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Driftwood on Heard Island

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2009

J. M. B. Smith
Affiliation:
Department of Geography and PlanningUniversity of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, 2351 Australia
P. Rudall
Affiliation:
Jodrell Laboratory, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3DS, UK
P. L. Keage
Affiliation:
Alpine Resorts Commission, 7 Ireland Street, Bright, Victoria, 3741 Australia

Abstract

Samples from 73 pieces of non-structural driftwood on Heard Island (53°06′S, 73°30′E) were identified to genus or species. Thirty-one belonged to South American species of Nothofagus. The remainder, consisting mostly of conifers especially Picea and Larix, probably came from ships' cargoes. The assemblage is similar to those reported, from smaller samples, on other southern islands. Other items of flotsam, including fishing buoys and drift-cards, are also reported from Heard Island. The significance of driftwood transport from South America to the island in accounting for long-distance dispersal of terrestrial and intertidal organisms is discussed.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

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