Community associations and structure in the Late Cretaceous vegetation of southeast Australasia and Antarctica
The structure and species richness of the Late Cretaceous (Santonian-Maastrichtian) vegetation in the Otway Basin, southeast Australia is reconstructed based on knowledge of palaeolatitudes, palaeotemperatures, plant taxa identified from fossil spores and pollen, and ecophysiological relationships e...
Published in: | Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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Elsevier BV
1992
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Online Access: | https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:711911 |
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ftunivqespace:oai:espace.library.uq.edu.au:UQ:711911 2023-05-15T13:34:43+02:00 Community associations and structure in the Late Cretaceous vegetation of southeast Australasia and Antarctica Specht, R.L Dettmann, M.E Jarzen, D.M 1992-01-01 https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:711911 eng eng Elsevier BV doi:10.1016/0031-0182(92)90124-N issn:0031-0182 Earth-Surface Processes Palaeontology Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics Oceanography 1105 Ecology 1904 Earth-Surface Processes 1910 Oceanography 1911 Palaeontology Journal Article 1992 ftunivqespace https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-0182(92)90124-N 2020-08-06T05:48:51Z The structure and species richness of the Late Cretaceous (Santonian-Maastrichtian) vegetation in the Otway Basin, southeast Australia is reconstructed based on knowledge of palaeolatitudes, palaeotemperatures, plant taxa identified from fossil spores and pollen, and ecophysiological relationships established for present-day ecosystems. The vegetation, which grew at palaeolatitudes of 60-65°S and at mean annual palaeotemperatures of 16.5-19°C, comprised tall open-forests (Foliage Projective Cover 60-70%, height about 30 m) containing austral conifer and proteaceous taxa having coriaceous, notophyll-sized leaves. Today the taxa (Podocarpus, Dacrydium, Dacrycarpus, Knightia, Gevuina, Macadamia) from a minor component of upland closed-forests (usually termed rainforests) of tropical northeast Australia and New Caledonia. A conical-shaped crown to the trees of the tall open-forests situated in high latitudes during the Cretaceous would enable some light to penetrate the canopy to a shrubby understorey (of Proteaceae, Winteraceae, Trimeniaceae, Nothofagus, and Ilex) and a ground stratum of diverse cryptogams. On nutrient-poor, waterlogged sites fringing the forest, sclerophyllous leaved taxa (Adenanthos, Stirlingia, Epacridaceae, and possibly Beauprea) developed, with wetland swamps of Callitriche, ferns and some epacrids. In cooler localities in New Zealand and Antarctica, the productivity of the forests would have been greater, and the canopy taxa mainly with coriaceous, microphyll-sized leaves. Austral podocarps and Proteaceae occurred in the canopy of New Zealand forests, whereas the canopy of Antarctic forests contained podocarps and Nothofagus. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica The University of Queensland: UQ eSpace Antarctic Austral New Zealand Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 94 1-4 283 309 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
The University of Queensland: UQ eSpace |
op_collection_id |
ftunivqespace |
language |
English |
topic |
Earth-Surface Processes Palaeontology Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics Oceanography 1105 Ecology 1904 Earth-Surface Processes 1910 Oceanography 1911 Palaeontology |
spellingShingle |
Earth-Surface Processes Palaeontology Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics Oceanography 1105 Ecology 1904 Earth-Surface Processes 1910 Oceanography 1911 Palaeontology Specht, R.L Dettmann, M.E Jarzen, D.M Community associations and structure in the Late Cretaceous vegetation of southeast Australasia and Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Earth-Surface Processes Palaeontology Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics Oceanography 1105 Ecology 1904 Earth-Surface Processes 1910 Oceanography 1911 Palaeontology |
description |
The structure and species richness of the Late Cretaceous (Santonian-Maastrichtian) vegetation in the Otway Basin, southeast Australia is reconstructed based on knowledge of palaeolatitudes, palaeotemperatures, plant taxa identified from fossil spores and pollen, and ecophysiological relationships established for present-day ecosystems. The vegetation, which grew at palaeolatitudes of 60-65°S and at mean annual palaeotemperatures of 16.5-19°C, comprised tall open-forests (Foliage Projective Cover 60-70%, height about 30 m) containing austral conifer and proteaceous taxa having coriaceous, notophyll-sized leaves. Today the taxa (Podocarpus, Dacrydium, Dacrycarpus, Knightia, Gevuina, Macadamia) from a minor component of upland closed-forests (usually termed rainforests) of tropical northeast Australia and New Caledonia. A conical-shaped crown to the trees of the tall open-forests situated in high latitudes during the Cretaceous would enable some light to penetrate the canopy to a shrubby understorey (of Proteaceae, Winteraceae, Trimeniaceae, Nothofagus, and Ilex) and a ground stratum of diverse cryptogams. On nutrient-poor, waterlogged sites fringing the forest, sclerophyllous leaved taxa (Adenanthos, Stirlingia, Epacridaceae, and possibly Beauprea) developed, with wetland swamps of Callitriche, ferns and some epacrids. In cooler localities in New Zealand and Antarctica, the productivity of the forests would have been greater, and the canopy taxa mainly with coriaceous, microphyll-sized leaves. Austral podocarps and Proteaceae occurred in the canopy of New Zealand forests, whereas the canopy of Antarctic forests contained podocarps and Nothofagus. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Specht, R.L Dettmann, M.E Jarzen, D.M |
author_facet |
Specht, R.L Dettmann, M.E Jarzen, D.M |
author_sort |
Specht, R.L |
title |
Community associations and structure in the Late Cretaceous vegetation of southeast Australasia and Antarctica |
title_short |
Community associations and structure in the Late Cretaceous vegetation of southeast Australasia and Antarctica |
title_full |
Community associations and structure in the Late Cretaceous vegetation of southeast Australasia and Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Community associations and structure in the Late Cretaceous vegetation of southeast Australasia and Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Community associations and structure in the Late Cretaceous vegetation of southeast Australasia and Antarctica |
title_sort |
community associations and structure in the late cretaceous vegetation of southeast australasia and antarctica |
publisher |
Elsevier BV |
publishDate |
1992 |
url |
https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:711911 |
geographic |
Antarctic Austral New Zealand |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Austral New Zealand |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica |
op_relation |
doi:10.1016/0031-0182(92)90124-N issn:0031-0182 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-0182(92)90124-N |
container_title |
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |
container_volume |
94 |
container_issue |
1-4 |
container_start_page |
283 |
op_container_end_page |
309 |
_version_ |
1766056514770960384 |