Full resolution (TIFF) - On this page / på denna sida - Some remarks upon the geographical distribution of vegetation in the colder Southern Hemisphere. By Carl Skottsberg. Botanist of the Swedish Antarctic Expedition 1901—1903. With 2 maps, tabl. 8 and 9.
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DISTRIBUTION OF VEGETATION IN THE COLDER SOUTH HEMISPHERE. 407
to Fuegia and the Falklands, though showing, it is true, distinct
transitions to the Antarctic. But the joining of South Georgia
with the latter would completely disturb a boundary otherwise very
natural, without offering any advantages. One need only call to
mind the Poa flabellata, the vast meadows, land-birds, as Nettion
georgicum and Anthus antarcticus, land- and waterbeetles, etc. etc.
What has been said here about South Georgia in general can also
be applied to Kerguelen, more especially as this island lies outside
the pack-ice.
We know nothing of the flora on Bouvet Island, but the
general aspect of it is very clearly antarctic (47).
If we now take as startingpoint Engler’s scheme of 1903, we
shall find that the following small changes can be made with
advantage within his austral realm. As already mentioned, we must
admit an antarctic dominion. Its north limit coincides practically
with the 60° parallel, consequently the same that De Candolle
proposed fifty years ago. Round this antarctic zone different lands
arrange themselves within a margin-zone, that I once called the
»austral» (36), including Engler’s »Gebiete» A, B, C. There is no
doubt that Fuegia-Kerguelen (Engler’s A and B) must be regarded
as belonging to the same greater dominion. The question of the
position of C is more difficult. The relations between New Zealand
and austral South America are well known, but there is some doubt
whether it is better to coordinate A, B, C with D, E, or to
coordinate all the five as Engler has done (A, B, C, D, E). For reasons
mentioned below, I prefer the former arrangement.
We have only to deal with the position of the South Island,
the North being brought into the palæotropical realm.
Of the 1094 species indigenous to New Zealand, 265 are wanting
in the North Island. Of these 17 are found in Australia or in
Tasmania, 4 both in Australia and South America, and 4 only in South
America. The South Island has consequently very few species
common to America which are not also found on the North Island
or in Australia. But we must not pay too much attention to these
figures; we must also take into consideration other circumstances,
for instance, that an immense number of species in Australia do not
reach New Zealand, and also that the climate and the physiognomy
of the vegetation in the southern islands and in some parts of New
Zealand are nearly related to austral South America, that such
characteristic austral types as Azorella, Colobanthus, Gaimardia, Juncus
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