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THE TROPICAL FLORA IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Author(s) -
Van der Hammen Thomas
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
taxon
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.819
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1996-8175
pISSN - 0040-0262
DOI - 10.2307/1221096
Subject(s) - vegetation (pathology) , geography , floristics , biosphere , flora (microbiology) , glacial period , interglacial , tropics , dynamism , ecology , geology , earth science , physical geography , paleontology , biology , medicine , physics , pathology , quantum mechanics , species richness , bacteria
Summary Historical geological and historical floristic/vegetational data show an extraordinary dynamic world. Moving plates, the upheaval of mountain chains, and changes of climate and vegetation are the main elements of this dynamism. They are partly endogene, resulting from forces inside the earth, and partly exogene, resulting from direct or indirect changes of solar radiation received by the earth. The evolution and differentiation of the tropical floras and the migration of floristic elements is heavily influenced by these factors. The glacial‐interglacial climatic cycles of the last few million years had an especially profound effect on the biosphere, including the tropics. There were profound changes in vegetation, not only displacement of zones or belts, but also reordering of species, and the formation and disappearance of refugia in lowlands and mountains.