西双版纳热带季节雨林的研究

本文以多个样方的资料分析,从群落综合特征上研究了西双版纳热带季节雨林的特点和类型、物种组成、生活型谱、叶级谱等。根据上层标志树种、群落生态外貌特征和生境把西双版纳的热带季节雨林区分为低丘雨林和沟谷雨林二个群系组,各包括若干群系。低丘雨林中面积最大和最有代表性的群系是大药树、龙果林,而沟谷雨林中最有代表性的群系是番龙眼、千果榄仁林。二者相比,低丘雨林的物种多样性要小一些,附生植物相对少一些,小、矮高位芽植物和小叶、落叶树种比例稍高,在生态上向季雨林和热带山地的常绿阔叶林过渡,有更强的地方代表性。沟谷雨林则更接近典型的湿热带雨林。     

Factors Affecting the Use of Reforested Sites by Reptiles in Cleared Rainforest Landscapes in Tropical and Subtropical Australia

Despite recent efforts to reforest cleared rainforest landscapes, in Australia and elsewhere, the value of reforested sites for rainforest‐dependent reptiles is unknown. We surveyed the occurrence of reptiles in a range of reforestation types (monoculture and mixed‐species timber plantations, diverse “ecological restoration” plantings and regrowth), as well as reference sites in pasture and rainforest, in tropical and subtropical Australia. We recorded 29 species of reptiles from 104 sites, including 15 rainforest‐dependent species. Most rainforest reptiles were strongly associated with complex microhabitats (tree trunks, logs, rocks). The richness and abundance of rainforest‐dependent reptiles varied between the different types of reforestation and between regions. In the tropics, rainforest reptiles were recorded in old timber plantations and ecological restoration plantings but not in young timber plantations or regrowth. Rainforest reptiles were recorded in few reforested sites in the subtropics. The occurrence of rainforest‐dependent reptiles in reforested sites appears to be influenced by (1) habitat structure; (2) proximity to source populations in rainforest; and (3) biogeography and historical differences in the extent of rainforest. Restoration of cleared land for rainforest‐dependent reptiles may require the development, or deliberate creation, of complex structural attributes and microhabitats in reforested sites. Where reforested sites are located away from rainforest, recolonization by rainforest reptiles may require the construction of corridors of suitable habitat between reforested sites and rainforest or the translocation of reptiles to reforested sites.     

西双版纳人工雨林群落结构及其林下降雨侵蚀力特征

通过与本地典型的橡胶林和季节雨林进行对比,研究了在橡胶林基础上抚育、恢复而来的人工雨林群落结构及林下降雨侵蚀力特征.通过16a的抚育管理,人工雨林Shannon-Wiener多样性指数达到3.652,接近当地季节雨林的一般情况.对6a的降雨侵蚀力计算发现,人工雨林7月林内降雨侵蚀力达962.2 MJ mm hm-2 h-1 a-1,对旷地降雨侵蚀力的削减量是橡胶林的2.08倍.人工雨林初步重现了类似热带自然雨林的群落结构和叶面积指数特征,能够有效对削减降雨侵蚀力,这有利于林内水土保持和进一步的植被恢复.因此,人工雨林的抚育、恢复模式是热带退化山地地区植被恢复与重建的一条较为可行的途径.     

Avian Use of Restoration Plantings along a Creek Linking Rainforest Patches on the Atherton Tablelands, North Queensland

Rainforest fragmentation and creek degradation are major problems on the Atherton Tablelands in North Queensland. Lake Barrine and Wooroonooran National Parks are separated by a 1.5‐km length of Toohey's Creek which has been cleared except for small remnant rainforest patches. The creek has been fenced and replanted to create a corridor between the two national parks. The aim of this study was to monitor the success of the corridor in providing habitat for rainforest birds. Avian communities were monitored in the corridor and in adjacent rainforest sites using point counts over the period of reestablishment of a continuous rainforest canopy. In terms of bird community composition, within 3 years of planting, the replanted sites were on a trajectory toward the rainforest sites. Although specialist rainforest species were not yet found in the plantings, after 3 years those species which mainly inhabit rainforest but also utilize edges and riparian strips were found in similar numbers in the plantings and in the small remnant patches along the corridor. Frugivorous species were quite abundant even in the youngest plantings. Thus, replanting of rainforest trees along Toohey's Creek has begun to provide habitat for some rainforest birds. It also shows good potential to act as a corridor to connect the previously isolated patches of rainforest for these species and to develop in habitat complexity as the frugivorous birds bring in rainforest plant species from nearby areas.     

Beetle species’ responses suggest that microclimate mediates fragmentation effects in tropical Australian rainforest

Abstract Despite the enormous contribution of invertebrates to global biodiversity and ecosystem function, the patterns and causes of insect responses to tropical rainforest destruction and fragmentation remain poorly understood. We studied the responses of beetles to these factors in a fragmented upland rainforest landscape in north‐east Queensland, Australia. Beetles were sampled using flight interception traps from six replicate sites in rainforest interior, rainforest edge, small rainforest remnants and pasture, interspersed across about 600 km². Beetles from 10 family/subfamily groups were sorted to species. There were three major findings. First, converting rainforest into pasture has a very strong negative effect on beetle diversity and species composition. Very few beetle species were present in pasture and none of the most abundant species was more abundant in pasture than rainforest. Second, beetle assemblages appeared to respond to climate. Beetle species composition in drier rainforest habitats was different from that of moister rainforest and there were species unique to each rainforest type. Third, beetle species composition differed between small remnants and interior rainforest: drier‐associated species were more abundant in small remnants, whereas wetter‐associated species were more abundant in interiors. Edges tended to be intermediate. We argue that this pattern can be attributed to a fragmentation effect mediated by differences in microclimate rather than by floristic, structural, or area and isolation effects.     

五指山热带雨林黑桫椤种群及其所在群落特征

黑桫椤(Alsophila podophylla)属国家二级保护植物.作者在海南岛五指山山地雨林和低地雨林分别设立样地对黑桫椤种群及其所在群落进行了调查,分析了热带雨林黑桫椤种群的年龄结构、空间分布格局、数量分布以及群落结构和物种多样性.结果表明,山地雨林和低地雨林中黑桫椤种群分别为稳定型种群和增长型种群,都是完全集群分布.低地雨林的黑桫椤平均密度是山地雨林的1.7倍.土壤pH值对黑桫椤种群密度有负的影响,全磷含量对其有正的影响.山地雨林林地土壤pH值大而全磷含量低,低地雨林刚好相反.土壤酸碱度和全磷含量的差异是导致两地黑桫椤数量差异的原因之一.pH值对黑桫椤平均密度的影响效应是全磷含量的2.5倍,说明pH值是影响黑桫椤种群密度的主要因素.黑桫椤所在群落垂直结构分为3个乔木亚层、2个灌木亚层及草本层.山地雨林黑桫椤所在群落的Simpson指数和Shannon-Wiener指数分别为0.957和5.305,均匀度为0.811;低地雨林黑桫椤所在群落的Simpson指数和Shannon-Wiener指数分别为0.937和5.484,均匀度为0.804.总之,五指山山地雨林和低地雨林的黑桫椤种群年龄结构、分布格局和数量分布都有一定差异,这些差异是由生境差异造成的.热带雨林黑桫椤所在群落结构复杂,物种多样性丰富.     

Mechanisms of rainforest persistence and recruitment in frequently burnt wet tropical eucalypt forests

The role of fire in governing rainforest–eucalypt forest ecotone dynamics is of theoretical interest and has conservation management implications. Several eucalypt forests in the Wet Tropics of Australia have an endangered status due to extensive conversion to rainforest. Rainforest plants are known to survive occasional low intensity fires in the eucalypt forest ecotone. However, the ability of rainforest plants to survive frequent fires remains untested. The timing of rainforest expansion is also a subject of interest, and is generally considered to be delayed until fire has been absent for several years. We used 14 years of data collected across 13 plots in the Wet Tropics of north‐eastern Australia to test predictions regarding rainforest seedling recruitment and post‐fire regenerative capacity. The 13 plots received different numbers of fires, between zero and five, over the 14‐year study. The recruitment of new rainforest plants in the ecotone was most abundant in the initial year after fire. If this post‐fire pulse of recruitment is left undisturbed, it can facilitate the subsequent germination of additional rainforest species. The removal of grass cover, whether temporarily in the immediate post‐fire environment or once a developing rainforest mid strata shades out grasses, appears crucial to abundant rainforest recruitment. A variety of tropical rainforest species can persist under a frequent fire regime through resprouting. The difference in the mode of resprouting, between ground‐level coppicing rainforest plants and canopy resprouting eucalypt forest trees, is the critical mechanism that causes regular fire to maintain an open structure in eucalypt forests. The inability of rainforest species to maintain their height when fires fully scorch their crowns, temporarily resets the forest's open structure and delays the rainforest's ability to dominate through shading out grasses to transform the ecosystem into a closed forest.     

What type of rainforest burnt in the South East Queensland's 2019/20 bushfires and how might this impact biodiversity

Bushfires burnt over 18 million hectares across Australia's east coast, including rainforests, over the spring and summer 2019/2020 period. Rainforest harbours a large percentage of Australia's biodiversity and does not usually burn and therefore understanding the extent and biodiversity implications was a priority. The National Indicative Aggregated Fire Extent Dataset (NIAFED) combined with detailed regional ecosystem (RE) mapping was used to estimate the perimeter and area of each of the burnt rainforest types within South East Queensland (SEQ). Previous biodiversity estimates for each rainforest regional ecosystem type combined with remnant ecosystem mapping data then enabled an assessment of the potential biodiversity impacts of the fires for SEQ rainforest. We found that 12% of the rainforest estate in SEQ was within the burn footprint (29 031 ha) including parts of the UNESCO World Heritage Gondwana Rainforests of Australia. Fifty per cent of the total remnant area of the Endangered rainforest type, semi-evergreen vine thicket on Mesozoic to Proterozoic igneous rocks (RE: 12.12.17) was potentially burnt. This rainforest type has high diversity. Burn severity analysis found that the rainforest primarily burnt with low severity, however, there were patches of high severity. Accuracy assessment of severity mapping resulted in a weak correlation (0.57) due to the underestimation of ground fires in rainforest. As expected, we found rainforest-suppressed fires. However, in contrast to expectations, we found the wettest rainforest types and putative past refugia burnt more than other rainforest types. These results suggest that given drought conditions any rainforest could burn, and we can expect that the area of rainforest will contract if both incidences of drought and wildfires increase due to climate change.     

Efforts to restore habitat connectivity for an upland tropical rainforest fauna: A trial of underpasses below roads

Summary Four large underpasses, specifically designed for movements by fauna, form part of a major road upgrade project on the Atherton Tablelands in northeast Queensland, Australia. We describe the design and rationale of a project to test their effectiveness in restoring habitat continuity for tropical rainforest fauna. The large blocks of upland rainforest divided by the road are recognized for their high faunal conservation significance, forming habitat for many rare or threatened species. Ecologists, road engineers and the Atherton Tablelands conservation community have united with a common conservation goal: to design the 'furniture' within the underpasses and accomplish rainforest revegetation to provide protective cover and attract fauna to underpass entrances. Prior to construction, small mammals were trapped weekly for several months in habitats close to the road upgrade. The small mammal community comprised grassland species in abandoned pasture and differed significantly from the rainforest specialists found in three closed canopy habitats: rainforest edge, rainforest interior and Lantana shrubland. Rainforest restoration works designed to restore connectivity for rainforest fauna across this abandoned pastureland (via the underpasses to major rainforest blocks to the north and south of the road) are currently in progress. Monitoring of the effectiveness of the underpasses in allowing faunal movements will involve the use of infra-red-triggered cameras within the underpasses and near underpass entrances, and a survey of road-killed fauna both prior to and postconstruction. Further examination of small mammal community structure and movements, with respect to both the new road and the underpasses, will be undertaken once rainforest plantings have become established. This evaluation should provide insights for further road-associated restoration projects in rainforest regions.     

Mechanisms and tempo of evolution in the African Guineo-Congolian rainforest

This paper reviews how and when African rainforest diversity arose, presenting evidence from both plant and animal studies. Preliminary investigations show that these African forests are an assemblage of species of varying age. Phylogenetic evidence, from both African rainforest angiosperms and vertebrates, suggest a Tertiary origin for the major lineages in some of these groups. In groups where savannah species are well represented and rainforest species are a minority, the latter appear to be relics of a Mid-Tertiary rainforest. By contrast, species that are primarily adapted to rainforest have arisen in the past 10 Myr with the main morphological innovations dating from the Late Miocene, and Quaternary speciation dominating in large, morphologically homogeneous groups. The small number of species-level phylogenies for African rainforest plants hinders a more incisive and detailed study into the historical assembly of these continental forests.     

Patterns of Phylogenetic Diversity of Subtropical Rainforest of the Great Sandy Region,Australia Indicate Long Term Climatic Refugia

Australia’s Great Sandy Region is of international significance containing two World Heritage areas and patches of rainforest growing on white sand. Previous broad-scale analysis found the Great Sandy biogeographic subregion contained a significantly more phylogenetically even subset of species than expected by chance contrasting with rainforest on white sand in Peru. This study aimed to test the patterns of rainforest diversity and relatedness at a finer scale and to investigate why we may find different patterns of phylogenetic evenness compared with rainforests on white sands in other parts of the world. This study focussed on rainforest sites within the Great Sandy and surrounding areas in South East Queensland (SEQ), Australia. We undertook field collections, expanded our three-marker DNA barcode library of SEQ rainforest plants and updated the phylogeny to 95% of the SEQ rainforest flora. We sampled species composition of rainforest in fixed area plots from 100 sites. We calculated phylogenetic diversity (PD) measures as well as species richness (SR) for each rainforest community. These combined with site variables such as geology, were used to evaluate patterns and relatedness. We found that many rainforest communities in the Great Sandy area were significantly phylogenetically even at the individual site level consistent with a broader subregion analysis. Sites from adjacent areas were either not significant or were significantly phylogenetically clustered. Some results in the neighbouring areas were consistent with historic range expansions. In contrast with expectations, sites located on the oldest substrates had significantly lower phylogenetic diversity (PD). Fraser Island was once connected to mainland Australia, our results are consistent with a region geologically old enough to have continuously supported rainforest in refugia. The interface of tropical and temperate floras in part also explains the significant phylogenetic evenness and higher than expected phylogenetic diversity.     

榕树在西双版纳热带雨林生态系统中的作用

榕树是西双版纳热带雨林中的关键植物类群之一,能够为多种生物提供栖息地和食物,从而维持该地区热带雨林生态系统的物种多样性。一些种类的榕树有绞杀特性,在森林更新演替中能够起到积极的作用;还有些种类的榕树是先锋物种,在植被恢复中起重要作用。但是,近些年对西双版纳的过度开发已经使热带雨林片断化,榕树种群数量大量减少,榕果内的寄生蜂、食榕果动物也受到了不同程度的影响。保护好西双版纳热带雨林中关键植物类群榕树,是保护和恢复热带雨林生态系统的重要措施之一。     

Effects of Habitat Structure and Adjacent Habitats on Birds in Tropical Rainforest Fragments and Shaded Plantations in the Western Ghats, India

As large nature reserves occupy only a fraction of the earth’s land surface, conservation biologists are critically examining the role of private lands, habitat fragments, and plantations for conservation. This study in a biodiversity hotspot and endemic bird area, the Western Ghats mountains of India, examined the effects of habitat structure, floristics, and adjacent habitats on bird communities in shade-coffee and cardamom plantations and tropical rainforest fragments. Habitat and birds were sampled in 13 sites: six fragments (three relatively isolated and three with canopy connectivity with adjoining shade-coffee plantations and forests), six plantations differing in canopy tree species composition (five coffee and one cardamom), and one undisturbed primary rainforest control site in the Anamalai hills. Around 3300 detections of 6000 individual birds belonging to 106 species were obtained. The coffee plantations were poorer than rainforest in rainforest bird species, particularly endemic species, but the rustic cardamom plantation with diverse, native rainforest shade trees, had bird species richness and abundance comparable to primary rainforest. Plantations and fragments that adjoined habitats providing greater tree canopy connectivity supported more rainforest and fewer open-forest bird species and individuals than sites that lacked such connectivity. These effects were mediated by strong positive effects of vegetation structure, particularly woody plant variables, cane, and bamboo, on bird community structure. Bird community composition was however positively correlated only to floristic (tree species) composition of sites. The maintenance or restoration of habitat structure and (shade) tree species composition in shade-coffee and cardamom plantations and rainforest fragments can aid in rainforest bird conservation in the regional landscape.     

Vegetation,fire and soil feedbacks of dynamic boundaries between rainforest,savanna and grassland

At fine spatial scales, savanna‐rainforest‐grassland boundary dynamics are thought to be mediated by the interplay between fire, vegetation and soil feedbacks. These processes were investigated by quantifying tree species composition, the light environment, quantities and flammability of fuels, bark thickness, and soil conditions across stable and dynamic rainforest boundaries that adjoin grassland and eucalypt savanna in the highlands of the Bunya Mountains, southeast Queensland, Australia. The size class distribution of savanna and rainforest stems was indicative of the encroachment of rainforest species into savanna and grassland. Increasing dominance of rainforest trees corresponds to an increase in woody canopy cover, the dominance of litter fuels (woody debris and leaf), and decline in grass occurrence. There is marked difference in litter and grass fuel flammability and this result is largely an influence of strongly dissimilar fuel bulk densities. Relative bark thickness, a measure of stem fire resistance, was found to be generally greater in savanna species when compared to that of rainforest species, with notable exceptions being the conifers Araucaria bidwillii and Araucaria cunninghamii. A transect study of soil nutrients across one dynamic rainforest – grassland boundary indicated the mass of carbon and nitrogen, but not phosphorus, increased across the successional gradient. Soil carbon turnover time is shortest in stable rainforest, intermediate in dynamic rainforest and longest in grassland highlighting nutrient cycling differentiation. We conclude that the general absence of fire in the Bunya Mountains, due to a divergence from traditional Aboriginal burning practices, has allowed for the encroachment of fire‐sensitive rainforest species into the flammable biomes of this landscape. Rainforest invasion is likely to have reduced fire risk via changes to fuel composition and microclimatic conditions, and this feedback will be reinforced by altered nutrient cycling. The mechanics of the feedbacks here identified are discussed in terms of landscape change theory.     

Holocene boundary dynamics of a northern Australian monsoon rainforest patch inferred from isotopic analysis of carbon, (14C and δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) in soil organic matter

Abstract Soil organic matter (SOM) was sampled from lateritic soil profiles across an abrupt eucalypt savanna–monsoon rainforest boundary on the north coast of Croker Island, northern Australia. Accelerator mass spectrometry dating revealed that SOM that had accumulated at the base of these 1.5 m profiles had a radiocarbon age of about 5000 years. The mean carbon and nitrogen stable isotope composition of SOM from 10 cm deep layers from the surface, middle and base of three monsoon rainforest soil profiles was significantly different from the means for these layers in three adjacent savanna soil profiles, suggesting the isotopic ‘footprint’ of the vegetation boundary has been stable since the mid Holocene. Although there were no obvious environmental discontinuities associated with the boundary, the monsoon rainforest was found to occur on significantly more clay rich soils than the surrounding savanna. Tiny fragments of monsoon rainforest and abandoned ‘nests’ (large earthen mounds) of the orange‐footed scrubfowl, an obligate monsoon rainforest species, occurred in the savanna, signalling that the rainforest was once more extensive. Despite episodic disturbances, such as tropical storm damage and fires, the stability of the boundary is probably maintained because clay rich soils enable monsoon rainforest tree species to grow rapidly and achieve canopy closure, thereby excluding grass and reducing the risk of fire. Conversely, slower tree growth rates, grass competition and fire on the savanna soils would impede the expansion of the rainforest although high rainfall periods with shorter dry seasons may enable rainforest trees to grow sufficiently quickly to colonize the savanna successfully.     

Valuation and sustainable use of tropical rainforest

Studies of the extraction of non-timber forest products have shown that the standing rainforest may be more valuable than alternatives involving deforestation

Although this article is about placing a value on rainforest, it begins by stressing the importance and value of rainforest for its environmental function, particularly for the control of world climate patterns. It is then shown how rainforest peoples depend on the plants around them and in some study areas were found to have a use for every tree on the one-hectare plots. It is therefore not surprising that the rainforest can contain many non-timber forest products (NTFPs) of commercial potential, some of which such as rubber latex and Brazil nuts have been in the market economy for many years. A summary is given of various attempts to place a value on rainforest for its NTFPs. Each of the three studies showed that the extraction of these products could be more valuable than alternative land uses involving deforestation. Various rainforest countries such as Brazil, Guatemala, and Indonesia have set up extractive reserves where local people are allowed to extract NTFPs but not to clear cut the forest. Extractive reserves have slowed down deforestation in some areas, but only provide a meagre subsistence existence for their inhabitants, so while they are useful, they are not a panacea that will solve all the conservation problems of tropical rainforest.     

Water,land, fire,and forest: Multi‐scale determinants of rainforests in the Australian monsoon tropics

The small rainforest fragments found in savanna landscapes are powerful, yet often overlooked, model systems to understand the controls of these contrasting ecosystems. We analyzed the relative effect of climatic variables on rainforest density at a subcontinental level, and employed high‐resolution, regional‐level analyses to assess the importance of landscape settings and fire activity in determining rainforest density in a frequently burnt Australian savanna landscape. Estimates of rainforest density (ha/km²) across the Northern Territory and Western Australia, derived from preexisting maps, were used to calculate the correlations between rainforest density and climatic variables. A detailed map of the northern Kimberley (Western Australia) rainforests was generated and analyzed to determine the importance of geology and topography in controlling rainforests, and to contrast rainforest density on frequently burnt mainland and nearby islands. In the northwestern Australian, tropics rainforest density was positively correlated with rainfall and moisture index, and negatively correlated with potential evapotranspiration. At a regional scale, rainforests showed preference for complex topographic positions and more fertile geology. Compared with mainland areas, islands had significantly lower fire activity, with no differences between terrain types. They also displayed substantially higher rainforest density, even on level terrain where geomorphological processes do not concentrate nutrients or water. Our multi‐scale approach corroborates previous studies that suggest moist climate, infrequent fires, and geology are important stabilizing factors that allow rainforest fragments to persist in savanna landscapes. These factors need to be incorporated in models to predict the future extent of savannas and rainforests under climate change.     

Monitoring and assessment of restoration of a rainforest remnant at Wingham Brush,NSW

Abstract Wingham Brush is a 9‐ha remnant of lowland subtropical rainforest, on mid‐north coast New South Wales, Australia, with high floristic diversity (about 200 species, more than 70 endemic trees and 27 endemic vines). A history of disturbance, environmental mismanagement and flooding from the Manning River resulted in many exotic species vigorously invading the rainforest. By the late 1970s weeds blanketed large sections of the forest, preventing regeneration of native species and destroying the canopy. By 1978 rainforest ecologists thought it ‘doubtful whether the rainforest could be saved from extinction.’ In 1980 a restoration program funded by the National Trust of Australia (NSW), used the Bradley Method of bush regeneration. However, this method did not consider the unique character of the rainforest community, which required the highest priority to be restoring the canopy. The National Herbarium of New South Wales became involved in 1984 as an independent agency to monitor the progress of the regeneration and assess the techniques being used, in particular the use of glyphosate. Monitoring provided evidence of beneficial change, showed how it occurred and has since been used as a basis for planning, documenting and assessing progress in rainforest regeneration. Reformation of the canopy allowed the forest floor to stabilize under a more constant microclimate, encouraging germination of shade‐loving rainforest species. Maximum and minimum temperature values demonstrated the buffering effect of the closed rainforest canopy. After 20 years, Wingham Brush has changed from a degraded forest, dominated by exotic vines, with many large gaps in the canopy, to a rainforest with an intact canopy, enlarged core forest area and reduced edge effect, that supports the diversity and structure of a healthy subtropical rainforest. Techniques developed in the ‘Wingham Brush Method’, have become the basis for restoration programs in other rainforest areas. The principles are: be canopy‐focused, be flexible, assess each site individually, and use techniques appropriate to problems encountered and goals of the long‐term program.     

The structure and floristic composition of the rainforest of the Liverpool Range,New South Wales,and its relationships with other Australian rainforests

The rainforest of the Eiverpool Range (ca 32° S) consists of discrete stands ranging from 1 to 100 ha in area. Its distance from the coast (ca 160 km) results in a relatively low (for rainforest) average annual rainfall of approximately 900 mm. The rainforest is described quantitatively in terms of the relative importance of its component woody species. One hundred and fourteen vascular plant species were found and identified within the rainforest stands, including 37 tree and 16 shrub species. Daphnandra micrantha is the most common tree species in the stands, while Acmena smithii is locally dominant at higher elevations. Following Webb (1978), the Liverpool Range rainforest is described as a noto-microphyll vine forest. Alternatively, portions of the forest that are at higher elevations represent warm temperate rainforest, while the portions at lower elevations are more subtropical in character, although the two intergrade. The Liverpool Range rainforest has substantial floristic affinity with the rainforests of the southern coast of New South Wales.     

A comparison of foliar nutrient concentration in trees from monsoon rainforest and savanna in northern Australia

Abstract Analysis of foliar nutrient concentrations revealed that two mesophyllic monsoon rainforest trees had higher concentrations of most nutrients in leaves than eight savanna species. One of the tested monsoon rainforest species with sclerophyllous leaves had similar nutrient concentrations to the savanna tree species. There were positive or no significant correlations between live foliar nutrient concentration and the percentage of nutrients withdrawn prior to litterfall. The nutrient concentration of litter was similar for most nutrients among tree species of monsoon rainforest or savanna. The results of this study suggest that the relative fertility of surface soils of monsoon rainforest compared with savanna is not determined by contrasting nutrient cycling strategies whereby monsoon rainforest tree species enrich their soils with relatively nutrient rich leaf litter relative to savanna tree species.