Aspects of the growth and climate of tussock grasslands in montane New Guinea and sub-Antarctic islands

Abstract

On the cool, misty slopes of high mountains that rise out of the hot equatorial lowland, there are places that bear surprising resemblances of climate and vegetation to the remote islands of the vast southern ocean. Why such disparate regions should look alike can be found in the three-dimensional (longitudinal, latitudinal and altitudinal) view of climate and vegetation of the earth expressed by Troll (1961). He used ideas of the great 19th century geographer Humboldt as a basis for his exposition. They noted that similar sequences of climate and vegetation are to be found in moving from low altitudes to high altitudes at the same altitude. Tussock grasslands, because of their great extent, are one of the most conspicuous features common to the equatorial high montane and sub-Antarctic regions. It is with these grasslands that this thesis is concerned.