|
1 Department of Geography, Museum Building, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland
2 Trinity College Botanic Gardens, Palmerston Park, Dartry, Dublin 6, Ireland
The unique flora of Ireland, that includes plants with Atlantic, amphi-Atlantic and Mediterranean affinities, has attracted the attention of many biogeographers. Using a database, this paper compiles the Irish Pleistocene plant fossil record and examines the disappearances of some taxa and the continuity of others. A retreat of some plants to the east since the Tertiary, movement of arctic-alpine species to the north and to the mountains, and the long continuity of Atlantic and amphi-Atlantic taxa, including some not present in Britain, can be identified. The flora of the Irish Middle Pleistocene Gortian temperate stage is examined and its uniqueness, and the long continuity of certain taxa, are discussed. The long record of Atlantic and amphi-Atlantic species, as well as wetland and aquatic taxa, suggests the possibility of proximal refugia for some plants. The implications for in situ survival and for migration during and after cold stages are discussed in the light of the compiled fossil record.
