Skip to main content
Log in

Temperate forests of the southern hemisphere

  • Published:
Vegetatio Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The much higher proportion of sea to land in the southern hemisphere creates conditions favouring temperate rain forest on west-facing coasts, so that forests dominated by Nothofagus spp. and southern conifers in Araucariaceae and Podocarpaceae have survived since Cretaceous times. By contrast only Australia preserves to any significant extent forests of a xeromorphic character in drier areas. During the progressive desiccation of the Tertiary era, the prevalent nutrient deficiency in Australian soils led to the evolution of xeromorphic forests of a pronouncedly sclerophyll type in which many elements were inherently fire-resistant. Such forests were enabled to withstand the intensification of burning following the arrival of early man, with selection for the more highly fire-resistant elements such as Eucalyptus which became widely dominant. In other land areas of the southern hemisphere fire has largely destroyed the drier forests.

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

Access this article

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

  • Beadle N.C.W. & Costin A.B. 1952. Ecological classification and nomenclature. Proc. Linn. Soc. of N.S.W. 77: 61–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hallam S.J. 1983. The peopling of the Australian continent. Indian Ocean Newsletter 4: 11–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson W.D. 1965. Vegetation. In Atlas of Tasmania, ed. J.L. Davies. Lands & Surveys Dept., Hobart.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kershaw A.P. 1986. Climatic change and aboriginal burning in north-east Australia during the last two glacial/interglacial cycles. Nature 332: 47–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • McNamara K.J. & Scott J.K. 1983. A new species of Banksia (Proteaceae) from the Eocene Merlinleigh Sandstone of the Kennedy Range, Western Australia. Alcheringa 7: 185–193.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pate J.S. & Beard J.S. 1984. Kwongan; the Plant Life of the Sandplain. Univ. West. Aust. Press, Nedlands.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh G. & Geissler E.A. 1985. Late Cainozoic history of vegetation, fire, lake levels and climate at Lake George, NSW, Australia. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond. 311B: 379–447.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh G., Kershaw A.P. & Clark R. 1981. Quaternary vegetation and fire history in Australia. In Fire and the Australian Biota eds. A.M. Gill, R.H. Groves & I.R. Noble. Aust. Acad. Science, Canberra.

    Google Scholar 

  • Webb L.J. 1959. A physiognomic classification of Australian rain forests. J. Ecol. 47: 551–70.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Beard, J.S. Temperate forests of the southern hemisphere. Vegetatio 89, 7–10 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00134430

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00134430

Keywords

Navigation