The human transport of animals across the Northern Atlantic 



147 



(Photo the author, 4.VII. 1949.) 



FIG. 9. St. Fintans, SW Newfoundland. A patch of dry meadow along the railway 

 embankment. The vegetation is dominated by Marguerites {Chrysanthemum leuc- 

 antheryutm L.) and Red Clover {Trifolium pratense L.), both introduced from Europe. 



the 14 per cent introduced species of Carabid beetles in the fauna of Newfound- 

 land (23 species of 165), Nova Scotia (Lindroth, 1954c) possesses 11 per cent 

 (20 of 186 species) and the total number of European species is there 34 (18 per 

 cent). The European Carabids are more numerous in Labrador (Lindroth, i954d), 

 contributing no less than 39 per cent (32 species of 82), but of these only 4 per cent 

 (3 species) may be regarded as introduced. 



It can be stated, without any exaggeration, that Nezvfoundland more than any 

 other part of North America has received an introduced element of animals and 

 plants from Europe. It is an important task to explain why. 



Another interesting feature is that the introduced European species show an 

 unequal, in the individual species often disjunct, distribution within the limits of 

 Newfoundland, with a marked concentration in the southeast, on the Avalon Penin- 

 sula, the centre of trade and population. On the eastern coast of Avalon 19 in- 

 troduced species of Carabid beetles have been found, the highest number shown 

 by any part of North America {vide maps, figs. lo-ii). 



