Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The distribution of C3 and C4 grasses in Australia in relation to climate

  • Original Papers
  • Published:
Oecologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

All but four of 833 native and 292 naturalised Australian grasses (Poaceae) have been assigned as having the C4 or C4 photosynthetic pathway. In conjunction with comprehensive species composition data for 75 geographic subdivisions Australiawide, this has permitted the construction of distribution maps for C3 and C4 grasses. C3 and C4 grass distributions have been considered (i) independently, using subdivisional native species numbers; and (ii) relatively, using ‘subdivisional % C4’. C3 species are most numerous in the Southern Tablelands (New South Wales), the QZ subdivision (Victoria), and Tasmania; C4 species in the northern Northern Territory and northern Queensland, including the Cook subdivision where 54% of Australia's native C4 grasses can be found. C3 species predominate only in south-west Western Australia, parts of southern South Australia, the Tablelands, central and south coast, and south western slopes of New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. C4 species predominate over 80–85% of the continental area. For 16 temperature and rainfall variables, subdivisional area-weighted means were calculated, and correlation analyses performed. C3 species number correlates most highly with January average maximum temperature (-ve) and spring rainfall (+ve); C4 species number with October average minimum temperature (+ve) and February median rainfall (+ve); ‘%C4’ with January average minimum temperature (+ve). Predictive multiple linear regression equations were generated using climatic variables. In general, C4 grass species, like C3 species, increase in number with increasing rainfall, in their preferred temperature regime. C4 species are most numerous where the summer is hot and wet; C3 species where the spring is cool and wet. C4 species numbers decline with decreasing temperature and/or decreasing summer rainfall; C3 species numbers decline with increasing temperature and/or decreasing spring rainfall. Results are also considered in relation to the taxonomic and physiological heterogeneity of grasses and to Australia's geobotanic history.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Barlow BA (1981) The Australian flora: its origin and evolution. In: George AS (ed), Flora of Australia, Vol 1. Introduction. Australian Government Printing Service, Canberra p 25–75

    Google Scholar 

  • Beard JS (ed) (1970) West Australian Plants, 2nd edn., Surrey Beatty & Sons, Chipping Norton NSW

    Google Scholar 

  • Beard JS (1977) Tertiary evolution of the Australian flora in the light of latitudinal movements of the continent. J Biogeogr 4:111–118

    Google Scholar 

  • Beard JS (1981) The history of the phytogeographic region concept in Australia. In: Keast A (ed), Ecological Biogeography of Australia, 2nd edn. W Junk, The Hague p 335–353

    Google Scholar 

  • Berry J, Björkman O (1980) Photosynthetic response and adaptation to temperature in higher plants. Ann Rev Plant Physiol 31:491–543

    Google Scholar 

  • Black JM (1978) Flora of South Australia, Part 1, 3rd edn. JP Jessop (ed), DJ Woolman, South Australia

    Google Scholar 

  • Boutton TW, Harrison AT, Smith BN (1980) Distribution of biomass of species differing in photosynthetic pathway along an altitudinal transect in southeastern Wyoming grassland. Oecologia (Berl) 45:287–298

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowler JM (1976) Aridity in Australia: age, origins and expression in Aeolian landforms and sediments. Earth Sci Rev 12:279–310

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowler JM, Hope GS, Jennings JN, Singh G, Walker D (1976) Late quaternary climates of Australia and New Guinea. Quat Res 6:359–394

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown WV (1977) The Kranz syndrome and its subtypes in grass systematics. Mem Torr Bot Club 23(3):p 97

    Google Scholar 

  • Burbidge NT (1960) The phytogeography of the Australian region. Aust J Bot 8:75–211

    Google Scholar 

  • Caldwell MM, White RS, Moore RT, Camp LB (1977) Carbon balance, productivity, and water use of cold-winter desert shrub communities dominated by C3 and C4 species. Oecologia (Berl) 29:275–300

    Google Scholar 

  • Callen RA, Tedford RH (1976) New Late Cainozoic rock units and depositional environments, Lake Frome area, South Australia. Trans Roy Soc South Aust 100:125–167

    Google Scholar 

  • Chappell J, Thom BG (1978) Sea levels and coasts. In: Allen J, Golson J, Jones R (eds), Sunda and Sahul. Academic Press p 275–291

  • Chazdon RL (1978) Ecological aspects of the distribution of C4 grasses in selected habitats of Costa Rica. Biotropica 10:265–269

    Google Scholar 

  • Chollett R, Ogren WL (1975) Regulation of photorespiration in C3 and C4 species. Bot Rev 41:137–179

    Google Scholar 

  • Churchill DM, Corona A de (1972) The Distribution of Victorian Plants. Dominion Press, North Blackburn, Victoria

    Google Scholar 

  • Clifford HT, Simon BK (1981) The biogeography of Australian grasses. In: Keast A (ed), Ecological Biogeography of Australia. Junk W, The Hague p 538–554

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooper JP (1970) Potential production and energy conversion in temperature and tropical grasses. Herb Abstr 40:1–15

    Google Scholar 

  • Cross RA (1980) Distribution of sub-families of Gramineae in the Old World. Kew Bull 35:279–289

    Google Scholar 

  • Das VSR, Santakumari M (1977) Stomatal characteristics of some dicotyledonous plants in relation to the C4 and C3 pathways of photosynthesis. Plant & Cell Physiol 18:935–938

    Google Scholar 

  • De Jong TM, Barbour MG (1979) Contributions to the biology of Atriplex leucophylla, a C4 Californian beach plant. Bull Torrey Bot Club 106:9–19

    Google Scholar 

  • Doliner LH, Jolliffe PA (1979) Ecological evidence concerning the adaptive significance of the C4 dicarboxylic acid pathway of photosynthesis. Oecologia (Berl) 38:23–34

    Google Scholar 

  • Downton J, Berry J, Tregunna EB (1969) Photosynthesis: temperate and tropical characteristics within a single grass genus. Science 163:78–79

    Google Scholar 

  • Downton WJS (1971) Adaptive and evolutionary aspects of C4 photosynthesis. In: Hatch MD, Osmond CB, Slatyer RO (eds), Photosynthesis and Photorespiration. Wiley-Interscience, New York p 3–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Downton WJS (1975) The occurrence of C4 photosynthesis among plants. Photosynthetica 9:96–106

    Google Scholar 

  • Ehleringer JR (1978) Implications of quantum yield differences on the distributions of C3 and C4 grasses. Oecologia (Berl) 31:255–267

    Google Scholar 

  • Ehleringer J, Björkman O (1977) Quantum yields for CO2 uptake in C3 and C4 plants. Dependence on temperature, CO2 and O2 concentration. Plant Physiol 59:86–90

    Google Scholar 

  • Eickmeier WG (1978) Photosynthetic pathway distributions along an aridity gradient in Big Bend National Park, and implications for enhanced resource partitioning. Photosynthetica 12:290–297

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellis RP (1977) Distribution of the Kranz syndrome in the Southern African Eragrostoideae and Panicoideae according to bundle sheath anatomy and cytology. Agroplantae 9:73–110

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellis RP, Vogel JC, Fuls A (1980) Photosynthetic pathways and the geographical distribution of grasses in South West Africa/Namibia. S Afr J Sci 76:307–314

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans LT (1964) Reproduction. In: Barnard C (ed), Grasses and Grasslands. Macmillan, London p 126–153

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans LT, Wardlaw IF, Williams CN (1964) Environmental control of growth. In: Barnard C (ed), Grasses and Grasslands. Macmillan, London p 102–125

    Google Scholar 

  • Evenari M, Kapen L, Buschbom U, Lange OL (1975) Adaptive mechanisms in desert plants. In: Vernberg FJ (ed), Physiological Adaptation to the Environment. Intext Educational Publishers, New York p 111–129

    Google Scholar 

  • Fitzpatrick EA, Nix HA (1970) The climatic factor in Australian grassland ecology. In: Moore R (ed), Australian Grasslands. Australian National University Press, Canberra p 3–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Galloway RW, Kemp EM (1981) Late Cainozoic environments in Australia. In: Keast A (ed) Ecological Biogeography of Australia, 2nd edn. W Junk, The Hague p 51–80

    Google Scholar 

  • Groves RH (1975) Growth and development of five populations of Themeda australis in response to temperature. Aust J Bot 23:951–963

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartley W (1958) Studies on the origin, evolution, and distribution of the Gramineae. I. The tribe Andropogoneae. Aust J Bot 6:115–128

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartley W (1964) The distribution of the grasses. In: Barnard C (ed), Grasses and Grasslands. Macmillan, London p 29–46

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartley W (1973) Studies on the origin, evolution, and distribution of the Gramineae. V. The subfamily Festucoideae. Aust J Bot 21:201–234

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartley W, Slater C (1960) Studies on the origin, evolution, and distribution of the Gramineae. III. The tribes of the subfamily Eragrostoideae. Aust J Bot 8:256–276

    Google Scholar 

  • Hatch MD, Osmond CB (1976) Compartmentation and transport in C4 photosynthesis. In: Stocking CR, Heber U (eds), Transport in Plants. III. Intracellular Interactions and Transport Processes, Encycl Plant Physiol (New Series), Vol 3. Springer, Berlin p 144–184

    Google Scholar 

  • Hatch MD, Slack CR (1970) The C4 dicarboxylic acid pathway of photosynthesis. In: Reinhold L and Liwschitz Y (eds), Progress in Phytochemistry, Vol 2. Interscience Publishers, London p 35–106

    Google Scholar 

  • Hattersley PW, Watson L (1975) Anatomical parameters for predicting photosynthetic pathways of grass leaves: the maximum lateral cell count and the maximum cells distant count. Phytomorphology 25:325–333

    Google Scholar 

  • Hattersley PW, Watson L, Johnston CR (1982) Remarkable leaf anatomical variations in Neurachne and its allies (Poaceae) in relation to C3 and C4 photosynthesis. Bot J Linn Soc 84:265–272

    Google Scholar 

  • Hellmuth EO (1971) Eco-physiological studies on plants in arid and semi-arid regions in Western Australia. III. Comparative studies on photosynthesis, respiration and water relations of ten arid zone and two semi-arid zone plants under winter and late summer climatic conditions. J Ecol 59:225–260

    Google Scholar 

  • Henty EE (1969) A Manual of the Grasses of New Guinea. Botany Bulletin 1, Department of Forests, Division of Botany, Lai, New Guinea

    Google Scholar 

  • Hnatiuk RJ (1980) C4 photosynthesis in the vegetation of Aldabra Atoll. Oecologia (Berl) 44:327–334

    Google Scholar 

  • Hodgkinson KC, Quinn JA (1976) Adaptive variability in the growth of Danthonia caespitosa Gaud. populations at different temperatures. Aust J Bot 24:381–396

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofstra JJ, Aksornkoae S, Atmowidjojo S, Banaag JF, Santosa, Sastrohoetomo RA, Thu LTN (1972) A study on the occurrence of plants with a low CO2 compensation point in different habitats in the tropics. Ann Bogor 5:143–157

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofstra JJ, Stienstra AW (1977) Growth and photosynthesis of closely related C3 and C4 grasses, as influenced by light intensity and water supply. Acta Bot Neerl 26:63–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Imbamba SK, Tieszen LL (1977) Influence of light and temperature on photosynthesis and transpiration in some C3 and C4 vegetable plants from Kenya. Physiol Plant 39:311–316

    Google Scholar 

  • Ivory DA, Whiteman PC (1978) Effect of temperature on growth of five subtropical grasses. I. Effect of day and night temperature on growth and morphological development. Aust J Plant Physiol 5:131–148

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs SWL, Pickard J (1981) Plants of New South Wales. D West, Government Printer, Australia

    Google Scholar 

  • Jessop JP (1979) Amendments to the third edition of JM Black's Flora of South Australia. I. J Adelaide Bot Gard 1:371–375

    Google Scholar 

  • Jessop JP (ed) (1981) Flora of Central Australia. AH and AW Reed, Sydney

    Google Scholar 

  • Johns GG (1978) Transpirational, leaf area, stomatal and photosynthetic response to gradually induced water stress in four temperate herbage species. Aust J Plant Physiol 5:113–125

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones MB, Hannon GE, Coffey MD (1981) C4 photosynthesis in Cyperus longus L., a species occurring in temperature climates. Plant Cell Environ 4:161–168

    Google Scholar 

  • Kawanabe S (1979) Relationship between germination temperature and the classification of grasses. Jap J Trop Agr 23:173–180

    Google Scholar 

  • Kemp EM (1978) Tertiary climatic evolution and vegetation history in the southeast Indian Ocean region. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclim Palaeoecol 24:169–208

    Google Scholar 

  • Köppen W (1936) Das geographische System der Klimate. In: Köppen W, Geiger R (eds), Handbuch der Klimatologie, Vol. 1, Part C. Borntraeger, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Ku S-B, Edwards GE (1978) Oxygen inhibition of photosynthesis. III. Temperature dependence of quantum yield and its relation to O2/CO2 solubility ratio. Planta 140:1–6

    Google Scholar 

  • Lazarides M (1979) Micraira F. Muell. (Poaceae, Micrairoideae). Brunonia 2:67–84

    Google Scholar 

  • Livingstone DA, Clayton WD (1980) An altitudinal cline in tropical African grass floras and its paleoecological significance. Quat Res 13:392–402

    Google Scholar 

  • Long SP, Woolhouse HW (1978) The responses of net photosynthesis to light and temperature in Spartina townsendii (sensu lato), a C4 species from a cool temperature climate. J Exp Bot 29:803–814

    Google Scholar 

  • Ludlow MM (1976) Ecophysiology of C4 grasses. In: Lange OL, Kapen L, Schutze E-D (eds), Water and Plant Life Problems and Modern Approaches. Springer-Verlag, Berlin p 364–386

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin HA (1981) The tertiary flora. In: Keast A (ed), Ecological Biogeography of Australia. W Junk, The Hague p 391–406

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin HA, Peterson JA (1978) Eustatic sea-level changes and environmental gradients. In: Pittock AB, Frakes LA, Jenssen D, Peterson JA, Zillman JW (eds), Climatic Change and Variability: A Southern Perspective. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge p 108–124

    Google Scholar 

  • McDougall I, Embleton BJJ, Stone DB (1981) Origin and Evolution of Lord Howe Island, South West Pacific Ocean. J Geol Soc Austr 28:155–176

    Google Scholar 

  • Meinzer FC (1978) Observaciones sobre la distribucion taxonomica y ecologica de la fotosintesis C4 en la vegetacion del noroeste de Centroamerica. Rev Biol Trop 26:359–369

    Google Scholar 

  • Mulroy TW, Rundel PW (1977) Annual plants: adaptations to desert environments. Bio Sci 27:109–114

    Google Scholar 

  • Ode DJ, Tieszen LL, Lerman JC (1980) The seasonal contribution of C3 and C4 plant species to primary production in a mixed prairie. Ecology 61:1304–1311

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearcy RW, Troughton JH (1974) C4 photosynthesis in tree-form Euphorbias in wet tropical sites in Hawaii. In: McGough SA (ed), Carnegie Institution of Washington Year Book, 73, 1973–1974. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington DC, USA p 809–812

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearcy RW, Tumosa N, Williams K (1981) Relationships between growth, photosynthesis and competitive interactions for a C3 and a C4 plant. Oecologia (Berl) 48:371–376

    Google Scholar 

  • Powell C McA, Johnson BD, Veevers JJ (1981) The early Cretaceous break-up of Eastern Gondwanaland, the separation of Australia and India, and their interaction with Southeast Asia. In: Keast A (ed), Ecological Biogeography of Australia. 2nd edn. W Junk, The Hague p 15–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Purdie RW (1983) Vegetation. In: Western Arid Region Land Use Study, Part 6. Technical Bulletin, Division of Land Utilisation, Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Brisbane (in press)

    Google Scholar 

  • Raghavendra AS, Das VSR (1978) The occurrence of C4-photosynthesis: a supplementary list of C4 plants reported during late 1974-mid 1977. Photosynthetica 12:200–208

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogers RA, Dunn JH, Nelson CH (1977) Photosynthesis and cold hardening in Zoysia and Bermudagrass. Crop Sci 17:727–732

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowley JA (1976) Development of freezing tolerance in leaves of C4 grasses. Aust J Plant Physiol 3:597–603

    Google Scholar 

  • Rundel PW (1980) The ecological distribution of C4 and C3 grasses in the Hawaiian Islands. Oecologia (Berl) 45:354–359

    Google Scholar 

  • Salinger MJ (1981) Palaeoclimates north and south. Nature 291:106–107

    Google Scholar 

  • Shomer-Ilan A, Nissenbaum A, Waisel Y (1981) Photosynthetic pathways and the ecological distribution of the Chenopodiaceae in Israel. Oecologia (Berl) 48:244–248

    Google Scholar 

  • Simon BK (1978) A Preliminary Check-list of Australian Grasses, Technical Bulletin No 3. Botany Branch, Department of Primary Industries, Brisbane

    Google Scholar 

  • Simon BK (1980) A Key to Queensland Grasses, Technical Bulletin No 4. Botany Branch, Department of Primary Industries, Brisbane

    Google Scholar 

  • Simon BK (1981) An analysis of the Australian grass flora. Austrobaileya 1:356–371

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith BN, Otto CB, Martin GE, Boutton TW (1979) Photosynthetic strategies of desert plants. In: Goodin JR, Northington DK (eds), Arid Land Plant Resources, Proc International Arid Lands Conference on Plant Resources. Texas Technical University p 474–481

  • Specht RL (1981 a) Major vegetation formations in Australia. In: Keast A (ed), Ecological Biogeography of Australia, 2nd edn. W Junk, The Hague p 163–297

    Google Scholar 

  • Specht RL (1981 b) Ecophysiological principles determining the biogeography of major vegetation formations in Australia. In: Keast A (ed), Ecological Biogeography of Australia, 2nd edn. W Junk, The Hague p 299–333

    Google Scholar 

  • Sugiyama T, Schmitt MR, Ku SB, Edwards GE (1979) Differences in cold lability of pyruvate, Pi dikinase among C4 species. Plant Cell Physiol 20:965–971

    Google Scholar 

  • Sweeney FC, Hopkinson JM (1975) Vegetative growth of nineteen tropical and subtropical pasture grasses and legumes in relation to temperature. Trop Grassl 9:209–217

    Google Scholar 

  • Syversten JP, Nickell GL, Spellenberg RW, Cunningham GL (1976) Carbon reduction pathways and standing crop in three Chihuahuan Desert plant communities. Southw Natur 21:311–320

    Google Scholar 

  • Teeri JA (1979) The climatology of the C4 photosynthetic pathway. In: Solbrig OT, Jain S, Johnson GB, Raven PH (eds), Topics in Plant Population Biology. Columbia University Press, New York p 356–374

    Google Scholar 

  • Teeri JA, Stowe LG (1976) Climatic patterns and the distribution of C4 grasses in North America. Oecologia (Berl) 23:1–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Teeri JA, Stowe LG, Livingstone DA (1980) The distribution of C4 species of the Cyperaceae in North America in relation to climate. Oecologia (Berl) 47:307–310

    Google Scholar 

  • Tieszen LL (1970) Photosynthetic properties of some grasses in eastern South Dakota. Proc South Dakota Acad Sci 49:78–89

    Google Scholar 

  • Tieszen LL, Senyimba MM, Imbamba SK, Troughton JH (1979) The distribution of C3 and C4 grasses and carbon isotope discrimination along an altitudinal and moisture gradient in Kenya. Oecologia (Berl) 37:337–350

    Google Scholar 

  • Veevers J, McElhinny MW (1976) The separation of Australia from other continents. Earth Sci Rev 12:139–159

    Google Scholar 

  • Vogel JC, Fuls A, Ellis RP (1978) The geographical distribution of Kranz grasses in South Africa. S Afr J Sci 74:209–215

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker D, Singh G (1981) Vegetation history. In: Groves RH (ed), Australian Vegetation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge p 28–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Watson L, Dallwitz MJ (1980) Australian Grass Genera. Anatomy, Morphology and Keys. Research School of Biological Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra

    Google Scholar 

  • Werger MJA, Ellis RP (1981) Photosynthetic pathways in the arid regions of South Africa. Flora 171:64–75

    Google Scholar 

  • Winter K (1981) C4 plants of high biomass in arid regions of Asia — occurrence of C4 photosynthesis in Chenopodiaceae and Polygonaceae from the Middle East and USSR. Oecologia (Berl) 48:100–106

    Google Scholar 

  • Winter K, Troughton JH (1978) Photosynthetic pathways in plants of coastal and inland habitats of Israel and the Sinai. Flora 167:1–34

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Taxonomy Unit, Research School of Biological Sciences, The Australian National University, POB 475, 2601, Canberra City, A.C.T., Australia

    P. W. Hattersley

Authors
  1. P. W. Hattersley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hattersley, P.W. The distribution of C3 and C4 grasses in Australia in relation to climate. Oecologia 57, 113–128 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00379569

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00379569

Keywords

Search

Navigation