Why the kwongan ecosystem of Australia is so extremely oligotrophic, part 3
(writing in progress)
Given that the sandstones, quarzites and coastal sands of the fynbos ecosystem are extremely nutrient-poor, how can we explain the incidence of the various metabolically powerful animals described in part 2?
The kwongan ecosystem is extremely flat, like the rest of southwestern Australia. By contrast, the fynbos ecosystem has considerable topographic diversity, including ranges of mountains rising to more than 2000 meters above sea level (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matroosbergand https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swartberg). These give rise to perennial streams that reach the coast even in the dry season, in contrast to the kwongan ecosystem, which lacks any perennial fresh water.
A second important factor is that the coast forming the western border of the fynbos ecosystem has a strong marine upwelling of nutrients plus regular advection fogs (https://hr2.wiki/wiki/Benguela_Current and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fog). By contrast, the extensive coast surrounding the kwongan ecosystem has marine downwelling and a lack of fog.
(writing in progress)
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