rainforests are under protection; 64 percent of the mangroves and swamp forests are also protected, but only 5 percent of the few remaining southeastern dry forests and woodlands. The State of the Environment Council in 1996 took the view that reserves would only be established in economically unimportant areas.
swell
literature
In addition to the literature mentioned in the individual references, the article is mainly based on the two books:
- RH Groves (Ed.): Australian Vegetation. 2nd edition, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1994, ISBN 0-521-42476-3 .
- AE Orchard (Ed.): Flora of Australia. Volume 1: Introduction. 2nd edition, ABRS / CSIRO Australia, Melbourne 1999, ISBN 0-643-05965-2 .
The following sources, which were not individually referenced, were also used, especially for the vegetation section :
- Department of the Environment and Water Resources: Australia's Native Vegetation: A summary of Australia's Major Vegetation Groups, 2007 . Australian Government, Canberra, ACT, 2007, ISBN 0-642-55294-0 . ( online ).
- National Land and Water Resources Audit: Australian Native Vegetation Assessment 2001. Commonwealth of Australia, 2001 ISBN 0-642-37128-8. ( online )
- Heinrich Walter , Siegmar-W. Breckle: Ecology of the Earth. Volume 2: Special ecology of the tropical and subtropical zones. 3rd edition, Elsevier, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-8274-0789-3
- Heinrich Walter, Siegmar-W. Breckle: Ecology of the Earth. Volume 4: Temperate and Arctic Zones outside Euro-North Asia. G. Fischer, Stuttgart 1991, ISBN 3-437-20371-1 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g MD Fox: Present Environmental Influences on the Australian Flora. In: AE Orchard (Ed.): Flora of Australia. Volume 1. Introduction. 1999, pp. 205-241.
- ↑ a b c d MD Crisp, JG West, HP Linder: Biogeography of the terrestrial Flora. In: AE Orchard (Ed.): Flora of Australia. Volume 1: Introduction , 1999, pp. 321-367.
- ↑ Harald Niklfeld: Red List of Endangered Plants Austria. 2nd edition, Green Series of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Youth and Family 1999, p. 37. ISBN 3-85333-028-2 .
- ↑ a b c Murray Fagg: Australian Flora and Vegetation Statistics ( Memento from August 31, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) , Australian National Botanic Gardens, version June 17, 2007 + similar information from Statistics assembled by Murray Fagg (anbg-info @ anbg. gov.au), Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra.
- ^ A b AE Orchard: Introduction. In: AE Orchard (Ed.): Flora of Australia. Volume 1: Introduction , 1999, pp. 1-10.
- ^ SJ Wagstaff, J. Wegen: Patterns of diversification in New Zealand Stylidiaceae. In: American Journal of Botany , Volume 89, Issue 5, 2002, pp. 865-874. ( PDF )
- ↑ Jim Croft: The fern pages ( September 6, 2007 memento in the Internet Archive ), Australian National Herbarium.
- ^ Fungi Web Site of the Australian National Botanic Gardens; Tom W. May: Documenting the fungal biodiversity of Australasia: from 1800 to 2000 and beyond. In: Australian Systematic Botany , Volume 14, 2001, pp. 329-356 doi : 10.1071 / SB00013 .
- ^ PM McCarthy: Checklist of the Lichens of Australia and its Island Territories . Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra. Version August 14, 2007. ( online )
- ↑ a b c d Denis Saunders et al .: Biodiversity. In: N. Alexander (Ed.): Australia State of the Environment, 1996 . CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood 1996. online
- ↑ BA Barlow: Phytogeography of the Australian region. In: RH Groves (Ed.): Australian Vegetation , 1994, pp. 3-37.
- ↑ Mark Brundrett: Roots and mycorrhizas of Australian Plants . ( Memento from October 9, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ a b Australia’s Biodiversity: an overview of selected significant components ( Memento from September 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ a b c d e Australian State of the Environment Committee: Australia State of the Environment 2006. Commonwealth of Australia 2006, ISBN 0-642-55300-9 online
- ↑ a b The sections Precambrian to Jurassic and Cretaceous are based on: RS Hill, EM Truswell, S. McLaughlin, ME Dettmann: Evolution of the Australian Flora: Fossil evidence. In: AE Orchard (Ed.): Flora of Australia. Volume 1: Introduction , 1999, pp. 251-320.
- ^ DC Christophel: Evolution of the Australian flora through the Tertiary , 1989.
- ↑ The tertiary section is based on: DC Christophel: Evolution of the Australian flora through the Tertiary. In: Plant Systematics and Evolution , Vol. 162, 1989, pp. 63-78.
- ↑ The Quaternary section is based on: JR Dodson: Quaternary vegetation history. In: AE Orchard (Ed.): Flora of Australia. Volume 1: Introduction , 1999, pp. 37-56.
- ^ RL woodpecker: vegetation. In: GW Leeper (Ed.): The Australian Environment. 4th edition, CSIRO Australia and Melbourne University Press, Melbourne 1970, pp. 44-67.
- ^ RH Groves: Present Vegetation Types. In: AE Orchard (Ed.): Flora of Australia. Volume 1: Introduction , 1999, pp. 369-401.
- ^ RH Groves (Ed.): Australian Vegetation , 1994.
- ^ National Land and Water Resources Audit: Australian Native Vegetation Assessment 2001 . Commonwealth of Australia 2001, ISBN 0-642-37128-8 . ( online )
- ^ RH Groves (Ed.): Australian Vegetation , 1994, p. 227.
- ^ RH Groves (Ed.): Australian Vegetation , 1994, p. 250.
- ^ RH Groves (Ed.): Australian Vegetation , 1994, p. 348.
- ^ Temperate Highland Peat Swamps on Sandstone Nationally Threatened Species and Ecological Communities Information Sheet, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities , May 2005 URL , accessed September 23, 2007
- ↑ Rodnex D. Seppelt: Sphagnaceae . In: Flora of Australia , Volume 51: Mosses 1 , Australian Biological Resources Study, CSIRO PUBLISHING / Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS) 2006, ISBN 0-643-09240-4 , excerpt as PDF.
- ↑ M. Succow, M. Jeschke: Moore in the landscape. Origin, household, living world, distribution, use and maintenance of the moors. Thun, Frankfurt / Main 1990, page 197, ISBN 3-87144-954-7 .
- ↑ Parks & Wildlive Service Tasmania : original URL - Sphagnum Moss Memento from August 5, 2012 at archive.today.
- ↑ Elizabeth Bilney: Australian Peatlands. online from Elizabeth Bilney, Australian Peatlands. In Wetlands Australia , Number 6, July 1997, pp. 6-7. Retrieved March 6, 2020
- ^ M. Magnes, 1999 onwards: The types of vegetation in Tasmania. In: M. Magnes, H. Mayrhofer (Eds.), 1999 onwards: Flora and Vegetation of Tasmania. An introduction to the excursion area of the Institute of Botany at the University of Graz. , November 1996. URL ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ J. Balmer, J. Whinam, J. Kelman, JB Kirkpatrick, E. Lazarus: Floristic Values of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. Nature Conservation Report 2004/3. Department of Primary Industries Water and Environment, Tasmania, Australia, ISSN 1441-0680 PDF , accessed September 23, 2007
- ^ State of the Environment Advisory Council: Australia: State of the Environment 1996 . Commonwealth of Australia 1996, ISBN 0-643-05830-3 online
- ↑ a b "These disparities strongly suggest that the reserve system is mainly protecting the resources that are not commercially significant." The State of the Environment Advisory Council: Towards ecological sustainability. In Australia: State of the Environment 1996. Commonwealth of Australia 1996, p. 14, ISBN 0-643-05830-3 . on-line
- ↑ a b PW Michael: Alien plants. In: RH Groves (Ed.): Australian Vegetation , 1994, pp. 57-83.
- ↑ Steve Csurhes, Clare Hankamer: Ceylon hill cherry (downy rose-myrtle). Rhodomyrtus tomentosa. Invasive plant risk assessment, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Queensland Government 2016; accessed July 12, 2020.
- ^ Murray Gardner (ed.): Paterson's curse poisoning in horses. (PDF; 300 kB) In: Animal Health Surveillance - Quarterly Report, Volume 8, Issue 4, Page 10, Deakin ACT, October 1, 2003, (English), ISSN 1445-9701 (online), ISSN 1445-9582 (printed ). Accessed October 20, 2013.
- ^ RL Specht: Biodiversity and conservation. In: RH Groves (Ed.): Australian Vegetation , 1994, pp. 525-555.
Web links
- KR Thiele, LG Adams (Ed.): Families of Flowering Plants of Australia . (Key to the families)
- Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra: Flora of Australia online .
- Flora of Australia online .
- Australian National Botanic Gardens & Australian National Herbarium: Australian Flora Resources .
- Andrew Rozefelds, Diethard H. Storch: The endemic Flora of Tasmania.
- A Census of the Vascular Plants of Tasmania, including Macquarie Island. 2019 edition: full text PDF. of the Tasmanian Herbarium, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart,
