Tasmanian endemic plant taxa at the species level or below were placed in geographic elements according to the distribution of their genera. These elements are associated with different environments, the endemic and Antarctic elements being most prominent in rainforest and alpine communities; the cosmopolitan element in alpine communities, and the Australian element in the fire-prone lowland communities. The proportions of endemic species in local Tasmanian floras were almost totally explained by altitude and precipitation in a stepwise multiple regression analysis. However, it is possible that many of the endemic species have not been able to occupy their potential range in Tasmania as a result of insufficient time having elapsed for them to fully expand from glacial refugia.
History
Publication title
Botanical Journal of the Linnaean Society of London
Volume
88
Pagination
165-183
ISSN
0024-4074
Publication status
Published
Rights statement
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