Community associations and structure in the Late Cretaceous vegetation of southeast Australasia and Antarctica

Specht, R. L.; Dettmann, Mary E.; Jarzen, David M.

doi:10.1016/0031-0182(92)90124-n

Cited by 58 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…The development of the Gondwanan vegetation in the Late Cretaceous through the Cainozoic-palynological studies initiated by Cookson in the University of Melbourne in the 1940s [13][14][15][16]-was traced by Martin in the University of New South Wales and by Dettmann in the University of Queensland [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]. Fossil pollen grains preserved in the brown coal deposits of the Early Tertiary reveal that the Gondwanan Antarctic beech, Nothofagus subsection brassii, today found in New Caledonia and New Guinea, was widely spread in southern Australia [14][15][16][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]; limited numbers of pollen grains of the temperate Nothofagus subsections fusca and menziesii were found in the same deposits.…”

Section: Gondwanan Vegetation Heritagementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fossil pollen grains preserved in the brown coal deposits of the Early Tertiary reveal that the Gondwanan Antarctic beech, Nothofagus subsection brassii, today found in New Caledonia and New Guinea, was widely spread in southern Australia [14][15][16][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]; limited numbers of pollen grains of the temperate Nothofagus subsections fusca and menziesii were found in the same deposits. Subtropical rainforest species in the palaeontological record included the Protead genera Gevuina, Knightia, Macadamia, and others [29]. Southern Gondwanan families such as Myrtaceae, Proteaceae, Restionaceae, Poaceae possess a subtropical to tropical heritage [30,31].…”

Section: Gondwanan Vegetation Heritagementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the Early Tertiary when the Australian continent separated from Antarctica, temperate rainforest vegetation, dominated by Nothofagus, became widespread over the southern and south-eastern part of the continent [13,26,36]; in nutrient-poor habitats, sclerophyllous heathy elements existed [29]. Tropical rainforest flora existed in the wettest areas of the north and north-east [37,38].…”

Section: Gondwanan Vegetation Heritagementioning

confidence: 99%

“…At this latitude, the sun would shine throughout the year, with no long winter night [46]; the temperature differed by only a few degrees from winter to summer [29], thus favoring tall open-forest vegetation, similar to the structure of the vegetation inland from the coast of northern New South Wales.…”

Section: Gondwanan Vegetation Heritagementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, the subtropical vegetation [19,26,29,100] that flourished in southern Australia at the beginning of the Tertiary became stranded in the temperate climate of the present day.…”

Section: Seasonal Phenologymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Biodiversity of Terrestrial Ecosystems in Tropical to Temperate Australia

Specht

2012

International Journal of Ecology

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During the short period of annual foliage growth in evergreen plant communities, aerodynamic fluxes (frictional, thermal, evaporative) in the atmosphere as it flows over and through a plant community determine the Foliage Projective Covers and leaf attributes in overstorey and understorey strata. The number of leaves produced on each vertical foliage shoot depends on available soil water and nutrients during this growth period. The area of all leaves exposed to solar radiation determines net photosynthetic fixation of the plant community throughout the year. In turn, the species richness (number of species per hectare) of both plants and resident vertebrates is determined. The species richness of unicellular algae and small multicellular isopods in permanent freshwater lagoons in Northern Australia may possibly have been increased by radiation released from nearby uranium deposits. Evolution of new angiosperms probably occurred in refugia during periods of extreme drought. When favourable climates were restored, the vegetation expanded to result in high Gamma Biodiversity (number of plant species per region) but with each major plant community having essentially the same species richness (number of plant species per hectare). The probable effects of pollution and Global Warming on biodiversity in Australian ecosystems, that experience seasonal drought, are discussed.

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Section: Gondwanan Vegetation Heritagementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Gondwanan Vegetation Heritagementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Gondwanan Vegetation Heritagementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Gondwanan Vegetation Heritagementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, the subtropical vegetation [19,26,29,100] that flourished in southern Australia at the beginning of the Tertiary became stranded in the temperate climate of the present day.…”

Section: Seasonal Phenologymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Biodiversity of Terrestrial Ecosystems in Tropical to Temperate Australia

Specht

2012

International Journal of Ecology

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Fossil History of Magnoliid Angiosperms

Friis

Crane

Pedersen

1997

Evolution and Diversification of Land Plants

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The exploration of the origin and diversification of angiosperms has entered an exciting new era. Fresh insights and new results are rapidly accumulating from paleobotany and a wide spectrum of botanical disciplines, and an increasing number of phylogenetic models for seed plant and angiosperm relationships are being developed. Current phylogenetic hypotheses broadly support previous views that the most basal angiosperm taxa fall within a grade of organization corresponding to the subclass Magnoliidae; however, there are divergent views on the resolution of relationships within the magnoliid grade. In part, discrepancies among the results from different analyses reflect difficulties in the polarization of critical reproductive characters, which arise because of the substantial morphological gap between angiosperms and other seed plants and the absence of important angiosperm features (e.g., carpel) in their closest seed plant relatives. These problems are also compounded by the extreme floral diversity among extant Magnoliidae, which ranges from the minute and naked, unisexual, unistaminate/unicarpellate flowers of Hedyosmum (Chloranthaceae) to the large bisexual and multipartite flowers of Magnolia (Magnoliaceae).Despite uncertainties in resolving relationships at the base of the angiosperm phylogenetic tree some consensus on patterns of character evolution is beginning to emerge. In particular there are strong indications from the study of fossil material that small, simple flowers may be basic in angiosperms, rather than larger multipartite floral structures similar to those of the woody Magnoliaceae [1][2][3][4]. This result is broadly congruent with several recent phylogenetic analyses of extant angiosperms based on comparative morphology [5][6][7], as well as phylogenetic analyses of molecular data [8][9][10]. Several authors now support the

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Species richness of vascular plants and vertebrates in relation to canopy productivity

Specht

1994

Tasks for Vegetation Science

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Community associations and structure in the Late Cretaceous vegetation of southeast Australasia and Antarctica

Cited by 58 publications

References 22 publications

Biodiversity of Terrestrial Ecosystems in Tropical to Temperate Australia

Biodiversity of Terrestrial Ecosystems in Tropical to Temperate Australia

Fossil History of Magnoliid Angiosperms

Species richness of vascular plants and vertebrates in relation to canopy productivity

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