A numerical analysis of Tasmanian higher plant endemism

Abstract

KIRKPATRICK, J. B. & BROWN, M. J., 1984. A numerical analysis of Tasmanian higher plant endemism. 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. A monothetic divisive classification and minimum spanning tree analysis of a matrix of the occurrence of 242 Tasmanian endemic species from 366 areas resulted in groups of species and lists whose distributions were closely related to precipitation, altitude and vegetation type. 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.