Mucina, Ladislav
Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, Perth, Australia
There are places on this planet which almost defy logic: they are ecologically stressed (extremely nutrient-poor and experiencing frequent drought) yet supporting unprecedented diversity of species and vegetation types showing signs of deep evolutionary roots. These places are associated with hotspots of species-diversity diversity and endemism, and with habitats might have served as refugia during periods of adverse climate and other, associated large-scale disturbances such as increased fire frequency. Ecology of biomes calls these places ‘peinobiomes’― biotic communities of nutrient-deprived (hungry) landscapes. The low status of available phosphorus, nitrogen, and other vital resources for plants and are major forces driving the patterns and dynamics of the azonal ecosystems. Many landscapes of Southern Hemisphere, dominated by peinobiomes, are characterised by lack of tectonic rejuvenation hence retarded replenishment of soil nutrients. They are relatively climatically stable in terms of increased levels of predictability of the climate dynamics. Large-scale and long-term predictable disturbance such as recurrent fire are the third dimension defining the long-term evolutions of landscapes (habitat structures) and vegetation types. The spatial coincidence of peinobiomes and Old Stable Landscapes is the major source of survival of palaeo-geographically old habitat complexes, supporting both ancient plant relict lineages as well as evolutionary young lineages resulting from local rapid radiations. In my talk, I invite you to join me for a journey spanning tropical, subtropical, and warm-temperate peinobiomes of South American Pantepui, Brazilian campos rupestres, famous southern African fynbos and less famous, yet equally intriguing, sourvelds, Australian kwongan scrub and the ancient sandstone plateaus of the Top End, and finally – the most intriguing maquis minier of New Caledonia. To wrap our journey, I shall construct models attempting to explain how the ecological and evolutionary drivers might have shaped the (endemic) pools of species and related functional-trait spaces of peinobiomes – the jewels we should study, cherish, and protect.
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