Exploring the Amazing Diversity of New Caledonia's Ferns Part 1 - Introduction and the Hike up ML Humboldt

摘要

The anticipation experienced when flying towards New Caledonia for my second visit was on par with what I felt leading up to my first trip in late 2014. As a hopeless plant nerd with diverse interests in many plant groups, I've always been particularly drawn to the more primitive lineages such as gymnosperms and pteridophytes, and this isolated location in the Pacific is famous for many extravagant representatives of these. The island is a textbook example of an isolated assemblage of many "living fossils", some having their center of diversity here, others found nowhere else in the world. Adding to the interest, many of the endemic plants had to evolve to surviveontheisland'sunique soils with high levels of magnesium, iron and other metals that are toxic to most of the world's flora. The only thing missing from the fascinating landscapes these plants create are thundering dinosaurs and pterodactyls gliding overhead.