Colhoun, E. A. (1985). "Pre-last glaciation maximum vegetation history at

Henty Bridge, Western Tasmania." New Phytol 100(4): 681-690.

Lake sediments dated to between about 28,000 and 20,000 years B.P. in the

temperate rainforests of western Tasmania show that subalpine to alpine

shrub, wet heath and herb communities occurred within 115 m of present sea

level before the maximum of the last glaciation (20,000 to 18,000 years

B.P.). The high herb, especially grass, values and charcoal content after

about 22,000 years B.P. may be related to the advent of aborigines.

Colhoun, E. a. (1992). "Late glacial and Holocene vegetation history at

Poets Hill Lake, western Tasmania." Australia Geographer 23(1): 11-23.

Two cores (down to 3.9 m) were taken from the edge of a peaty flat by

Poets Hill Lake (600 m altitude), Tasmania, for pollen analysis to give a

record of vegetation history since the last glaciation (Margaret

Glaciation). Alpine herbfield, coniferous heath and Nothofagus gunnii scrub

developed on the moraine until 11 400 BP. Wet montane forest and heath then

developed with Phyllocladus aspleniifolius, N. cunninghamii and Eucalyptus

until about 10 000 BP. After 10 000 BP, there was a mosaic of N.

cunninghamii rain forest, Myrtaceae and Proteaceae scrub and Sprengelia

incarnata heath. The development of the vegetation from alpine communities

to temperate rain forest, which is near its limit at 600 m altitude,

occurred under the influence of improving climatic conditions with rapid

upslope migration or local expansion of taxa during the late glacial.

Temperatures were warm enough for the development of rain forest at 600 m

altitude by 10 000 BP, if not earlier. The development of a mosaic of rain

forest, scrub and heath vegetation rather than extensive rain forest after

10 000 BP reflects the influence of poor soils, poor drainage and fire.

Comparison with similar pollen diagrams from W. Tasmania suggests that the

development of pollen/vegetation associations was time transgressive with

altitude during the late glacial when climatic influences and migration

rates were important, and that the mosaic of vegetation communities became

more complex during the Holocene because of adjustment to or control by

local ecological factors.

Harle, K. J., A. P. Kershaw, et al. (1993). "Palaeoecological analysis of

an isolated stand of Nothofagus cunninghamii (Hook.) Oerst. in eastern

Tasmania." Aust. J. Ecol. 18(2): 161-170.

Pollen analysis of the sediments of an small bog, supporting a stand of

cool temperate rainforest in southeastern Tasmania, was undertaken in order

to examine the history of the stand dominant, Nothofagus cunninghamii ,

presently growing outside its predicted climatic range. The pollen record

covers at least the last 9000 years and reveals changes in the bog and in

the surrounding vegetation, although pollen percentages of N. cunninghamii

are sufficiently high to indicate that the species could have had a local

presence throughout the recorded period. It is likely that this N.

cunninghamii stand is relictual, surviving not only Holocene climates, but

also the cool dry conditions of the last glacial period. This ability to

survive changing and sometimes very unfavourable climates leads to the

conclusion that great caution must be exercised in using present climates

alone to predict the potential distribution of N. cunninghamii .

Kirkpatrick, J. B. (1983). "Treeless plant communities of the Tasmanian

High Country." MOUNTAIN ECOLOGY IN THE AUSTRALIAN REGION. Purdie, R.W. 12:

61-77.

Analyses of the associations of 65 dominant species from 430 quadrats

located in Tasmanian treeless high altitude vegetation are used to provide

a framework and guidelines for the construction of a typology of plant

communities. These communities are listed and discussed within the context

of the following vegetation types: bolster heath, deciduous heath,

coniferous heath, heath, fjaeldmark, bog, fen, short alpine herbfield, tall

alpine herfield and tussock grassland. The distribution of communities is

best related to a climatically andgeologically-controlled edaphic gradient,

a soil drainage gradient and to the vagaries of fire history. The

successional status of most of the plant communities is deduced from their

patterns of distribution. Several of the alpine dominants usually fail to

regenerate after fire. There is insufficient evidence to support a widely

suggested cyclic succession process involving bolster plants.

Ladd, P., D. Orchiston, et al. (1992). "Holocene vegetation history of

Flinders Island." New Phytologist 122(4): 757-767.

Two swamp sites on Flinders Island in Bass Strait, Tasmania, provide

evidence of vegetation cover for the period 10 000 BP to present. Steppe

vegetation in which Compositae Liguliflorae taxa and chenopods were

important was present on the Flinders Island part of the Bassian Isthmus

during the earliest part of the record. However, it was replaced by

eucalypt forest or woodland with a grassy understorey and some shrubs as

sea level rose to form the present island by 6000 BP. Eucalypt dominated

vegetation became less important about 940 BP when Callitris became

prominent until very recently. This change may be related to a drier

climate. From pollen evidence in this study and that from other SE mainland

and Tasmanian sites it is suggested that apparent prominence of Casuarina

in SW Victoria and SE South Australia during the early Holocene was due to

local soil factors and drier climate. Later changes in soil and climate led

to a decrease in Casuarina and increase in Eucalyptus.

Moore, A. and I. Noble (1990). "An individualistic model of vegetation

stand dynamics." Journal of Environmental Management 31(1): 61-81.

A new general model of vegetation dynamics is described and illustrated.

FATE (Functional Attributes in Terrestrial Ecosystems) is based on a model

of the functioning of individual plants in a stand, and has been designed

to predict vegetation dynamics with a low resolution and from a simple

parameter set. The FATE model was constructed by simple representation of

the essential features of each of 3 main plant processes - life history,

response to the immediate environment and responses to natural

disturbances. Examples from rain forests in Tasmania (dominated by

Eucalyptus spp., Nothofagus cunninghamii, Atherosperma moschatum, Acacia

spp. and 'sedges'), subalpine grass- and woodlands in New South Wales

(Eucalyptus spp., Cytisus scoparius and grasses) and dry sclerophyll

woodland near Canberra, Australia (dominated by E. macrorhyncha, E. rossii)

are used to demonstrate the operation of the model. It is compared with

other modelling approaches, either those for mathematical analyses, or

those constructed for simulation studies. Limitations of the hybrid FATE,

and possible extensions, are also discussed.

Podger, F., T. Bird, et al. (1988). "Human activity, fire and change in the

forest at Hogsback Plain, Southern Tasmania." Proceedings of the First

national conference on Australian forest history, Canberra.

The frequency, extent and severity of fires in Australia's natural

ecosystems has almost certainly been influenced by the activities of its

Aboriginal and European inhabitants. The effects are evaluated of repeated

fire on the plant communities in an area of native vegetation around

Hogsback. Floristic lists were made for 221 plots. Analysis indicated that

there were 14 recognizable plant communities along a continuum from

sedgeland to rain forest. Five histories since 1881 were constructed for

the plots using growth ring counts on fire-sprouts and fire-callus of

wounded stems. In sedgeland, as many as seven fire wounds of different ages

were recorded from 1914 to 1978 in relic Acacia melanoxylon, while in tall

eucalypt (Eucalyptus spp.) forest, cross sections from eucalypt stumps left

after selection felling in 1911 gave ring counts of up to 410 years. Aerial

photographs, newspaper reports and Tasmanian Forestry Commission records

were also used to piece together the fire history of the area. After 1881,

extensive fires associated with timber exploitation became more frequent;

this resulted in the displacement of forest by sedgeland.

Read, J. and R. S. Hill (1983). "Rainforest invasion onto Tasmanian

old-fields." Aust. J. Ecol no. 2: pp.

The regeneration of rainforest onto land cleared for grazing early this

century was studied on several sites in northern Tasmania. Drimys

lanceolata , a bird-dispersed species, was the main invader. The climax

forest species, Nothofagus cunninghamii and Atherosperma moschatum were

invading slowly from the forest edge with occasional trees established in

the field. Woody plants in the old-field were clumped around logs. This was

related to the role of logs in attracting seed and to possible roles as

competition-free sites and sites safe from browsing and climatic stresses.

Changes in dominance by particular life forms appeared to be related to

dispersal events, environmental modification by the developing vegetation

and life history characteristics. The extremely slow invasion by climax

species is due to the absence of bare mineral soil as well as to dispersla

characteristics, browsing and possibly exposure to climatic stresses.

Wilkinson, G., M. Battaglia, et al. (1993). "Silvicultural use and effects

of fire." Technical Bulletin Native Forest Silviculture, Forestry

Commission, Tasmania No. 11, 60 pp.; 11 pp. of ref. PUBLISHER

INFORMATION(Forestry Commission): Tasmamia.

A discussion is presented in 3 parts on the effects of fire on the

silvicultural management of Tasmania's native forests which are mostly

eucalypt (Eucalyptus spp.) forests. Part A provides guidelines for the

silvicultural use of fire for site preparation and fuel reduction and for

the management of forests damaged by fire. Part B contains a summary of the

ecological effects of fire in Tasmania's forests. Part C is a comprehensive

literature review (on which parts A and B are based) and includes sections

on (i) prehistory of fire in Tasmania, (ii) eucalypt fire ecology, (iii)

ecological models of vegetation, fire and time, and (iv) effects of fire on

soils, water, air, vegetation and fauna.