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Lead image changed to Chaparral vegetation in CA as it's more distinctly sclerophyllous looking. Previous Fynbos image looks like it can be a cold grassland in the UK, Russia and/or Canada than a sclerophyllous of a warm climate.
Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at de:Hartlaubvegetation; see its history for attribution. (Also included more climatic diversity, as sclerophyll plants are found in other climate zones)
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{{short description|Type of vegetation that has hard leaves, short internodes and leaf orientation parallel or oblique to direct sunlight}}
{{short description|Type of vegetation that has hard leaves, short internodes and leaf orientation parallel or oblique to direct sunlight}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2012}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2012}}
{{Globalize|article|Australia|date=April 2013|talk=Talk:Sclerophyll#Worldwide_coverage_of_description_and_of_effects_of_human_occupation_needed}}
[[File:Arroyo pescadero 03.JPG|thumb|right|260px|[[Chaparral]] vegetation in [[Southern California]]]]
[[File:Arroyo pescadero 03.JPG|thumb|right|260px|[[Chaparral]] vegetation in [[Southern California]]]]
'''Sclerophyll''' is a type of vegetation that has hard [[leaf|leaves]], short internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation parallel or oblique to direct sunlight. The word comes from the Greek ''sklēros'' (hard) and ''phyllon'' (leaf).
'''Sclerophyll''' is a type of vegetation that has hard [[leaf|leaves]], short internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation parallel or oblique to direct sunlight. The word comes from the Greek ''sklēros'' (hard) and ''phyllon'' (leaf). The diversity of the original sclerophyll is high to extremely high (3000-5000 species per ha). A total of 10% of all plant species on earth live there.


Sclerophyllous plants occur in many parts of the world,<ref>C. Michael Hogan. 2010. [http://www.eoearth.org/article/Leather_Oak ''Leather Oak, Quercus durata''. Encyclopedia of Earth. National Council for Science and Environment]. Washington DC</ref> but are most typical in the [[chaparral]] [[biome]]s. They are prominent throughout western ([[Perth]] region), eastern ([[Sydney]] region) and southern ([[Adelaide]] region) parts of [[Flora of Australia|Australia]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/ThreatenedSpeciesApp/VegClass.aspx?vegClassName=Sydney+Coastal+Dry+Sclerophyll+Forests |title=Sydney Coastal Dry Sclerophyll Forests |publisher=NSW Environment & Heritage |access-date=September 17, 2012}}</ref> in the [[Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub]] biomes that cover the [[Mediterranean Basin]], [[California chaparral and woodlands|Californian chaparral and woodlands]], [[Chilean Matorral]], and the [[Cape Province]] of [[South Africa]].
Sclerophyllous plants occur in many parts of the world,<ref>C. Michael Hogan. 2010. [http://www.eoearth.org/article/Leather_Oak ''Leather Oak, Quercus durata''. Encyclopedia of Earth. National Council for Science and Environment]. Washington DC</ref> but are most typical of areas with low rainfall or seasonal droughts such as Australia, Africa, or western North and South America. They are prominent throughout western ([[Perth]] region), eastern ([[Sydney]] region) and southern ([[Adelaide]] region) parts of [[Flora of Australia|Australia]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/ThreatenedSpeciesApp/VegClass.aspx?vegClassName=Sydney+Coastal+Dry+Sclerophyll+Forests |title=Sydney Coastal Dry Sclerophyll Forests |publisher=NSW Environment & Heritage |access-date=September 17, 2012}}</ref> in the [[Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub]] biomes that cover the [[Mediterranean Basin]], [[California chaparral and woodlands|California]], [[Chilean Matorral|Chile]], [[Flora of Argentina|Argentina]], [[Geography of Paraguay|Paraguay]], southern [[Flora of Brazil|Brazil]], and the [[Cape Province]] of [[South Africa]].


The term was coined by [[Andreas Franz Wilhelm Schimper|A.F.W. Schimper]] in 1898 (translated in 1903), originally as a synonym of [[xeromorph]], but later was changed.<ref>Bowman, D. M. J. S. (2000). The sclerophyll problem. In: ''Australian Rainforests''. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. pp. 48-67, [https://books.google.com/books?id=5pQZlbzJvTkC].</ref>
The term was coined by [[Andreas Franz Wilhelm Schimper|A.F.W. Schimper]] in 1898 (translated in 1903), originally as a synonym of [[xeromorph]], but later was changed.<ref>Bowman, D. M. J. S. (2000). The sclerophyll problem. In: ''Australian Rainforests''. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. pp. 48-67, [https://books.google.com/books?id=5pQZlbzJvTkC].</ref>

==Description==
[[File:Dehesa_Los_Valhondos_Jamon_BEHER_Bernardo_Hernandez_Salamanca_Pelayos.jpg|260px|thumb|Sclerophyllous woodland in Spain]]
Sclerophyll forests and/or shrub formations are characteristic of the various forms of hard-leaf vegetation which, depending on the subtype, are dominated by hard-leaf plants. These [[woody plant]]s are characterized by their relatively small, stiff, leathery and long-lasting leaves. The hard-leaf vegetation is the result of an adaptation of the flora to the summer dry period of the winter-humid climate.

Plant species with this type of adaptation tend to be [[evergreen]] and with great longevity, slow growth and with no loss of leaves during the unfavorable season. To note, "sclerophyll" and "evergreen" are not synonymous. As a result, the [[thicket]]s that make up these ecosystems are of the persistent evergreen type, in addition to the predominance of plants, even herbaceous ones, with "hard" leaves, covered by a thick leathery layer called the [[cuticle]], which prevents water loss during the dry season. The aerial and underground structures of these plants are modified to make up for water shortages that may affect their survival.

The name sclerophyllic derives from the highly developed [[sclerenchyma]] from the plant, which is responsible for the hardness or stiffness of the leaves. This structure of the leaves inhibits transpiration and thus prevents major water losses during the dry season. Most of the plant species in the hard-leaf zone are not only insensitive to summer drought, they have also used various strategies to adapt to frequent fires, heavy winter rainfall and nutrient deficiencies.<ref>Georg Grabherr: Farbatlas Ökosysteme der Erde. Ulmer, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-8001-3489-6.</ref>

==Range==
[[File:Spiny forest 1, Ifaty, Madagascar.jpg|thumb|250px|Sclerophyll shrubland in in southwestern Madagascar]]
The zone of the hard-leaf vegetation lies in the border area between the [[subtropics]] and the [[temperate zone]], approximately between the 30th and 40th degree of [[latitude]] (in the northern hemisphere also up to the 45th degree of latitude). In this case, the presence limited to the coastal western sides of the continents, but are typical in any areas with scarce annual precipitation or frequent seasonal droughts and poor soils that are heavily leached.<ref> Susanne Heise: Vegetation zones: The zone of the evergreen hardwood plants, in TERRA-Online/Realschule on Klett.de, Klett, Leipzig 2003, version January 26, 2006, accessed on December 17, 2020.</ref>

They often merge into [[temperate deciduous forest]]s towards the poles, on the coasts also into [[temperate rainforest]]s and towards the equator in hot [[semi-desert]]s or deserts. The Mediterranean areas, which have a very high [[biodiversity]], are under great pressure from the population. This is especially true for the Mediterranean region since ancient times. Through [[overexploitation]] (logging, grazing, agricultural use) and frequent fires caused by people, the original forest vegetation is converted. In extreme cases, the hard-leaf vegetation disappears completely and is replaced by open rock [[heaths]].

In relation to the potential natural vegetation, today around 2% of the earth's land surface are hard-leaf areas. This also includes some hard-leaf areas of the summer-humid tropics, which are closer to the equator than the Mediterranean zone - for example, the interior of [[Madagascar]], the dry half of [[New Caledonia]], the lower edge areas of the [[Madrean pine-oak woodlands]] of the [[Sierra Madre Occidental|Mexican highlands]] between 800 and 1800/2000 m or around 2000 m high plateaus of the [[Asir Mountains]] on the western edge of the [[Arabian Peninsula]].<ref> Josef Schmithüsen (Ed.): Atlas for Biogeography. Meyer's large physical world atlas, vol. 3., Bibliographisches Institut, Mannheim, Vienna, Zurich 1976, ISBN 3-411-00303-0 . P. 19 (Asir Mountains), P. 43 (Mexican Highlands).</ref>
{{clear}}
==Ecology==
[[File:San Rossore, Riserva del Paduletto.jpg|thumb|250px|Sclerophyll woodland in [[Tuscany]], Italy]]
In the Mediterranean region, [[holm oak]], [[cork oak]] and [[olive]] are typical hardwood trees. In addition, there are several species of pine under the trees in the vegetation zone. The shrub layer - or the tree-free bush vegetation in the now forest-free areas - contains numerous herbs such as [[rosemary]], [[thyme]] and [[lavender]].

The [[Type species|type]] of sclerophyllic trees in the [[Palearctic]] flora region include the holm oak ([[Quercus ilex]]), myrtle ([[Myrtus communis]]), strawberry tree ([[Arbutus unedo]]), wild olive ([[Olea europaea]]), laurel ([[Laurus nobilis]]), mock privet ([[Phillyrea latifolia]]), the Italian buckthorn ([[Rhamnus alaternus]]), etc.<ref>Richard Pott: Allgemeine Geobotanik. Berlin/ Heidelberg 2005, ISBN 3-540-23058-0, S. 353–398.</ref>

* In central and southern California, the coastal hills are covered in hard-leaf vegetation known as chaparral.
* In [[South Africa]], in the Cape region, there are Mediterranean open forests known as [[fynbos]]. The abundance of endemics is so extraordinary (68% of the 8600 vascular plant species in the area) that the South African hard- leaf area, the cape flora, forms the smallest of the six flora kingdoms on earth.
* In most of Australia below the tropics, sclerophyll vegetation such as [[eucalyptus]] trees, [[melaleuca]]s and [[proteaceae]] dominate the [[mallee]] and woodland areas.
* In Chile, south of the desert areas, there is evergreen bushland called [[matorral]].
{{clear}}
==Climate==
[[File:Brenanparkbush.jpg|thumb|A sclerophyll bushland near [[Cumberland Highway]] in [[Brenan Park]], [[Sydney]] (which falls in the [[humid subtropical]] zone).]]
The sclerophyll regions are located in the outer subtropics bordering the temperate zone (also known as the warm-temperate zone). Accordingly, the annual average temperatures are relatively high at 12–24°C; An average of over 18°C is reached for at least four months, eight to twelve months it is over 10°C and no month is below 5°C on average. [[Frost]] and snow occur only occasionally and the [[growing season]] lasts longer than 150 days and is in the winter half-year.<ref>Jörg S. Pfadenhauer und Frank A. Klötzli: Vegetation der Erde. Springer Spektrum, Berlin/Heidelberg 2014, ISBN 978-3-642-41949-2. S. 289–291.</ref>

Generally, the summers are dry and hot with a [[dry season]] of a maximum of seven months, but at least two to three months. The winters are rainy and cool. However, no all regions with sclerophyll vegetation would have a classic [[Mediterranean climate]]; sclerophyll regions in southeastern Australia and eastern South Africa tend to have a more summer-dominant rainfall, where they'd fall under the [[humid subtropical climate]] zone (''Cfa''/''Cwa''), and other areas with sclerophyll flora (in those countries) would grade to the [[oceanic climate]] (''Cfb''), particularly the state of [[Victoria (state)|Victoria]] and southern [[New South Wales]]. The lower limit of the moderate annual precipitation is 300mm and the upper limit 900-1000 mm.<ref>Jürgen Schultz: Handbuch der Ökozonen, Ulmer, Stuttgart 2000, pp. 45–46 and Post et al., 1982, p. 35.</ref>

==Land use==
While the winter rain areas of America, South Africa and [[Australia]], with an unusually large variety of [[food crops]], were ideal gathering areas for hunters until the land grab by Europeans, agriculture and [[cattle breeding]] spread in the Mediterranean area since the [[Neolithic]], which permanently changed the face of the landscape. In the hard-leaf regions near the coast, permanent crops such as olive and wine cultivation established themselves; However, the landscape forms that characterize the degenerate shrubbery and shrub heaths [[Macchie]] and [[Garigue]] are predominantly a result of grazing (especially with goats).

In the course of the last millennia, the original vegetation in almost all areas of this vegetation zone has been greatly changed by the influence of humans. Where the plants have not been replaced by [[vineyard]]s and olive groves, low, dense scrub, the [[maquis]], is the predominant form of vegetation on the Mediterranean. The maquis, on the other hand, has been degraded in many places to the low shrub heather, the [[garigue]]. Many plant species that are rich in aromatic oils belong to both vegetation societies.<ref> Klaus Müller-Hohenstein: The geo-ecological zones of the earth. In: Geography and School. Issue 59, Bayreuth 1989.</ref>


==Australian bush==
==Australian bush==
{{see also|Flora of Australia}}
{{see also|Flora of Australia}}
[[Image:Bush Eagle-Bay WA.jpg|thumb|right|Bush around Eagle Bay, [[Western Australia]] ]]
[[Image:Bush Eagle-Bay WA.jpg|thumb|right|Bush around Eagle Bay, [[Western Australia]] ]]
[[File:Brenanparkbush.jpg|thumb|left|A sclerophyll bushland near [[Cumberland Highway]] in [[Brenan Park]], [[Sydney]].]]
Most areas of the [[Australian continent]] able to support woody plants are occupied by sclerophyll communities as [[forest]]s, [[savanna]]s, or [[Heath (habitat)|heathlands]]. Common plants include the [[Proteaceae]] ([[grevillea]]s, [[banksia]]s and [[hakea]]s), [[Melaleuca|tea-trees]], [[acacia]]s, [[boronia]]s, and [[eucalypt]]s.
Most areas of the [[Australian continent]] able to support woody plants are occupied by sclerophyll communities as [[forest]]s, [[savanna]]s, or [[Heath (habitat)|heathlands]]. Common plants include the [[Proteaceae]] ([[grevillea]]s, [[banksia]]s and [[hakea]]s), [[Melaleuca|tea-trees]], [[acacia]]s, [[boronia]]s, and [[eucalypt]]s.


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==Regions==
==Regions==
[[File:כסא אליהו בהר מירון.jpg|thumb|250px|Sclerophyll vegetation on [[Mount Meron]] in [[Israel]].]]
[[File:כסא אליהו בהר מירון.jpg|thumb|250px|Sclerophyll vegetation on [[Mount Meron]] in [[Israel]].]]
[[File:San Rossore, Riserva del Paduletto.jpg|thumb|250px|Sclerophyll woodland in [[Tuscany]], Italy]]
These are the biomes or ecoregions in the world that feature an abundance of, and are known for having, sclerophyll vegetation:
These are the biomes or ecoregions in the world that feature an abundance of, and are known for having, sclerophyll vegetation:


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*[[Cape Floristic Region]]
*[[Cape Floristic Region]]
*[[Southern Anatolian montane conifer and deciduous forests]]
*[[Southern Anatolian montane conifer and deciduous forests]]
{{clear}}


==See also==
==See also==

Revision as of 09:17, 5 August 2021

Chaparral vegetation in Southern California

Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that has hard leaves, short internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation parallel or oblique to direct sunlight. The word comes from the Greek sklēros (hard) and phyllon (leaf). The diversity of the original sclerophyll is high to extremely high (3000-5000 species per ha). A total of 10% of all plant species on earth live there.

Sclerophyllous plants occur in many parts of the world,[1] but are most typical of areas with low rainfall or seasonal droughts such as Australia, Africa, or western North and South America. They are prominent throughout western (Perth region), eastern (Sydney region) and southern (Adelaide region) parts of Australia,[2] in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biomes that cover the Mediterranean Basin, California, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, southern Brazil, and the Cape Province of South Africa.

The term was coined by A.F.W. Schimper in 1898 (translated in 1903), originally as a synonym of xeromorph, but later was changed.[3]

Description

Sclerophyllous woodland in Spain

Sclerophyll forests and/or shrub formations are characteristic of the various forms of hard-leaf vegetation which, depending on the subtype, are dominated by hard-leaf plants. These woody plants are characterized by their relatively small, stiff, leathery and long-lasting leaves. The hard-leaf vegetation is the result of an adaptation of the flora to the summer dry period of the winter-humid climate.

Plant species with this type of adaptation tend to be evergreen and with great longevity, slow growth and with no loss of leaves during the unfavorable season. To note, "sclerophyll" and "evergreen" are not synonymous. As a result, the thickets that make up these ecosystems are of the persistent evergreen type, in addition to the predominance of plants, even herbaceous ones, with "hard" leaves, covered by a thick leathery layer called the cuticle, which prevents water loss during the dry season. The aerial and underground structures of these plants are modified to make up for water shortages that may affect their survival.

The name sclerophyllic derives from the highly developed sclerenchyma from the plant, which is responsible for the hardness or stiffness of the leaves. This structure of the leaves inhibits transpiration and thus prevents major water losses during the dry season. Most of the plant species in the hard-leaf zone are not only insensitive to summer drought, they have also used various strategies to adapt to frequent fires, heavy winter rainfall and nutrient deficiencies.[4]

Range

Sclerophyll shrubland in in southwestern Madagascar

The zone of the hard-leaf vegetation lies in the border area between the subtropics and the temperate zone, approximately between the 30th and 40th degree of latitude (in the northern hemisphere also up to the 45th degree of latitude). In this case, the presence limited to the coastal western sides of the continents, but are typical in any areas with scarce annual precipitation or frequent seasonal droughts and poor soils that are heavily leached.[5]

They often merge into temperate deciduous forests towards the poles, on the coasts also into temperate rainforests and towards the equator in hot semi-deserts or deserts. The Mediterranean areas, which have a very high biodiversity, are under great pressure from the population. This is especially true for the Mediterranean region since ancient times. Through overexploitation (logging, grazing, agricultural use) and frequent fires caused by people, the original forest vegetation is converted. In extreme cases, the hard-leaf vegetation disappears completely and is replaced by open rock heaths.

In relation to the potential natural vegetation, today around 2% of the earth's land surface are hard-leaf areas. This also includes some hard-leaf areas of the summer-humid tropics, which are closer to the equator than the Mediterranean zone - for example, the interior of Madagascar, the dry half of New Caledonia, the lower edge areas of the Madrean pine-oak woodlands of the Mexican highlands between 800 and 1800/2000 m or around 2000 m high plateaus of the Asir Mountains on the western edge of the Arabian Peninsula.[6]

Ecology

Sclerophyll woodland in Tuscany, Italy

In the Mediterranean region, holm oak, cork oak and olive are typical hardwood trees. In addition, there are several species of pine under the trees in the vegetation zone. The shrub layer - or the tree-free bush vegetation in the now forest-free areas - contains numerous herbs such as rosemary, thyme and lavender.

The type of sclerophyllic trees in the Palearctic flora region include the holm oak (Quercus ilex), myrtle (Myrtus communis), strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo), wild olive (Olea europaea), laurel (Laurus nobilis), mock privet (Phillyrea latifolia), the Italian buckthorn (Rhamnus alaternus), etc.[7]

  • In central and southern California, the coastal hills are covered in hard-leaf vegetation known as chaparral.
  • In South Africa, in the Cape region, there are Mediterranean open forests known as fynbos. The abundance of endemics is so extraordinary (68% of the 8600 vascular plant species in the area) that the South African hard- leaf area, the cape flora, forms the smallest of the six flora kingdoms on earth.
  • In most of Australia below the tropics, sclerophyll vegetation such as eucalyptus trees, melaleucas and proteaceae dominate the mallee and woodland areas.
  • In Chile, south of the desert areas, there is evergreen bushland called matorral.

Climate

A sclerophyll bushland near Cumberland Highway in Brenan Park, Sydney (which falls in the humid subtropical zone).

The sclerophyll regions are located in the outer subtropics bordering the temperate zone (also known as the warm-temperate zone). Accordingly, the annual average temperatures are relatively high at 12–24°C; An average of over 18°C is reached for at least four months, eight to twelve months it is over 10°C and no month is below 5°C on average. Frost and snow occur only occasionally and the growing season lasts longer than 150 days and is in the winter half-year.[8]

Generally, the summers are dry and hot with a dry season of a maximum of seven months, but at least two to three months. The winters are rainy and cool. However, no all regions with sclerophyll vegetation would have a classic Mediterranean climate; sclerophyll regions in southeastern Australia and eastern South Africa tend to have a more summer-dominant rainfall, where they'd fall under the humid subtropical climate zone (Cfa/Cwa), and other areas with sclerophyll flora (in those countries) would grade to the oceanic climate (Cfb), particularly the state of Victoria and southern New South Wales. The lower limit of the moderate annual precipitation is 300mm and the upper limit 900-1000 mm.[9]

Land use

While the winter rain areas of America, South Africa and Australia, with an unusually large variety of food crops, were ideal gathering areas for hunters until the land grab by Europeans, agriculture and cattle breeding spread in the Mediterranean area since the Neolithic, which permanently changed the face of the landscape. In the hard-leaf regions near the coast, permanent crops such as olive and wine cultivation established themselves; However, the landscape forms that characterize the degenerate shrubbery and shrub heaths Macchie and Garigue are predominantly a result of grazing (especially with goats).

In the course of the last millennia, the original vegetation in almost all areas of this vegetation zone has been greatly changed by the influence of humans. Where the plants have not been replaced by vineyards and olive groves, low, dense scrub, the maquis, is the predominant form of vegetation on the Mediterranean. The maquis, on the other hand, has been degraded in many places to the low shrub heather, the garigue. Many plant species that are rich in aromatic oils belong to both vegetation societies.[10]

Australian bush

Bush around Eagle Bay, Western Australia

Most areas of the Australian continent able to support woody plants are occupied by sclerophyll communities as forests, savannas, or heathlands. Common plants include the Proteaceae (grevilleas, banksias and hakeas), tea-trees, acacias, boronias, and eucalypts.

The most common sclerophyll communities in Australia are savannas dominated by grasses with an overstorey of eucalypts and acacias. Acacia (particularly mulga) shrublands also cover extensive areas. All the dominant overstorey acacia species and a majority of the understorey acacias have a scleromorphic adaptation in which the leaves have been reduced to phyllodes consisting entirely of the petiole.[11]

Many plants of the sclerophyllous woodlands and shrublands also produce leaves unpalatable to herbivores by the inclusion of toxic and indigestible compounds which assure survival of these long-lived leaves. This trait is particularly noticeable in the eucalypt and Melaleuca species which possess oil glands within their leaves that produce a pungent volatile oil that makes them unpalatable to most browsers.[12] These traits make the majority of woody plants in these woodlands largely unpalatable to domestic livestock.[13] It is therefore important from a grazing perspective that these woodlands support a more or less continuous layer of herbaceous ground cover dominated by grasses.

Sclerophyll forests cover a much smaller area of the continent, being restricted to relatively high rainfall locations. They have a eucalyptus overstory (10 to 30 metres) with the understory also being hard-leaved. Dry sclerophyll forests are the most common forest type on the continent, and although it may seem barren dry sclerophyll forest is highly diverse. For example, a study of sclerophyll vegetation in Seal Creek, Victoria, found 138 species.[14]

Even less extensive are wet sclerophyll forests. They have a taller eucalyptus overstory than dry sclerophyll forests, 30 metres or more (typically mountain ash, alpine ash, rose gum, karri, messmate stringybark, or manna gum, and a soft-leaved, fairly dense understory (tree ferns are common). They require ample rainfall — at least 1000mm (40 inches).

Evolution

Photograph looking up tall straight trees and their canopy against the sky
Blackbutt (Eucalyptus pilularis) in sclerophyll forest, Sydney

Sclerophyllous plants are all part of a specific environment and are anything but newcomers. By the time of European settlement, sclerophyll forest accounted for the vast bulk of the forested areas.

Most of the wooded parts of present-day Australia have become sclerophyll dominated as a result of the extreme age of the continent combined with Aboriginal fire use. Deep weathering of the crust over many millions of years leached chemicals out of the rock, leaving Australian soils deficient in nutrients, particularly phosphorus. Such nutrient deficient soils support non-sclerophyllous plant communities elsewhere in the world and did so over most of Australia prior to European arrival. However such deficient soils cannot support the nutrient losses associated with frequent fires and are rapidly replaced with sclerophyllous species under traditional Aboriginal burning regimens. With the cessation of traditional burning non-sclerophyllous species have re-colonized sclerophyll habitat in many parts of Australia.[citation needed]

The presence of toxic compounds combined with a high carbon : nitrogen ratio make the leaves and branches of scleromorphic species long-lived in the litter, and can lead to a large build-up of litter in woodlands.[15][16] The toxic compounds of many species, notably Eucalyptus species, are volatile and flammable and the presence of large amounts of flammable litter, coupled with an herbaceous understorey, encourages fire.[17]

All the Australian sclerophyllous communities are liable to be burnt with varying frequencies and many of the woody plants of these woodlands have developed adaptations to survive and minimise the effects of fire.[18]

Sclerophyllous plants generally resist dry conditions well, making them successful in areas of seasonally variable rainfall. In Australia, however, they evolved in response to the low level of phosphorus in the soil — indeed, many native Australian plants cannot tolerate higher levels of phosphorus and will die if fertilised incorrectly. The leaves are hard due to lignin, which prevents wilting and allows plants to grow, even when there isn't enough phosphorus for substantial new cell growth.[19]

Regions

Sclerophyll vegetation on Mount Meron in Israel.

These are the biomes or ecoregions in the world that feature an abundance of, and are known for having, sclerophyll vegetation:

See also

References

  1. ^ C. Michael Hogan. 2010. Leather Oak, Quercus durata. Encyclopedia of Earth. National Council for Science and Environment. Washington DC
  2. ^ "Sydney Coastal Dry Sclerophyll Forests". NSW Environment & Heritage. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
  3. ^ Bowman, D. M. J. S. (2000). The sclerophyll problem. In: Australian Rainforests. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. pp. 48-67, [1].
  4. ^ Georg Grabherr: Farbatlas Ökosysteme der Erde. Ulmer, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-8001-3489-6.
  5. ^ Susanne Heise: Vegetation zones: The zone of the evergreen hardwood plants, in TERRA-Online/Realschule on Klett.de, Klett, Leipzig 2003, version January 26, 2006, accessed on December 17, 2020.
  6. ^ Josef Schmithüsen (Ed.): Atlas for Biogeography. Meyer's large physical world atlas, vol. 3., Bibliographisches Institut, Mannheim, Vienna, Zurich 1976, ISBN 3-411-00303-0 . P. 19 (Asir Mountains), P. 43 (Mexican Highlands).
  7. ^ Richard Pott: Allgemeine Geobotanik. Berlin/ Heidelberg 2005, ISBN 3-540-23058-0, S. 353–398.
  8. ^ Jörg S. Pfadenhauer und Frank A. Klötzli: Vegetation der Erde. Springer Spektrum, Berlin/Heidelberg 2014, ISBN 978-3-642-41949-2. S. 289–291.
  9. ^ Jürgen Schultz: Handbuch der Ökozonen, Ulmer, Stuttgart 2000, pp. 45–46 and Post et al., 1982, p. 35.
  10. ^ Klaus Müller-Hohenstein: The geo-ecological zones of the earth. In: Geography and School. Issue 59, Bayreuth 1989.
  11. ^ Simmons, M. 1982. Acacias of Australia. Thomas Nelson, Melbourne
  12. ^ Florence, R. G. 1996. Ecology and silviculture of eucalypt forests. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood.
  13. ^ Mott, J. J., and J. C. Tothill. 1984. Tropical and subtropical woodlands. in G. N. Harrington and A. D. Wilson, editors. Management of Australia's Rangelands. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne
  14. ^ Parsons R. F.; Cameron D .G. (1974). "Maximum Plant Species Diversity in Terrestrial Communities". Biotropica. 6 (3). The Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation: 202. doi:10.2307/2989653. JSTOR 2989653.
  15. ^ White, M. E. 1986. The Greening of Gondwana. Reed Books, Frenchs Forest, Australia.
  16. ^ Flannery, T. 1994. The future eaters. Reed New Holland, Frenchs Forest, Australia.
  17. ^ Burrows, W. H., J. O. Carter, J. C. Scanlan, and E. R. Anderson. 1990. Management of savannas for livestock production in north-east Australia: contrasts across the tree-grass continuum. Journal of Biogeography 17:503–512.
  18. ^ Harrington, G. N., M. H. Friedel, K. C. Hodgkinson, and J. C. Noble. 1984. Vegetation ecology and management. in G. N. Harrington and A. D. Wilson, editors. Management of Australia's Rangelands. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.
  19. ^ R. Major (2003). "Sclerophyll forests". Australian Museum. Retrieved February 14, 2005.