The Ecology and Biogeography of Nothofagus Forests
The Ecology and Biogeography of Nothofagus Forests

Author: Thomas T. Veblen

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 1996-01-01

Total Pages: 428

ISBN-13: 9780300064230

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Ecologists and biogeographers have been intrigued for a long time by the striking similarity of the vegetation and flora of southern temperate zone regions separated by large oceans. These scientists have been particularly interested in the occurrence in these regions of Nothofagus--southern beeches. This book, which focuses on the distribution, history, and ecology of the genus Nothofagus, provides a key to understanding the historical plant geography and modern vegetation patterns of the southern hemisphere. The book begins with a discussion of the long-term and broad-scale patterns of origin and differentiation in the genus. Next each major Nothofagus biome is discussed, first in a chapter that considers contemporary ecological patterns and then in a chapter that focuses on the history and paleoecology of the region. Authorities in the field deal with the temperate zone of the southwest Pacific region (New Zealand and Australia); the adjacent tropical zone of the southwest Pacific (New Guinea and New Caledonia); and South America, ranging from the Mediterranean-type climate region of central Chile to the subantarctic latitudes of Tierra del Fuego.

Ten Thousand Years of Cultivation at Kuk Swamp in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea
Ten Thousand Years of Cultivation at Kuk Swamp in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea

Author: Jack Golson

Publisher: ANU Press

Published: 2017-07-07

Total Pages: 545

ISBN-13: 1760461164

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Kuk is a settlement at c. 1600 m altitude in the upper Wahgi Valley of the Western Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea, near Mount Hagen, the provincial capital. The site forms part of the highland spine that runs for more than 2500 km from the western head of the island of New Guinea to the end of its eastern tail. Until the early 1930s, when the region was first explored by European outsiders, it was thought to be a single, uninhabited mountain chain. Instead, it was found to be a complex area of valleys and basins inhabited by large populations of people and pigs, supported by the intensive cultivation of the tropical American sweet potato on the slopes above swampy valley bottoms. With the end of World War II, the area, with others, became a focus for the development of coffee and tea plantations, of which the establishment of Kuk Research Station was a result. Large-scale drainage of the swamps produced abundant evidence in the form of stone axes and preserved wooden digging sticks and spades for their past use in cultivation. Investigations in 1966 at a tea plantation in the upper Wahgi Valley by a small team from The Australian National University yielded a date of over 2000 years ago for a wooden stick collected from the bottom of a prehistoric ditch. The establishment of Kuk Research Station a few kilometres away shortly afterwards provided an ideal opportunity for a research project.

Biogeography and Ecology of New Guinea
Biogeography and Ecology of New Guinea

Author: J.L. Gressit

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 962

ISBN-13: 9400986327

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

J. L. Gressitt New Guinea is a fantastic island, unique and fascinating. It is an area of incredible variety of geomorphology, biota, peoples, languages, history, tradi tions and cultures. Diversity is its prime characteristic, whatever the subject of interest. To a biogeographer it is tantalizing, as well as confusing or frustrating when trying to determine the history of its biota. To an ecologist, and to all biologists, it is a happy hunting ground of endless surprises and unanswered questions. To a conservationist it is like a dream come true, a "flash-back" of a few centuries, as well as a challenge for the future. New Guinea is so special that it is hard to compare it with other islands or tropical areas. It is something apart, with its very complicated history (chapters I: 2-4, II: 1-4, III: I, VI: I, 2). It is partly old but to a great extent very young, yet extremely rich and complex. It has biota of different sources - to such a degree that it is still disputed in this volume as to what Realm it belongs to: the Paleotropical or Notogaean (Australian); or what Region: Oriental, "Oceanic," Papuan or Australian. The terms Papuasian, Indo-Australian and Australasian also have been applied to the area.

The Purari — tropical environment of a high rainfall river basin
The Purari — tropical environment of a high rainfall river basin

Author: T. Petr

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 624

ISBN-13: 9400972636

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

One of the major river systems of our country, the Purari River, finds its outlet to the sea in the Gulf of Papua on the southern coast of Papua New Guinea. All highlands provinces contribute to this mighty river: the Erave of the Southern Highlands Province joins with the Kaugel and Wahgi Rivers (Western High lands), the Tua River (Simbu), and Asaro and Aure Rivers of the Eastern High lands Province to make the Purari the third largest river in P. N. G. Unlike its rivals, the Fly and the Sepik, the distance between its escape from the mountains and its entrance to the sea is short. After winding its way mostly through deep gorges flanked by high mountains, the river leaves the foothills of the southern slopes of the central cordillera barely eighty kilometers from the sea. The energy potential of such a river is enormous. Could the waters be utilised in any way to the advantage of the nation? Twelve years ago the Electricity Com mission of Papua New Guinea proposed an answer to this question: the building of a dam across the river in the Wabo area of the Gulf Province. The generation of vast quantities of hydro-electric power could be fed into a national distribu tion grid and heavy industries could be established in the Gulf Province and other suitable localities to benefit from this power.