Biogeography and Ecology of New Guinea : Part One - Seven

J. L. Gressitt New Guinea is a fantastic island, unique and fascinating. It is an area of incredible variety of geomorphology, biota, peoples, languages, history, tradi­ tions and cultures. Diversity is its prime characteristic, whatever the subject of interest. To a biogeographer it is tantalizing, as well as confusing or frustrating when trying to determine the history of its biota. To an ecologist, and to all biologists, it is a happy hunting ground of endless surprises and unanswered questions. To a conservationist it is like a dream come true, a "flash-back" of a few centuries, as well as a challenge for the future. New Guinea is so special that it is hard to compare it with other islands or tropical areas. It is something apart, with its very complicated history (chapters I: 2-4, II: 1-4, III: I, VI: I, 2). It is partly old but to a great extent very young, yet extremely rich and complex. It has biota of different sources - to such a degree that it is still disputed in this volume as to what Realm it belongs to: the Paleotropical or Notogaean (Australian); or what Region: Oriental, "Oceanic," Papuan or Australian. The terms Papuasian, Indo-Australian and Australasian also have been applied to the area. Front Matter....Pages I-VI Front Matter....Pages 1-1 General introduction....Pages 3-13 Geology of New Guinea....Pages 15-38 Pleistocene and present-day glaciations....Pages 39-55 Landforms and landform development....Pages 57-72 The soils of New Guinea....Pages 73-83 Front Matter....Pages 85-85 Biological exploration of New Guinea....Pages 87-130 Physical anthropology, linguistics, and ethnology....Pages 131-168 Human ecology and cultural variation in prehistoric New Guinea....Pages 169-206 The history of plant use and man’s impact on the vegetation....Pages 207-227 Staple crops in subsistence agriculture....Pages 229-259 Front Matter....Pages 261-261 Late Quaternary vegetation history....Pages 263-285 Origins of the tropicalpine flora....Pages 287-308 Plant zonation....Pages 309-330 Phytogeography and evolution of the Ericaceae of New Guinea....Pages 331-354 The Nothofagus Blume (Fagaceae) of New Guinea....Pages 355-380 The Araucaria forests of New Guinea....Pages 381-399 New Guinea Pandanaceae: first approach to ecology and biogeography....Pages 401-436 Semi-deciduous scrub and forest and Eucalypt woodland in the Port Moresby area....Pages 437-457 Grasslands and grassland succession in New Guinea....Pages 459-473 Ecology of fungi in New Guinea....Pages 475-496 Front Matter....Pages 261-261 Ecology and distribution of the seagrasses....Pages 497-512 Mangroves of the Papuan Subregion....Pages 513-528 Fly pollination in Drimys (Winteraceae), a primitive angiosperm....Pages 529-533 Front Matter....Pages 535-535 Ticks (Acari: Ixodoidea): a preliminary study....Pages 537-544 New Guinea chiggers (Acari: Trombiculidae)....Pages 545-555 The ecology and biogeography of spiders in Papua New Guinea....Pages 557-581 Some zoogeographic considerations of families of spiders occurring in New Guinea....Pages 583-602 Freshwater Crustacea Decapoda of New Guinea....Pages 603-619 The role of New Guinea in the evolution and biogeography of some families of Psocopteran insects....Pages 621-638 Biogeography of New Guinea leafhoppers (Homoptera: Cicadelloidea)....Pages 639-644 Biogeography of the New Guinea Aradidae (Heteroptera)....Pages 645-657 The acalyptrate Diptera with special reference to the Platystomatidae....Pages 659-673 Drosophilidae of New Guinea....Pages 675-687 Probable origin of a synanthropic fly Chrysomya megacephala , in New Guinea (Diptera: Calliphoridae)....Pages 689-698 On the zoogeography of New Guinean Diptera Pupipara....Pages 699-708 Ecology and biogeography of New Guinea Coleoptera (Beetles)....Pages 709-734 Fig wasps (Hymenoptera)....Pages 735-755 Front Matter....Pages 757-757 Amphibia of New Guinea....Pages 759-801 Distribution and ecology of New Guinea lizards....Pages 803-813 Biogeography of birds in New Guinea....Pages 815-836 Front Matter....Pages 757-757 Ecological structuring of forest bird communities in New Guinea....Pages 837-861 An ecological check-list of New Guinea Recent mammals....Pages 863-894 Front Matter....Pages 895-895 Zoogeographical summary....Pages 897-918 Paleobiogeography and origin of the New Guinea flora....Pages 919-941 Front Matter....Pages 943-943 Conservation in New Guinea....Pages 945-966 Back Matter....Pages 967-983 J.L. Gressitt New Guinea is a fantastic island, unique and fascinating. It is an area of incredible variety of geomorphology, biota, peoples, languages, history, tradiƯ tions and cultures. Diversity is its prime characteristic, whatever the subject of interest. To a biogeographer it is tantalizing, as well as confusing or frustrating when trying to determine the history of its biota. To an ecologist, and to all biologists, it is a happy hunting ground of endless surprises and unanswered questions. To a conservationist it is like a dream come true, a "flash-back" of a few centuries, as well as a challenge for the future. New Guinea is so special that it is hard to compare it with other islands or tropical areas. It is something apart, with its very complicated history (chapters I: 2-4, II: 1-4, III: I, VI: I, 2). It is partly old but to a great extent very young, yet extremely rich and complex. It has biota of different sources - to such a degree that it is still disputed in this volume as to what Realm it belongs to: the Paleotropical or Notogaean (Australian); or what Region: Oriental, "Oceanic," Papuan or Australian. The terms Papuasian, Indo-Australian and Australasian also have been applied to the area