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History of the Australian vegetation: Cretaceous to recent
424
Book Reviews~Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 91 (1996) 423 429
approaches, new interpretations, and engage in debate that may lead to a resolution of the problem. The book represents the state of knowledge of the fossil data that bear upon the origin of angiosperm. The neontologists will especially find this book worth reading to get an idea of the growing body of fossil data that is relevant to the origin of angiosperms. M I C H A E L S. Z A V A D A (Providence, RI )
History of the Australian vegetation: Cretaceous to Recent, edited by Robert S. Hill. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 1994, 433 pp. Price £65/US$ 125.00. Australia has played an important rote in the evolution of plants of the Gondwana Supercontinent. Although now isolated, during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic, Australia was closely related to Antarctica, India, South Africa and southern South America, with which it shared a common type of vegetation. However, during the late Mesozoic the break-up of Gondwana was the cause for profound changes of the vegetation as the continents shifted apart. The history of the Australian vegetation shows important changes during the Cretaceous, and it continues during the Tertiary until its final separation from Antarctica. This book covers most aspects of these changes that have been recorded by paleobotany and palynology. This ambitious goal required the collaboration of twenty-three well known specialists who are responsible for the sixteen chapters of the book. In the "Introduction", R.S. Hill gives credit to Isabel Cookson who set paleobotanical studies on their modern course. The editor acknowledges that there are differences between chapters that may be based on the availability of data, or information provided from only one locality. A taxonomic difference will be found in the Nothofagus subgenera: some authors accept three subgenera as proposed by Dettmann et al. (1990), while others prefer the four subgenera of Hill and Read ( 1991 ), and Hill and Jordan (1993). Finally, it is suggested that photoperiod and carbon dioxide level fluctuations during the Cretaceous-Recent were responsi-
ble for changes in vegetation of this vast continent. The next six chapters build a framework on which paleontological data is presented later. Mesozoic and Cenozoic Gondwana maps for 10 Ma intervals show zones of marine-continental environments (G.E. Wilford and P.J. Brown). Maps are small and some details are difficult to interpret. P.G. Quilty gives a condensed survey on Australian paleoclimate and paleogeography during the last 144 million years. Global sea-level changes, patterns of oceanic currents, paleogeography and apparent polar wander paths are considered. D.R. Greenwood discusses paleobotanical evidence for Tertiary climates analyzing foliar physiognomy and climate in extant leaf-litter and in fossils. G. Taylor writes on the landscapes of Australia, their nature and evolution. The history of Australia's mammals and inferences about paleohabitats (M. Archer, S.J. Hand and H. Godthelp) is illustrated with several living and fossil species. Fossil mammal assemblages are plotted in a time scalegeographic chart. In a long chapter, H.A. Martin presents palynological evidence for Australia Tertiary phytogeography. A chart with first appearances of selected taxa is included. Several issues are discussed: climate, geographical variation, comparisons with Australia's neighbors, phytogeography and migrations. The following chapters deal with paleobotanical and palynological evidences through time. M.E. Dettmann writes on the microfossil record of the Cretaceous vegetation. A detailed survey of fossil taxa, their range and relation to extant species is given. The distribution of vegetation zones, centers of origin and/or diversification are provided. Dettmann considers that Australia was not the cradle region for flowering plants, as has been suggested by some authors. The Cretaceous macrofossil record is analyzed by J.G. Douglas, illustrating specimens from different localities. Leaf cuticles of Cretaceous and early Tertiary plants tend to be thick probably due to a variety of factors; the evergreen condition or resistance to herbivory may have played a role. The early Tertiary microfossil record is analyzed at length by M.K. Macphail, N.F. Alley, E.M. Truswell and J.R.K. Sluiter, including information provided by oil companies (A. Partridge, L. Stover and R. Helby).
Book Reviews/Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 91 (1996) 423-429
Palynological information demonstrates that each basin may have a different history due to factors that were partly discussed in previous chapters. D.C. Christophel completes that knowledge about Tertiary vegetation with considerations on the macrofloras. Tasmanian Cenozoic vegetation (macrofossil evidence) is developed by R.J. Carpenter, R.S. Hill and G.J. Jordan. There are interesting considerations on taxa now living in South America, New Zealand or New Guinea that occur in the Paleogene of Tasmania. Athrotaxis, the only living southern taxodiaceous element, endemic to Tasmania, is known from Cretaceous strata of South America. Links with cool temperate forests of South America are also considered. A.P. Kershaw, H.A. Martin and J.R.C. McEwen Mason analyze Neogene pollen spectra from selected localities and establish relationships between Australian/SE Asian rain-forests in regard to the presence of Nothofagus and associated podocarps in New Guinea. A chapter by D.T. Blackburn and I.R.K. Sluiter is devoted to OligoMiocene coal floras of Southeastern Australia. A detailed biozonation (Pollen and Interseam Influence Zone Stratigraphy) provides a fine resolution for some seams. The impact of fire on vegetation is illustrated by a hydroseral and pyric succession for three intervals. The influence on plants by fire and climate is analyzed by G.S. Hope for the Quaternary vegetation. A general trend to more arid environments that commenced in the Late Tertiary was finally influenced by human activity. In the final chapter, R.S. Hill writes on the history of selected Australian taxa that characterized Cretaceous to recent vegetation. Nothofagus and the Podocarpaceae are considered together with Araucariaceae, Proteaceae and Casuarinaceae. Views on origin and dispersal are included. A vast array of information is found in this book. The editor should be congratulated for being able to assemble distinguished scientists to write on such varied and complicated subjects. Paleobotanical and palynological information from Australia (and Gondwana) has significantly increased during the last decades. There are differences in the level of information presented in several chapters. However, all chapters devoted to
425
fossils have introductions in which a paleogeographical setting and methodological approaches are presented. There may be some disparity throughout the book in the extent of different chapters, in the lack or abundance of illustrations, or in the taxonomic treatment of the fossils. However, this is a work that will settle precedence for similar enterprises, especially from areas that have abundant and dispersed information that needs a synthetic treatment as the one presented in this book. SERGIO ARCHANGELSKY (Buenos Aires)
Global Climates Since the Last Glacial Maximum, edited by H.E. Wright, Jr., J.E. Kutzbach, T. Webb III, W.F. Ruddiman, F.A. StreetPerrot and P.J. Bartlein. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis. 1993, 569pp. ISBN 0-8166-2145-4. Price US$ 59.95. The challenge of climatology is to extract regional chronologies from data that often record local events and then to interpret these regional histories in relation to global forcing. To integrate terrestrial proxies and climate models, the Cooperative Holocene Mapping Project (COHMAP) began in 1977 as an extension of the marine program on Climate Mapping Analysis and Prediction (CLIMAP). COHMAP took advantage of lake level and pollen records from different land masses to derive quantitative histories of temperature and effective moisture variability around the Earth. Along with General Circulation Model (GCM) simulations, these terrestrial stratigraphies provided a framework for interpreting the dynamics of the Earth's climate system. This volume is organized into 20 cohesive chapters which progress from the conceptual basis of COHMAP to model experiments assessed with climate records from 14 different regions around the planet into a general synthesis of Global Climates Since the Last Glacial Maximum. The orbital geometry between the sun and the Earth (Milankovitch cycles), which effects the seasonal and zonal distribution of radiation on the planet, is at the core of understanding late Quaternary climate changes. Based on the astro-
Book Reviews~Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 91 (1996) 423 429
approaches, new interpretations, and engage in debate that may lead to a resolution of the problem. The book represents the state of knowledge of the fossil data that bear upon the origin of angiosperm. The neontologists will especially find this book worth reading to get an idea of the growing body of fossil data that is relevant to the origin of angiosperms. M I C H A E L S. Z A V A D A (Providence, RI )
History of the Australian vegetation: Cretaceous to Recent, edited by Robert S. Hill. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 1994, 433 pp. Price £65/US$ 125.00. Australia has played an important rote in the evolution of plants of the Gondwana Supercontinent. Although now isolated, during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic, Australia was closely related to Antarctica, India, South Africa and southern South America, with which it shared a common type of vegetation. However, during the late Mesozoic the break-up of Gondwana was the cause for profound changes of the vegetation as the continents shifted apart. The history of the Australian vegetation shows important changes during the Cretaceous, and it continues during the Tertiary until its final separation from Antarctica. This book covers most aspects of these changes that have been recorded by paleobotany and palynology. This ambitious goal required the collaboration of twenty-three well known specialists who are responsible for the sixteen chapters of the book. In the "Introduction", R.S. Hill gives credit to Isabel Cookson who set paleobotanical studies on their modern course. The editor acknowledges that there are differences between chapters that may be based on the availability of data, or information provided from only one locality. A taxonomic difference will be found in the Nothofagus subgenera: some authors accept three subgenera as proposed by Dettmann et al. (1990), while others prefer the four subgenera of Hill and Read ( 1991 ), and Hill and Jordan (1993). Finally, it is suggested that photoperiod and carbon dioxide level fluctuations during the Cretaceous-Recent were responsi-
ble for changes in vegetation of this vast continent. The next six chapters build a framework on which paleontological data is presented later. Mesozoic and Cenozoic Gondwana maps for 10 Ma intervals show zones of marine-continental environments (G.E. Wilford and P.J. Brown). Maps are small and some details are difficult to interpret. P.G. Quilty gives a condensed survey on Australian paleoclimate and paleogeography during the last 144 million years. Global sea-level changes, patterns of oceanic currents, paleogeography and apparent polar wander paths are considered. D.R. Greenwood discusses paleobotanical evidence for Tertiary climates analyzing foliar physiognomy and climate in extant leaf-litter and in fossils. G. Taylor writes on the landscapes of Australia, their nature and evolution. The history of Australia's mammals and inferences about paleohabitats (M. Archer, S.J. Hand and H. Godthelp) is illustrated with several living and fossil species. Fossil mammal assemblages are plotted in a time scalegeographic chart. In a long chapter, H.A. Martin presents palynological evidence for Australia Tertiary phytogeography. A chart with first appearances of selected taxa is included. Several issues are discussed: climate, geographical variation, comparisons with Australia's neighbors, phytogeography and migrations. The following chapters deal with paleobotanical and palynological evidences through time. M.E. Dettmann writes on the microfossil record of the Cretaceous vegetation. A detailed survey of fossil taxa, their range and relation to extant species is given. The distribution of vegetation zones, centers of origin and/or diversification are provided. Dettmann considers that Australia was not the cradle region for flowering plants, as has been suggested by some authors. The Cretaceous macrofossil record is analyzed by J.G. Douglas, illustrating specimens from different localities. Leaf cuticles of Cretaceous and early Tertiary plants tend to be thick probably due to a variety of factors; the evergreen condition or resistance to herbivory may have played a role. The early Tertiary microfossil record is analyzed at length by M.K. Macphail, N.F. Alley, E.M. Truswell and J.R.K. Sluiter, including information provided by oil companies (A. Partridge, L. Stover and R. Helby).
Book Reviews/Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 91 (1996) 423-429
Palynological information demonstrates that each basin may have a different history due to factors that were partly discussed in previous chapters. D.C. Christophel completes that knowledge about Tertiary vegetation with considerations on the macrofloras. Tasmanian Cenozoic vegetation (macrofossil evidence) is developed by R.J. Carpenter, R.S. Hill and G.J. Jordan. There are interesting considerations on taxa now living in South America, New Zealand or New Guinea that occur in the Paleogene of Tasmania. Athrotaxis, the only living southern taxodiaceous element, endemic to Tasmania, is known from Cretaceous strata of South America. Links with cool temperate forests of South America are also considered. A.P. Kershaw, H.A. Martin and J.R.C. McEwen Mason analyze Neogene pollen spectra from selected localities and establish relationships between Australian/SE Asian rain-forests in regard to the presence of Nothofagus and associated podocarps in New Guinea. A chapter by D.T. Blackburn and I.R.K. Sluiter is devoted to OligoMiocene coal floras of Southeastern Australia. A detailed biozonation (Pollen and Interseam Influence Zone Stratigraphy) provides a fine resolution for some seams. The impact of fire on vegetation is illustrated by a hydroseral and pyric succession for three intervals. The influence on plants by fire and climate is analyzed by G.S. Hope for the Quaternary vegetation. A general trend to more arid environments that commenced in the Late Tertiary was finally influenced by human activity. In the final chapter, R.S. Hill writes on the history of selected Australian taxa that characterized Cretaceous to recent vegetation. Nothofagus and the Podocarpaceae are considered together with Araucariaceae, Proteaceae and Casuarinaceae. Views on origin and dispersal are included. A vast array of information is found in this book. The editor should be congratulated for being able to assemble distinguished scientists to write on such varied and complicated subjects. Paleobotanical and palynological information from Australia (and Gondwana) has significantly increased during the last decades. There are differences in the level of information presented in several chapters. However, all chapters devoted to
425
fossils have introductions in which a paleogeographical setting and methodological approaches are presented. There may be some disparity throughout the book in the extent of different chapters, in the lack or abundance of illustrations, or in the taxonomic treatment of the fossils. However, this is a work that will settle precedence for similar enterprises, especially from areas that have abundant and dispersed information that needs a synthetic treatment as the one presented in this book. SERGIO ARCHANGELSKY (Buenos Aires)
Global Climates Since the Last Glacial Maximum, edited by H.E. Wright, Jr., J.E. Kutzbach, T. Webb III, W.F. Ruddiman, F.A. StreetPerrot and P.J. Bartlein. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis. 1993, 569pp. ISBN 0-8166-2145-4. Price US$ 59.95. The challenge of climatology is to extract regional chronologies from data that often record local events and then to interpret these regional histories in relation to global forcing. To integrate terrestrial proxies and climate models, the Cooperative Holocene Mapping Project (COHMAP) began in 1977 as an extension of the marine program on Climate Mapping Analysis and Prediction (CLIMAP). COHMAP took advantage of lake level and pollen records from different land masses to derive quantitative histories of temperature and effective moisture variability around the Earth. Along with General Circulation Model (GCM) simulations, these terrestrial stratigraphies provided a framework for interpreting the dynamics of the Earth's climate system. This volume is organized into 20 cohesive chapters which progress from the conceptual basis of COHMAP to model experiments assessed with climate records from 14 different regions around the planet into a general synthesis of Global Climates Since the Last Glacial Maximum. The orbital geometry between the sun and the Earth (Milankovitch cycles), which effects the seasonal and zonal distribution of radiation on the planet, is at the core of understanding late Quaternary climate changes. Based on the astro-