Hill Robert S
Centre for Evolutionary Biology and Biodiversity, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2004 Oct 29;359(1450):1537-49. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2004.1526.
Australia is an ancient continent with an interesting geological history that includes a recent major shift in its position, both globally and compared with neighbouring land masses. This has led to a great deal of confusion over many years about the origins of the Australian biomes. The plant fossil record is now clarifying this, and it is clear that the ancient Gondwanan rainforests that covered Australia while it was still part of that supercontinent contained many of the elements of the modern vegetation. However, major climatic sifting, along with responses to other factors, including soil nutrient levels, disturbance regimes, atmospheric CO2 levels, fire frequency and intensity, glaciations and the arrival of humans, have had profound impacts on the Australian vegetation, which today reflects the sum of all these factors and more. The origins of Australian vegetation and its present-day management cannot be properly understood without an appreciation of this vast history, and the fossil record has a vital role to play in maintaining the health of this continent's vegetation into the future.
澳大利亚是一个古老的大陆，有着有趣的地质历史，包括其在全球范围内以及与邻近陆块相比，近期在位置上的一次重大变动。多年来，这导致了人们对澳大利亚生物群落起源的诸多困惑。植物化石记录如今正在厘清这一情况，很明显，在澳大利亚仍是那个超级大陆一部分时覆盖其上的古老冈瓦纳雨林包含了现代植被的许多元素。然而，主要的气候筛选，以及对其他因素的响应，包括土壤养分水平、干扰机制、大气二氧化碳水平、火灾频率和强度、冰川作用以及人类的到来，都对澳大利亚植被产生了深远影响，如今的澳大利亚植被反映了所有这些因素以及更多因素的综合作用。如果不了解这段漫长的历史，就无法正确理解澳大利亚植被的起源及其当今的管理方式，而化石记录对于维护该大陆未来植被的健康至关重要。
