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Project summary:
The silvicultural systems trial (SST) is investigating alternative silvicultural systems for the management of wet eucalypt forests for wood production. The component of this trial involving surveying non-vascular plants. A total of 144 bryophytes and 134 lichens have so far been recorded in pre-logging surveys. Most of the species are typical wet forest plants that have been reported previously in Tasmania, but there is also a relatively high number of new and/or interesting records. Based on frequency of occurrence across nine plots, the flora can be partitioned into ‘core’ species, occasional species and uncommon species. A noteworthy feature of the lichen flora is the large number of species represented only by very small, scattered individuals that are relatively uncommon in the study sites. It is among such species that the most interesting records have been found. In a plot-by-plot comparison, richness of bryophytes compares favourably with that found previously in other wet forest communities in Tasmania but diversity of the lichens is lower. The plots are rather variable in their bryophyte and lichen floras even though they represent the same vascular plant community. The data arising from these samples will be used to develop ecological indicators for assessing management impacts. See also the earlier preliminary project on cryptograms.
Methodology: Surveys of non-vascular plants were carreid out within 50×10 m quadrats, based, where possible, on pre-existing FT permanent inventory (CFI) plots. Surveys were conducted in the year preceding harvesting, and the year following it. Follow-up surveys are anticipated for future years. Inventories of all bryophytes and lichens for each plot are compiled by thoroughly searching all accessible habitats, including rocks, logs, soil, and trunks, twigs and leaves to about 2 m above the ground. Fallen twigs and branches are also examined. Samples of all species are collected for laboratory identification, and voucher material is deposited in the Tasmanian Herbarium. For Eucalyptus obliqua, the main timber species, total inventories for tree boles to a height of 2 m are also compiled separately for the largest and smallest trees respectively in each of five 10×10 m subplots. A soil transect across the forest floor, dissecting the plot lengthwise, is also established to obtain some frequency data. Quadrats of 25×25 cm are placed on alternate sides of the transect at 50 cm intervals
Datasets: None available.
Publications: Forestry Tasmania (2009). A new silviculture for Tasmania’s public forests: a review of the variable retention program. Forestry Tasmania, Hobart.
Glenny, D. & Jarman, S.J. (2008). Three species regarded as New Zealand endemics, now recorded from Tasmania. Australasian Bryological Newsletter 55: 10-12.
Jarman, S.J. & Kantvilas, G. (2001). Bryophytes and lichens at the Warra LTER Site. I. An inventory of species in Eucalyptus obliqua wet sclerophyll forest. Tasforests 13: 193-216.
Jarman, S.J. & Kantvilas, G. (2001). Bryophytes and lichens at the Warra LTER Site. II. Understorey habitats in Eucalyptus obliqua wet sclerophyll forest. Tasforests 13: 217-244.
Kantvilas, G. & Jarman, S.J. (2002). Using lichens and bryophytes to evaluate the effects of silvicultural practices in Tasmanian wet eucalypt forest. In: Nimis, P.L., Scheidegger, C. & Wolseley, P.A. (Ed.), Monitoring with Lichens – Monitoring Lichens. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, pp. 367-371.
Kantvilas, G. & Jarman, S.J. (2004). Lichens and bryophytes on Eucalyptus obliqua in Tasmania: management implications in production forests. Biological Conservation 117: 359-373.
Kantvilas, G. & Jarman, S.J. (2006). Recovery of lichens after logging: preliminary results from Tasmania’s wet forests. The Lichenologist 38: 383-394.
Kantvilas, G. (2008). Observations on the genus Scoliciosporum in Australia, with the description of a second species of Jarmania. The Lichenologist 40: 213-219.
Kantvilas, G. (2009). The genus Mycoblastus in the cool temperate Southern Hemisphere, with special reference to Tasmania. The Lichenologist 41: 151-178.
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