Brown, M. J. and F. D. Podger (1982). "Floristics and fire regimes of a

vegetation sequence from sedgeland-heath to rainforest at Bathurst Harbour,

Tasmania." Aust. J. Bot. 30(6): 659-676.

The floristic differences found in vegetation ranging from sedgeland-heath

to rainforest were sampled by the placement of 80 quadrats in an area 2 km

super(2) near Bathurst Harbour, Tasmania. A direct gradient analysis using

the time since last fire as the major axis of variation suggests that the

changing species composition of sites is both gradational and fire-related.

Previous descriptive models based on correlations between fire frequency

and structural formations are confirmed by this study. A broad correlation

between fire frequency and floristic associations within non-forested

vegetation is also demonstrated. However, explanation of detailed patterns

requires consideration of the total fire regime (including duration and

intensity of fire) and its interaction with edaphic factors. For example,

fires which burn in peat lead to hysteresis in the successional pathways.

Brown, M. J., R. K. Crowden, et al. (1982). "Vegetation of an Alkaline Pan

-- Acidic Peat Mosaic in the Hardwood River Valley, Tasmania." Aust. J.

Ecol. 7(1): 3-12.

The vegetation associated with sandy alkaline pans and surrounding acidic

peats in south-west Tasmania is described. The upper margins of the pans

are characterized by sharp environmental discontinuities, with pH changes

of more than 3 units in only 20 cm being recorded. Classification and

ordination of quadrats by plant species associated with a typical pan

showed that five distinct communities are evident, but that these form a

gradational series which reflects the altering edaphic status of the sites

during infilling of the pans. The pH, drainage and redox characteristics of

the substrates are among the factors determining the frequency of

particular species at any stage of the progression. Frequency histograms

for plant species in and around the pans indicate that many of the species

respond individually to changing pH.

Brown, M. J. and F. Podger (1982). "On the apparent anomaly between

observed and predicted percentages of vegetation types in south-west

Tasmania." Aust. J. Ecol no. 2: pp.

There is an anomaly apparent between the estimated percentage of area of

rainforest in south-west Tasmania and the amount predicted by a Markovian

model based on fire frequency. The anomaly results from a misinterpretation

of the original reference. The predicted percentages of vegetation types

are in broad accord with present day distributions, and variations can be

explained by relatively minor shifts of fire frequency estimates.

Brown, M. J., J. B. Kirkpatrick, et al. (1983). "Conservation status of

endemic vascular plants in alpine Tasmania." MOUNTAIN ECOLOGY IN THE

AUSTRALIAN REGION. Purdie, R.W. 12(12): 168-169.

Tasmania's endemic vascular flora comprises some 300 taxa; about 50% of

these occur in alpine habitats, and all but 8 of the alpine taxa have

adequate populations in State Reserves. Increasing usage of State Reserves

creates problems for management, but the chief threat to endemic alpine

species comes from fire. Fires in the period 1960-80 have burnt about 16%

of the total area of alpine vegetation in Tasmania. Management for the

continued protection of adequate populations of endemic species thus

involves the management of fire, both in alpine and in adjacent areas.

Brown, M. J., D. A. Ratkowsky, et al. (1984). "A comparison of detrended

correspondence analysis and principal co-ordinates analysis using four sets

of Tasmanian vegetation data." Aust. J. Ecol. 9(3): 273-279.

Indirect gradient analysis, which entails the elucidation of relationships

between trends in community composition and underlying environmental or

successional gradients, is a major objective of ordination in plant

ecology. Two ordination techniques, detrended correspondence analysis (DCA)

and principal co-ordinates analysis (PCOA), were compared using three sets

of Tasmanian vegetation data having known gradients and oneset where the

vegetation was expected to respond to diverse environmental variables. In

every case, the results obtained by DCA were considered superior to, or at

least as good as, those of PCOA. Hence, DCA appears to be the more suitable

of the two methods for indirect gradient analysis.

Campbell, E. O. (1983). "Mires of Australasia." MIRES: SWAMP, BOG, FEN AND

MOOR. REGIONAL STUDIES. Gore, A.J.P. ed.

The author reviews the wetlands of Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand;

and the effects of climate on their development and geographical

distribution. Wetland vegetation are covered and used to classify types of

wetlands as well as soil composition. The main land masses of the

Australasian region are Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand. Australia is

an island continent with an area over three-quarters that of Europe.

Politically it is divided into the Australian Capital Territory, the

Northern Territory and the states of Western Australia, Queensland, New

South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. Tasmania is an island lying some

200 km to the south of Victoria. It is politically part of Australia and

has an area slightly less than that of Scotland. New Zealand lies some 1600

km to the southeast of Australia. It consists of three main islands, known

as North Island, South Island and the smaller Stewart Island, with a total

area about seven-sixths of that of Great Britain.

Costin, A. B. (1983). "Mountain lands in the Australian region: Some

principles of use and management." MOUNTAIN ECOLOGY IN THE AUSTRALIAN

REGION. Purdie, R.W. 12(12): 1-13.

The main group of mountain lands in the Australian Region are the

NewGuinea Highlands, the Great Dividing Range, the east coast ranges, the

great Western Plateau, Tasmania, and various islands. Some aspects of

research on palaeo-ecology and plant/animal/environment interactions are

reviewed briefly. Problems of land use and management present special

challenges to ecologists. These include the improvement of procedures for

determining land use, and the application of principles of management

appropriate to natural vegetation for the purposes of nature conservation,

recreation and tourism, water catchment, grazing and forestry. Examples are

given of the use of data on vegetation successions to assist management.

Duncan, F. and D. Duncan (1984). "A dry sclerophyll woodland mosaic:

Vegetation of Cherry Tree Hill, near Cranbrook, Tasmania." Rec. Queen

Victoria Mus., Launceston.(85).

The vegetation was surveyed on a block of uncommitted Crown Land,

approximately 100 hectares in area, near Cherry Tree Hill on Tasmania's

Central East Coast. The country comprising the Crown Land block is gently

undulating, consisting of low rocky hills separated by flats with somewhat

impeded drainage. Landforms are more varied in the surrounding private

property and the nearby State Forest. Altitudinal range of the Crown Land

block is 140 to 180 metres a.s.l. The area is located in the dry subhumid

warm climatic zone (Gentilli, 1972). Annual average rainfall at Cranbrook,

seven kilometres to the south-west, is 648mm, with little variation between

months. Temperature records from Swansea, 20 kilometres to the south-west,

show an average daily maximum temperature of 17.6 degree C, and an average

daily minimum of 7.5 degree C. January and February are the hottest months,

July is the coldest. The dominant vegetation of the area is uneven-aged dry

sclerophyll woodland dominated by Eucalyptus pulchella . Mallee-form

Eucalyptus barberi is widespread on dry sites. It is replaced by Eucalyptus

ovata as drainage becomes more impeded on flats and soaks. Eucalyptus

pulchella -E. viminalis plus or minus globulus open-forest occurs locally

on shaded slopes.

Forestry (1995). "The rainforest map of Tasmania." 1(1).

Frey, W. and P. Dalton (1996). "Hypnodendron comosum-community in

Tasmania." Nova Hedwigia 62(1-2): 215-220.

Hypnodendron comosum var. comosum var. sieberi and H. vitiense subsp.

australe (endemic in SE Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand and thought to

be archaic taxa) form a typical dendroid community. The dendroid taxa reach

high cover values and characterize the feature of the community ("miniature

forest"), which is described for the first time from Tasmania. Surveys were

made in western Tasmania, in rain forests characterized by Nothofagus

cunninghamii, Atherosperma moschatum and Eucryphia lucida and the conifers

Phyllocladus, Lagarostrobus [Lagarostrobos] and Athrotaxis. On loamy and

humic soil the number of species of the community is low, increasing on

decaying wood. The community is a complementary one to those described from

New Zealand. It is assumed that such dendroid bryophyte communities from

forests which today are temperate rain forests of the southern hemisphere

represent a relict vegetation of the forest floor of former Gondwanaland

forests.

Fuhrer, B. and R. Robinson (1992). "Rainforest fungi of Tasmania and

south-east Australia." 95(15).

A book containing brief descriptions, with colour photographs, of some of

the fungi of the cool temperate rain forests of Tasmania and Victoria.

Gibson, N. and J. B. Kirkpatrick (1985). "Vegetation and flora associated

with localized snow accumulation at Mount Field West, Tasmania." Aust. J.

Ecol. 10(2): 91-99.

The vegetation associated with a snow patch at Mt Field in Tasmania is

described and mapped. Seven distinct vegetation types were found to be

related directly to topography and hence to the patterns of snow

accumulation, snow melt and soil drainage. The fjaeldmark found where snow

lies longest in unusual for Tasmania and may be the product of past

climatic events and a peculiar parent material. At the generic level there

exists a high similarity with the snow patch flora of the Australian Alps.

Gibson, N. and J. B. Kirkpatrick (1985). "A comparison of the cushion plant

communities of New Zealand and Tasmania." N.Z. J. Bot no. 4: pp.

Communities dominated by species of cushion plants are widespread in the

alpine and subalpine zones of New Zealand and Tasmania. In New Zealand this

vegetation type contains six major associations. These are described as

alpine herbmoor, cushion bog, high alpine cushion moor, alpine cushion

herbfield, and rock and river shingle cushion communities, their

distributions being closely related to particular geomorphic environments.

In Tasmania there are four major associations. These are described as

Abrotanella cushion heath, high mountain cushion heath, mosaic cushion

heath, and Donatia cushion heath, their distributions being most closely

related to altitude, precipitation, and rock type. Of the six New Zealand

cushion associations, herbmoor and cushion bog have the highest proportion

of species also occurring in Tasmania.

Gibson, N., Davies J, et al. (1991). "The ecology of Lagarostrobos

franklinii (Hook. f.) Quinn (Podocarpaceae) in Tasmania. 1. Distribution,

floristics and environmental correlates." Australian Journal of Ecology

16(2): 215-222.

A survey of Huon pine (Lagarostrobos franklinii) in Tasmania was carried

out during 3 summers from 1982 to 1985. Four major community types, largely

restricted to the river systems of W. and S. Tasmania, were identified,

viz. (1) Huon pine rain forest (poorly formed canopy trees and an

intermixed tall tangled understorey); (2) thamnic Huon pine rain forest

(moderately well formed canopy trees and a medium to low tangled

understorey); (3) gallery Huon pine rain forest; and (4) Huon pine scrub.

Continuous variation was found between most of these communities. The

floristic variability was correlated with temperature, rainfall and

geological gradients. It is suggested that the restricted nature of Huon

pine distribution in Tasmania is associated with a slow terrestrial

dispersal rate rather than a narrow fundamental niche. There is some

evidence to suggest that the species has been further restricted by fire.

Gibson, N., Brown Mj, et al. (1992). "Flora and vegetation of ultramafic

areas in Tasmania." Australian Journal of Ecology 17(3): 297-303.

The flora and plant communities were surveyed of 15 areas of ultramafic

(serpentine) rock in Tasmania. Dry sclerophyll communities on ultramafic

rock were restricted to 2 areas in the north of Tasmania. In the wetter

western and southern areas the ultramafic land supported heathlands, wet

scrubs, and a wet sclerophyll/mixed forest community dominated by

Eucalyptus obliqua, E. nitida or E. delegatensis. One of the most striking

features of the ultramafic areas in Tasmania is the variable degree of

physiognomic differentiation between adjacent ultramafic and non-ultramafic

substrates at the different sites. Physiognomic differentiation is less on

non-lateritic soil types or where accumulation of colluvial material has

occurred. Only 3 ultramafic endemic taxa were recorded.

Hickey, J. and M. Savva (1992). "The extent, regeneration and growth of

Tasmanian lowland mixed forest." 106(66).

A discussion is presented of the extent, regeneration, growth and

management of Tasmanian lowland mixed forest. Up to 195 000 ha (20%) of

Tasmania's wet eucalypt (Eucalyptus spp.) forest is mature mixed forest

>110-yr-old. At least 33% is reserved in the Tasmanian Wilderness World

Heritage Area or in other State and Forest Reserves. Almost half the area

of mixed forest with a mature myrtle (Nothofagus cunninghamii) understorey

has a eucalypt density of only 5-20% which implies that it is in the last

successional stage prior to becoming rain forest. In the absence of

disturbance, large areas of the mixed forest can be expected to become rain

forest in <100 yr. An analysis of data from randomly located plots in

eucalypt regeneration established on mixed forest and rain forest sites

showed that 57% of sites contained 20- to 30-yr-old myrtle regeneration. A

comparison of the floristics of 20- to 30-yr-old regeneration (occurring

after wildfire and felling) with old-growth mixed forest showed that the

mean frequency of most rain forest species was greatest in old growth

forest and lowest after felling. The major 'special timbers' harvested from

the mixed forest are blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon), celery-top pine

(Phyllocladus aspleniifolius), leatherwood (Eucryphia lucida), myrtle,

sassafras (Atherosperma moschatum) and silver wattle (Acacia dealbata).

Hickey, J. E. (1994). "A floristic comparison of vascular species in

Tasmanian oldgrowth mixed forest with regeneration resulting from logging

and wildfire." Aust. J. Bot no. 4: pp.

About 20% of Tasmania's wet eucalypt forest is mixed forest, i.e. having a

rainforest understorey and a eucalypt overstorey. While one-third of the

mixed forest is formally reserved, much of the remainder is subject to

logging on an 80-100 year rotation which is insufficient for the

redevelopment of mature mixed forest. The routine silvicultural

regeneration treatment for wet eucalypt forests is to clearfell, burn and

sow with eucalypt seed. A comparison of the vascular floristics of

20-30-year-old silvicultural and wildfire regeneration with oldgrowth mixed

forest showed that most species common in oldgrowth mixed forest were

represented in approximately similar frequencies in silvicultural

regeneration and wildfire regeneration. The major floristic difference

between the two regeneration types was the much lower frequency of

oldgrowth epiphytic fern species in silvicultural regeneration and a higher

frequency of a sedge species often associated with disturbed areas.

However, after a single logging treatment, the vascular plant floristics of

silvicultural regeneration were sufficiently similar to wildfire

regeneration to assume that, in the absence of further logging or fires,

the silvicultural regeneration could become mature mixed forest and

eventually rainforest. Further work is required to determine whether

regrowth mixed forest can be logged at 80-100 years and still retain

sufficient rainforest elements to eventually return to mixed forest within

the life span of the dominant eucalypts. The critical factor in the

silvicultural perpetuation of mixed forest may be rotation length rather

than regeneration treatment.

Hill, R. and Scriven Lj (1995). "The angiosperm-dominated woody vegetation

of Antarctica: a review." Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 86(3-4):

175-198.

Antarctic vegetation is today mostly restricted to non-vascular plants,

with a few small angiosperms clinging to the Antarctic Peninsula. However,

probably as recently as the mid-Late Pliocene, woody angiosperms were

present in inland Antarctica, suggesting an overall presence of complex and

diverse vegetation. Angiosperms were introduced into Antarctica during the

Cretaceous from South America and possibly also Southeast Asia via

Australia. These angiosperms speciated rapidly at the prevailing high

latitudes and were an important source for the developing

angiosperm-dominated vegetation of the Southern Hemisphere. The migration

and evolution of early angiosperms in Gondwana was probably facilitated by

a high level of disturbance caused primarily by the rifting of the

supercontinent. This high-latitude region was an important source of

evolutionary novelty during the Late Cretaceous-Paleogene. As the climate

deteriorated during the Cenozoic, the angiosperm flora was reduced in

biomass and diversity, finally being restricted to the current remnants.

The timing and nature of this major regional extinction is still poorly

understood.

Jarman, S. J. and M. J. Brown (1983). "A definition of cool temperate

rainforest in Tasmania." Search no. 3-4: pp.

A definition based on floristic composition and regeneration processes is

provided for cool temperate rainforest in Tasmania. The definition is also

presented in phytogeographic terms, reflecting current thoughts on the

antiquity of various floristic elements in the Australian flora.

Jarman, S. and G. Kantvilas (1995). "Epiphytes on an old Huon pine tree

(Lagarostrobos franklinii) in Tasmanian rainforest." New Zealand Journal of

Botany 33(1): 65-78.

The epiphytic flora of an old Huon pine (Lagarostrobos franklinii) in

western Tasmania is composed of 76 lichens, 55 bryophytes and 16 vascular

plant species. There is a vertical zonation of the cryptogams on the tree,

with little overlap between basal and canopy floras. Bryophytes are the

dominant life form at the base of the tree but there is a marked increase

in the diversity of lichens and in the ratio of lichens to bryophytes, with

increasing height. The longevity of the tree is manifest in the development

of a wide range of microhabitats but it seems unlikely that any of the

cryptogams require such longevity per se to become established as rain

forest epiphytes. However, several of the vascular species on the tree are

normally terrestrial and their occurrence as epiphytes is dependent on the

development of sufficient peat to support their root systems. Such a

process is likely to be very slow, requiring a long-lived host species. The

study illustrates the richness of lichens and bryophytes in the forest

ecosystem and the extent to which even a single tree can contribute to the

biodiversity of a forest site.

Jarman, S. and G. Kantvilas (1995). "A floristic study of rainforest

bryophytes and lichens in Tasmania's myrtle-beech [Nothofagus cunninghamii]

alliance." Tasmanian NRCP Report No. 14, v + 55 pp.; 47 ref. PUBLISHER

INFORMATION(Forestry Commission): Tasmamia.

Jarman, S. J. and J. E. Hickey (1996). "The Tasmanian component of the

National Rainforest Conservation Program - summary of projects." Tasmanian

NRCP Report No. 16: 61 pp.

A summary is presented of the work undertaken in Tamania during the

National Rainforest Conservation Program. After an introduction the report

is arranged in 6 sections: research; inventory; planning; education;

visitor facilities and site works; and publications.

Kantvilas, G. and P. W. James (1987). "The macrolichens of Tasmanian

rainforest: Key and notes." Lichenologist no. 1: pp.

An identification key to 128 macrolichen species from Tasmanian

rain-forest is presented. Additional data on the flora are also included.

Five new species, Menegazzia caesiopruinosa P. James, M. confusa P. James,

M. inactiva P. James & Kantvilas, M. minuta P. James & Kantvilas and M.

subbullata P. James & Kantvilas, are described, and the new combination

Leioderma amphibolum (Knight) P.M. Joergensen & D. Galloway is made.

Kantvilas, G. (1988). "Tasmanian rainforest lichen communities: A

preliminary classification." Phytocoenologia no. 3: pp.

Eleven epiphytic lichen communities are described from cool temperate

rainforest at Little Fisher River, Tasmania. Apart from relatively minor

compositional details, the communities are widespread and typical of a

broad range of rainforest vegetation in Tasmania. Interrelationships

between the communities, based on succession and changes in light and

moisture regimes are proposed. Additional lichen vegetation at the study

site, including that on the forest floor and on decomposing eucalypt wood,

is considered adventive from neighbouring-non-rainforest vegetation.

Kantvilas, G. and S. J. Jarman (1993). "The cryptogamic flora of an

isolated rainforest fragment in Tasmania." Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 111(2):

211-228.

The cryptogamic flora of a small isolated natural fragment of rainforest

in south-eastern Tasmania has retained its rainforest character but has

been modified in comparison to the flora of large, well-buffered rainforest

stands. There is a high proportion of widespread wet forest species and

many typical rainforest lichens and bryophytes are absent or represented

only by depauperate and/or sterile individuals. The relative proportions of

hepatics to mosses is reversed compared with that normally found in

rainforest and there is a much lower diversity in the bryophyte flora. In

spite of these modifications, the flora of the rainforest fragment is quite

distinct from that of the surrounding sclerophyll vegetation. The community

acts as a refuge for many species and contributes significantly to the

overall biodiversity of the area. The site is very important for biological

conservation but the data suggest that the ecosystem is extremely fragile

and must be protected from future disturbance if its rainforest flora is to

survive. The new combination, Bacidia vallatula (Jatta) Kantvilas, is

proposed, and the lichen Byssoloma subdiscordans (Nyl.) P. James is

recorded from Tasmania for the first time.

Kirkpatrick, J. B. (1982). "Phytogeographical Analysis of Tasmanian Alpine

Floras." J. Biogeogr. 9(3): 255-271.

Lists of vascular plant species were obtained from twenty-eight, disjunct,

high altitude, treeless areas in Tasmania. These lists pertained to

vegetation dominated by the austral-montane element of the flora which is

found both above and below the usually indistinct, and often absent,

Tasmanian upper slope treeline. A polythetic, agglomerative classification

of the Tasmanian and four Australian mainland alpine floras resulted in

five groups: the mainland mountains, the eastern Tasmanian mountains, a

group extending north-south through the center of Tasmania, western

Tasmanian quartzite mountains, and western Tasmanian mountains formed from

more weatherable parent material. The Tasmanian floras form a continuum

closely, related to mean annual precipitation and surface geology, but not

strongly related to continentality. Tasmanian endemism increases strongly

from east to west, and similarity values with the mainland mountain floras

and the New Zealand flora show the reverse pattern. It is suggested that

the variation in and between the alpine floras of Tasmania and mainland

Australia may be largely related to edaphic conditions.

Kirkpatrick, J. B. and C. E. Harwood (1983). "Plant communities of

Tasmanian wetlands." Aust. J. Bot. 31(5): 437-451.

The macrophytic vegetation of Tasmanian wetlands consists of forest,

scrub, marginal herbland, tussock sedgeland, sedgeland, reed swamp and

aquatic herbland. More than 80 taxa dominate or codominate in at least one

division of at least one fo the 530 wetlands from which data were obtained.

Communities dominated by each of 16 of these taxa occur in 10 or more

wetlands and vary in mean richness from 4 to 18 species, richness

increasing towards the margins of wetlands, with the area of wetland, and

with decreasing salinity. A combination of salinity and permanence indices

explains over one-third of the floristic variation between these

communities; within freshwater wetlands, pH has more influence than the

permanence index. The Tasmanian wetland flora is a subset of that of

mainland Australia. Most Tasmanian wetland plant communities probably occur

on the Australian mainland. Many of the wetland vegetation types

discriminated on the mainland do not occur in Tasmanian non-tidal wetlands.

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 and geologically-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.

Kirkpatrick, J. B. and M. J. Brown (1984). "A numerical analysis of

Tasmanian higher plant endemism." Bot. J. Linn. Soc no. 3: pp.

Tasmanian endemic plant taxa at the species level or below were placed in

geographic elements according to the distribution of their genera. These

elements are associated with different environments, the endemic and

Antarctic elements being most prominent in rainforest and alpine

communities; the cosmopolitan element in alpine communities, and the

Australian element in the fire-prone lowland communities. The proportions

of endemic species in local Tasmanian floras were almost totally explained

by altitude and precipitation in a stepwise multiple regression analysis.

However, it is possible that many of the endemic species have not been able

to occupy their potential range in Tasmania as a result of insufficient

time having elapsed for them to fully expand from glacial refugia.

Kirkpatrick, J. B. (1986). "Conservation of plant species, alliances and

associations of the treeless high country of Tasmania, Australia." Biol.

Conserv. 37(1): 43-58.

The treeless high country of Tasmania has considerable conservation and

catchment value. Much of its area lies within National Parks and other

reserves of similar tenure, but many species and communities are confined

to land of less secure status. Much high mountain land is subject to

stockgrazing and burning, both of which activities have led to

deterioration in vegetation and soils. The reservation status of species

and communities can be made near perfect with relatively small additions to

the State Reserve system. However, the impacts of trampling and deliberate

fires do not respect reserve boundaries, and their mitigation or

elimination requires some intensive management.

Kirkpatrick, J. B. and F. Duncan (1987). "Tasmanian high altitude grassy

vegetation: Its distribution, community composition and conservation

status." Aust. J. Ecol. 12(1): 73-86.

Grassy woodland, grassy shrubland, grassy sedgeland, tussock grassland and

grassland are extensive on basalt, limestone and fine-textured Quaternary

deposits, are occasional on dolerite, granite and fine-grained sedimentary

rocks, but are absent from the siliceous mountains of Tasmania. With the

exception of limestone lithosols, the grassy communities are confined to

relatively deep soils with a low surface rock cover. Much of the area of

the grassy communities below the climatic treeline has clearly been forest

in the recent past, although some of the higher subalpine plains seem

likely to have been grassy at least since the peak of the Last Glacial.

Lynch, A. J. J. and J. B. Kirkpatrick (1995). "Pattern and process in

alpine vegetation and landforms at Hill One, Southern Range, Tasmania."

Aust. J. Bot no. 6: pp.

Hill One is a wind-exposed, alpine environment in southern Tasmania. The

prevailing wind-stream is westerly. However, high intensity south-westerly

winds associated with frost events appear to control the patterning of

fjaeldmark. These winds cause necrosis of prostrate Richea scoparia and

cushion plants on their south-western side and induce migration of

individual plants in a north-easterly direction. Fjaeldmark is confined to

the exposed mountain summit and terrace and step treads. Mosaic cushion

heath occurs in more exposed and poorly drained areas than other heath

communities. The horizontally bedded sediments of Hill One have been worked

by erosional and depositional agents into a complex morphology. Large

terraces and non-sorted steps are likely to have formed from altiplanation

processes, that is, differential erosion of interbedded sediments, with

accumulation of erosional debris at the foot of the risers. Depositional

lobes and erosional washout features are actively forming in localised

areas of concentrated drainage. The distribution of plant communities is

closely associated with rockiness, wind exposure and drainage.

McCormick, N. (1991). "Lowland dry eucalypt forests." Technical Bulletin

Native Forest Silviculture, Forestry Commission, Tasmania(3).

In part A, silvicultural prescriptions are given for the management of

lowland dry eucalypt forests in Tasmania; detailed guidelines for selection

of the appropriate silvicultural system are presented. In part B,

descriptions are given of these forests, which are the dominant forest type

below 600 m altitude in the drier regions of N. and E. Tasmania.

Twenty-five of the 29 Eucalyptus spp. in Tasmania are found in these

forests.

Minchin, P. R. (1989). "Montane vegetation of the Mt. Field massif,

Tasmania: A test of some hypotheses about properties of community

patterns." Vegetatio 83: 1-2.

Direct gradient analysis was applied to the montane vegetation of the Mt.

Field massif, Tasmania. The hypotheses tested were that: (1) the ecological

responses of species are generally of Gaussian form; (2) the modes of

"minor" species have a uniform random distribution along gradients; (3) the

modes of "major" species are evenly distributed; (4) the frequency

distribution over species of modal abundance is either lograndom or

lognormal; and (5) alpha diversity has a unimodal trend along environmental

gradients. Hypothesis (1) was rejected: only 45% of species had response

surface which appeared unimodal and symmetric. Hypotheses (2) and (4) were

rejected for the full set of species, but each was supported for all but

one of the structural groups. Although total alpha diversity had a complex

trend surface, the patterns for the alpha diversities of each structural

group were unimodal, in accordance with hypothesis (5). The results suggest

that an adequate model of community variation along environmental gradients

must take into account differences in response patterns between species

groups.

Pannell, J. (1992). "Swamp forests of Tasmania." 159(5).

The swamp forest and related vegetation in Tasmania was surveyed [date not

given]. The vegetation was classified into 29 communities in 6 community

groups, viz. (A) callidendrous swamp forests (5 communities), (B) thamnic

swamp forests (6), (C) coastal swamp forests (6), (D) riparian blackwood

communities (7), (E) montane tea-tree forests (2) and (F) tea-tree scrub

forests (3). All groups are typically dominated by sclerophyllous species

of the genera Acacia, Leptospermum and Melaleuca. Groups A, B and C are

swamp communities, characterized by the absence of certain wet sclerophyll

forest species that appear to be intolerant of the poor drainage conditions

in swamps. Groups D, E and F are non-swamp forest communities. The

persistance of sclerophylly in the swamps does not depend on massive

disturbance. Sclerophyllous dominants are able to maintain themselves by

gap phasereplacement. The area of swamp forest in Tasmania was estimated

at 13 000 ha; this represents about one-third of the area prior to European

settlement. Only 4% of the total area of Tasmania's extent swamp forest

area is in reserves.