Antarctic flora 509944 208165457 2008-04-25T18:52:46Z Caltas 4131122 Reverted 1 edit by [[Special:Contributions/207.75.221.5|207.75.221.5]] identified as [[WP:VAND|vandalism]] to last revision by [[User:DHN-bot|DHN-bot]]. [[Image:NothofagusFusca.jpg|thumb|right|240px|''[[Nothofagus fusca]]'', New Zealand]]The '''Antarctic flora''' is a distinct community of [[vascular plant]]s which evolved millions of years ago on the supercontinent of [[Gondwana]], and is now found on several separate areas of the [[Southern Hemisphere]], including southern [[South America]], southernmost [[Africa]], [[New Zealand]], [[Australia]] and [[Tasmania]], and [[New Caledonia]]. Based on the similarities in their flora, [[botanist]] Ronald Good identified a separate [[Antarctic Floristic Kingdom]], that included southern South America, New Zealand, and some southern island groups. Good identified Australia as its own floristic kingdom, and included New Guinea and New Caledonia in the Paleotropical floristic kingdom, because of the influx of tropical Eurasian flora that had mostly supplanted the Antarctic flora. [[South America]], [[Africa]], [[India]], [[Australia]], [[New Zealand]], and [[Antarctica]] were all part of the supercontinent Gondwana, which started to break up in the early [[Cretaceous]] period (135-65 million years ago). India was the first to break away, followed by Africa, and then New Zealand, which started to drift north. By the end of the Cretaceous, South America and Australia were still joined to Antarctica. Paleontologist Gilbert Brenner identified the emergence of a distinct southern Gondwanan flora by the late [[Cretaceous]] period in the cooler and humid southern hemisphere regions of Australia, southern South America, southern Africa, Antarctica, and New Zealand; it best resembled the flora of modern-day southern New Zealand. A drier northern Gondwanan flora had developed in northern South America and northern Africa. [[Image:Nothofagus antarctica D.jpg|thumb|right|240px|''[[Nothofagus antarctica]]'', Chile and Argentina]]Africa and India drifted north into the tropical latitudes, became hotter and drier, and ultimately connected with the Eurasian continent, and today the flora of Africa and India have few remnants of the Antarctic flora. Australia drifted north and became drier as well; the humid Antarctic flora retreated to the east coast and Tasmania, while the rest of Australia became dominated by ''[[Acacia]], [[Eucalyptus]]'', and ''[[Casuarinaceae|Casuarina]]'', as well as xeric shrubs and grasses. [[Human]]s arrived in Australia 50-60,000 years ago, and used fire to reshape the vegetation of the continent; as a result, the Antarctic flora (also known as the '''Rainforest flora''' in Australia) retreated to a few isolated areas composing less than 2% of Australia's land area. The [[woody plant]]s of the Antarctic flora include [[conifer]]s in the families [[Podocarpaceae]], [[Araucariaceae]] and the subfamily [[Callitroideae]] of [[Cupressaceae]], and [[angiosperm]]s such as the families [[Proteaceae]], [[Griselinia]]ceae, [[Cunoniaceae]], [[Atherospermataceae]], and [[Winteraceae]], and genera like southern beech (''[[Nothofagus]]'') and fuchsia (''[[Fuchsia]]''). Many other families of flowering plants and ferns, including the tree fern ''[[Dicksonia]]'', are characteristic of the Antarctic flora. The continent of [[Antarctica]] itself has been too cold and dry to support virtually any vascular plants for millions of years, and its flora presently consists of around 250 [[lichen]]s, 100 [[moss]]es, 25-30 [[Marchantiophyta|liverwort]]s, around 700 terrestrial and aquatic [[alga]]l species. Two flowering plants, ''[[Deschampsia antarctica]]'' (Antarctic hair grass) and ''[[Colobanthus quitensis]]'' (Antarctic pearlwort), are found on the northern and western parts of the [[Antarctic Peninsula]]. Species of moss [[Endemism|endemic]] to Antarctica include ''[[Grimmia antarctici]]'', ''[[Schistidium antarctici]]'', and ''[[Sarconeurum glaciale]]''<!-- this could be the same species as the non-endemic Tortula lithophila -->. ==References== * Cox, C. Barry, Peter D. Moore (1985). ''Biogeography: An Ecological and Evolutionary Approach (4th ed.)''. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford. ==See also== *[[Antarctic Floristic Kingdom]] [[Category:Flora of Argentina| ]] [[Category:Flora of Chile| ]] [[Category:Trees of Argentina| ]] [[Category:Trees of Chile| ]] [[Category:Trees of Tierra del Fuego| ]] [[Category:Flora of Antarctica|*]] [[Category:Phytogeography]] [[es:Flora de la Antártida]] [[pt:Flora antárctica]] [[ro:Flora Antarcticii]] [[vi:Quần thực vật Nam Cực]]