Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
2180297 | Flora - Morphology, Distribution, Functional Ecology of Plants | 2007 | 8 Pages |
Abstract
The braided rivers with their ever-changing water channels are recognized as one of New Zealand's most distinctive and important ecosystem. We made a survey of the vegetation on the shingle plains in the upper reaches of the braided rivers of South Island. A well-defined colonizing vegetation type was recognized. It consists of lichens, mosses, low herbs, low cushion plants and tufted grasses, and mat-forming plants. Because of the close mechanical connection between the thalli of the lichens of the genus Placopsis (Agyraceae: Ascomycota) with moss cushions and spreading mats of vascular plants, we see this Placopsis trachyderma – Raoulia – community as a special type of biological soil crusts.
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Authors
Isolde Ullmann, Jennifer M. Bannister, Peter Bannister,