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An investigation of long-distance dispersal based on species native to both Tasmania and New Zealand

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-16, 13:05 authored by Gregory JordanGregory Jordan
Some 200 species of plants are currently recognised as being native to both Tasmania and New Zealand. It is argued that dispersal across the 1500-2000-km Tasman Sea has occurred in all of these species. Almost all (187) are herbs and constitute over 20% of the herbaceous flora of Tasmania. Common species, non-dioecious species, species with very small seeds, species from aquatic, coastal or wet habitats and possibly species with hooked fruit are all over-represented among the disjunct species of herbs. The incidence of disjunct species also varies significantly among families. In contrast, fleshy fruited species, or species with plumes or very hairy disseminules, are not over-represented among the herbaceous disjunct species. These data are used to model the probability that a species (past or present) with given traits would show a within-species trans-Tasman disjunction, and it is inferred that this can be used to give a crude approximation of the rates of long-distance dispersal for different types of species. The model can be tested by using molecular clock methods and could be made more robust by incorporating equivalent data from other disjunct regions.

History

Publication title

Australian Journal of Botany

Volume

49

Pagination

333-340

ISSN

0067-1924

Department/School

School of Natural Sciences

Publisher

CSIRO Publishing

Place of publication

Collingwood Australia

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Expanding knowledge in the environmental sciences

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    University Of Tasmania

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