Broad Landscape Relations of the Moss Flora from Inland Dry Rainforest in North Queensland, Australia

Abstract

The moss flora of dry rainforest in north Queensland was surveyed in conjunction with a vascular plant survey. Moss species richness was strongly correlated with patch area mean annual rainfall, and vascular plant species richness. Moss species richness rises where volcanic craters within the study area increase moisture status. Geological substrate had a stronger relationship with associations within the mass flora as defined by the TWINSPAN classificatory procedure and with individual moss species than either landform category or classificatory groups of vascular plants. The association of four species with large closed canopy patches may reflect a humid microclimate and suggests that all else being equal large patches will preserve more species than many small areas of rainforest. However, a high proportion of rare species were associated with the soil surface and there was no obvious way of predicting their locality.