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Forest Vines to Snow Tussocks: The Story of New Zealand Plants

Conclusion

Conclusion

In view of its wide range of specialised growth forms and habits, reviewed in this and in the last chapter, it is not difficult to conclude that in these aspects New Zealand conifer broadleaf forest comes closer to tropical rain forest than to any other type of vegetation, despite New Zealand's temperate latitudes. In the light of certain fossil evidence the most likely explanation for this is that, before the Ice Age, forest of the general type now largely confined to tropical latitudes was also widespread in the middle latitudes of both hemispheres. Plant fossils from the vicinity of London dating back to early Tertiary times (80 million years ago) belong to genera, including some palms, now largely restricted to the tropics.59 Fossil floras with similar relationships have also been discovered in Oregon, U. S. A. The Ice Age, the effects of which would have been more severe in the largely continental northern hemisphere, virtually eliminated such forests from middle northern latitudes, with the exception of southern Japan and parts of China, while limited examples persisted in middle southern latitudes, and in New Zealand best of all.

Remnants of such middle latitude rain forests, with fewer species than those of New Zealand and in particular fewer vines and epiphytes, can be found in parts of New South Wales and Victoria in Australia, along a portion of the south-east coast of South Africa, and in central page 98Chile. The rain forests of these areas may have been more reduced than those of New Zealand by the development of arid continental climates and by their longer history of human and natural fires as well as by Ice Age coldness. New Zealand's narrow oceanic land mass would have ameliorated the two climatic factors and enabled the survival of our fascinating array of vines, epiphytes, parasites and saprophytes. However, with its fewer species, its relatively small leaves and admixture of conifers the New Zealand conifer broadleaf forest probably comes closest to certain montane tropical rather than lowland tropical rain forests. The conifer broadleaf forest also shares more genera with the former than with the latter.

Perhaps the New Zealand conifer broadleaf forest and related forest types elsewhere in the southern hemisphere evolved in some degree of isolation on Gondwana. The presence of certain specialised growth forms, comparable with but unrelated to those of the old and new world tropics (nest epiphytes — Collospermum, Astelia; hemiepiphytes — Griselinia, Metrosideros; lianes — Metrosideros species) lends support to this suggestion.