Flora
The New Caledonia rain forests are made up of three predominant forest types. The lowland rain forests cover the Loyalty Islands, and the Iles des Pines and the lower elevations of Grand Terre. Montane forests cover the higher elevations of Grand Terre. The wet maquis forests of Grand Terre are low shrub forests found on rocky soils derived from ultramafic rocks.
The predominant flora of New Caledonia rain forests is derived from the Antarctic flora of ancient southern Gondwana. Like the Australian rainforests and the temperate forests of New Zealand, conifers of the southern hemisphere families Araucariaceae and Podocarpaceae are mixed with angiosperm trees, including the southern hemisphere genus Nothofagus and trees and shrubs of families Myrtaceae and Proteaceae.
The lowland forests are a generally a mixed-species composition, interspersed with some single species stands. The predominant conifers are Araucaria columnaris, A. bernieri, Agathis lanceolata, A. ovata (Araucariaceae), and Dacrydium araucarioides, Dacrycarpus vieillardii and Falcatifolium taxoides (Podocarpaceae). Predominant angiosperm trees include Montrouziera cauliflora, Calophyllum neocaledonicum, Dysoxylum spp., Neogullauminia cleopatra, and Hernandia cordigera, together with species of the Proteaceae genera Kermadecia, Macadamia, and Sleumerodendron. Araucaria, Callistemon, and Nothofagus predominate in the single-species stands.
The Montane rain forests are also mixed-species, predominantly the conifers Araucaria, Agathis, Podocarpus, Dacrydium, Libocedrus, and Acmopyle, and the angiosperms Metrosideros, Weinmannia, Quintinia, and Nothofagus There are rutaceas in New Caledonia as Citrus macroptera Montr. Melodinus insulae-pinorum Boiteau, Melodinus phylliraeoides Labill.
The Maquis forests hold a great variety of species, with many endemics. The ultramafic rocks, which formed in the deep ocean, are rich in metals, including nickel, magnesium, chromium, and manganese, which are toxic to many plants. The predominant trees are stunted Araucarias.
Read more about this topic: New Caledonia Rain Forests
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