Plant Geography of Chile (eBook)

Andrés Moreira-Muñoz was born in Los Angeles (Chile), studied at the German School in Santiago and graduated as Professional Geographer at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Botanical interest was inherited from his grandfa-ther and mother, both renowned botanists at the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural in Santiago. He obtained his doctoral degree in Geography from the University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany, under the direction of the plant geographer Prof. Michael Richter. He currently occupies a position as assistant professor at the Instituto de Geo-grafía, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, and develops research projects about the chorology of Chilean plants, conservation biogeography and field-based education.

Plant Geography of Chile 1
Foreword 6
Preface 7
Acknowledgments 10
Contents 12
Abbreviations 15
About the Author 16
Part I Geobotanical Scenario 17
1 The Extravagant Physical Geography of Chile 18
1.1 Tectonics and Physiography 21
1.1.1 Morphostructural Macrozones 22
1.2 Past Climate and Vegetation 26
1.2.1 The Palaeozoic Palaeozoic (542--251 mya) 27
1.2.2 The Mesozoic Mesozoic (251--65.5 mya) 29
1.2.3 The Cenozoic Cenozoic (65.5 mya Onwards) 35
1.3 Current Climate and Vegetation 47
1.3.1 Bioclimatic Zones 48
1.3.2 Vegetation Formations 50
References 54
2 Getting Geobotanical Knowledge 61
2.1 Romancing the South: The Discovery of a Virgin World 61
2.2 Classification and Phylogeny of the Chilean Vascular Flora 70
2.2.1 Rich Families and Genera 73
2.2.2 Endemic Families 77
2.2.3 Phylogenetic Groups 79
References 93
Part II Chorology of Chilean Plants 99
3 Geographical Relations of the Chilean Flora 100
3.1 Floristic Elements 100
3.1.1 Pantropical Floristic Element 104
3.1.2 Australasiatic Floristic Element 105
3.1.3 Neotropical (American) Floristic Element 108
3.1.4 Antitropical Floristic Element 111
3.1.5 South-Temperate Floristic Element 114
3.1.6 Endemic Floristic Element 114
3.1.7 Cosmopolitan Floristic Element 119
3.2 To Be or Not To Be Disjunct? 122
3.2.1 Pacific-Atlantic Disjunctions 123
3.2.2 Antitropical (Pacific) Disjunctions 126
3.3 In the Search for Centres of Origin: Dispersal v/s Vicariance in the Chilean Flora 127
3.3.1 Revitalizing Long-Distance Dispersal 130
3.3.2 Relativising Long-Distance Dispersal 133
References 135
4 Biogeographic Regionalization 142
4.1 The Chilean Plants in the Global Concert 143
4.2 The Austral v/s the Neotropical Floristic Realm 149
4.2.1 Floristic Elements in the Latitudinal Profile 150
4.2.2 Similarity Along the Latitudinal Gradient 152
4.3 Regions and Provinces 155
4.3.1 Endemism as the Base for Regionalization 157
References 160
Part III Islands Biogeography 164
5 Pacific Offshore Chile 165
5.1 Rapa Nui 165
5.2 Islas Desventuradas 169
5.3 Juan Fernndez Archipelago 171
5.3.1 The Unique Plant World of Juan Fernández 171
5.3.2 Floristic Similarity of Juan Fernández 177
5.3.3 Origins of the Fernandezian Flora 180
5.3.4 Conservation of Juan Fernández Plants 183
References 188
6 Islands on the Continent:Conservation Biogeography in ChangingEcosystems 192
6.1 Fragmentation v/s Conservation on ChileanLandscapes 192
6.2 Global Change Biogeography: A Science of Uncertainties . . .and Possibilities 196
References 201
Part IV Case Studies on Selected Families 206
7 Cactaceae, a Weird Family and Postmodern Evolution 207
7.1 Cacti Classification 208
7.2 Chilean Representatives and Their Distribution 208
7.2.1 Cacti Distribution in Chile 210
7.2.2 Areas of Endemism 212
7.2.2.1 PAE 217
7.2.2.2 NDM/VNDM 217
7.3 Notes on Cacti Conservation 219
7.4 Biogeographic Insights: Spatial and Temporal Origins 224
7.5 Cactus Postmodern Evolution 225
References 227
8 Asteraceae, Chile’s Richest Family 231
8.1 Classification of Chilean Asteraceae 231
8.2 Floristic Elements of Chilean Asteraceae 233
8.3 Biogeographic regionalization of the Chilean Asteraceae 239
8.4 Asteraceae Evolutionary Biogeography 244
8.4.1 Origin and Dispersal Routes 248
8.4.2 Dispersal Capacities 248
8.5 Conservation v/s Invasions 249
8.5.1 Invading Biogeography 251
References 254
9 Nothofagus, Key Genus in Plant Geography 258
9.1 Taxonomy and Phylogeny 258
9.2 Diversity and Distribution 263
9.3 Speciation v/s Extinction 265
9.4 Vicariance v/s Dispersal and Centres of Origin 269
9.5 Nothofagus and Associated Taxa 271
9.6 Synthesis and Outlook 272
References 272
Part V Where to from Here? Projections of Chilean Plant Geography 276
10 All the Possible Worlds of Biogeography 277
10.1 The Fragmented Map of Modern Biogeography 277
10.2 Postmodern Biogeography: Deconstructing the Map 278
10.3 Sloppy Biogeography v/s Harsh Geology? 281
10.4 Just Some Possible Worlds 283
10.4.1 Connections Over Land Bridges 284
10.4.2 And What About a Closer Pacific Basin? 284
10.4.3 Three Models of Gondwana Fragmentation + One Dispersal 287
10.5 The New Biogeography 290
10.6 Coda: The Geographical Nature of Biogeography 292
References 294
11 Epilogue: The Juan Fernández Islandsand the Long-Distance Dispersal of Utopia 300
References 301
Appendix A 302
General Index 336
Vascular Chilean Plant Genera Index 342