Tasmania - CRA/RFA - Forests - National Estate - Flora Centres of Endemism

Endemic plants provide an important insight into the process of evolution of flora and are of direct relevance to National Estate criterion A1: Importance in the evolution of Australian flora, fauna, landscapes or climate.

In some cases, where concentrations of endemic taxa occur, the role of climatic refugia in speciation during periods of climate change becomes apparent. In other cases, endemism is high without any apparent link to refugia: biogeographic determinants such as terrestrial and oceanic climatic influences, soils and localised topographic variation may be the main controlling factors in these cases.

The degree of endemism of flora is pronounced in Tasmania, a consequence of a variety of factors, such as Pleistocene glaciations and deglaciations and periodic isolation when sea-level fluctuations caused the closing of the land bridge across Bass Strait. More than 300 higher plant taxa are endemic in the region. Endemism is moderate at the generic level; for example, there are 10 endemic, mostly monotypic, angiosperm genera. Lower levels of endemism are seen in lichens, mosses and ferns.

This database describes the centres of endemism of flora, i.e. areas where concentrations of exclusively Tasmanian flora species are found.

Centres of endemic flora are coded with a unique number and the relevant National Estate value and criterion. The data are mapped at 1:500,000 scale.

This is an archived dataset jointly owned by the Commonwealth and the Tasmanian Governments under the Tasmania-Commonwealth Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) data agreement of 8th November 1997.This data is available to the public under licence from the Department as part of the Commonwealth Spatial Data Access and Pricing Policy.

Any reproduction of this dataset must carry the following statement: Copyright Commonwealth of Australia and Tasmanian Government 1998. Departmental Deed