Customer Reviews

Australian Rainforests: Islands of Green in a Land of Fire

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First it should be mentioned that Australian definition of rainforest differs considerably from those in other countries: in Australia rainforest does not mean much more than a forest NOT dominated by typical Australian genera like Eucalyptus, Acacia and Casuarina. Thus, the heading for this excellent book could be also: "Why do Eucalyptus and Acacia dominate the great bulk of Australian forests?"

The book is essentially a massive review of literature, although great deal of the papers Bowman review, are by himself. Bowman discuss first rainforest definitions, then he shows in four chapters that edaphic and climatic causes do not restrict occurrence of "rainforest". Then he discuss in six chapters effects of fire and draw a conclusion: the drying of the continent caused a rise of the fire-adapted and fire-promoting vegetation (like Eucalyptus) and consequently an increased burning caused the fate of the pyrophobic "rainforests".

A small drawback is that the discussion is restricted to Australia. Bowman could have supported his theory by examining if the same patterns have been found in other dry parts of the world like in parts of Africa.