Rainforests Of North Queensland Research Articles

Caught in the Anthropocene: Theatres of Trees, Place and Politics

This article investigates live performance in the broad geo-historical context of the Anthropocene, a contested term in recent scholarship, but one that offers a breadth of focus on human relations with its coexistent non-human other. These interrelations are examined through a range of theatrical and non-theatrical genres and sites from the Australian parliament's coal theatrics to exemplary performances by Indigenous companies Bangarra Dance Theatre and Marrugeku. It sets the scene with a visit to the Curtain Tree in the rainforests of north Queensland, Australia, arguing that the vitality and display of its root system models a special kind of reciprocity between the performative elements of the environment and the environmental elements of theatre and performance. This is traced through recent short-run immersive works, Hanna Cormick's Mermaid (2020) and Melinda Hetzel and Company's Conservatory (2020), and a rereading of a canonical Australian drama, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll.

The effect of overwood competition on the long-term survival, growth and stocking of underplanted tree species in logged tropical rainforest in north Queensland, Australia

Enrichment of selectively logged rainforest by planting seedlings of commercially valuable species is often recommended to improve productivity, ecological functioning, and biodiversity. However, the survival and subsequent growth of enrichment plantings depend on how they respond to competition from neighbours. For successful forest restoration or commercial forest management, the challenge is to determine appropriate frequencies and intensities of silvicultural interventions, principally competition reduction. In this study, we use long-term data (49–60 years) from four enrichment planting experiments established after selective logging and girdling of non-commercial trees in a tropical rainforest in north Queensland, Australia, to assess the effects of competition on the survival and growth of enrichment plantings. We found that residual overwood development severely reduced the survival, diameter and volume growth of two widely planted rainforest species - Flindersia brayleyana (Rutaceae) and Agathis robusta (Araucariaceae). Both species responded well to overstory removal, either as an initial treatment or thereafter. Use of Hegyi’s competition index confirmed the strong suppressive effect of neighbours. The most abundant competitor was the fast-growing, early-secondary species Acacia aulacocarpa, which only became apparent after cessation of silvicultural treatments, 7 years after planting. Our results reaffirm the importance of an initial or early-age removal of the competing overstory for the success of enrichment planting. Further silvicultural treatments may be required for extended periods to control excessively increased overwood basal area and to remove late emerging pioneer or early secondary species.

The Long-Term Survival and Growth of Enrichment Plantings in Logged Tropical Rainforest in North Queensland, Australia

Enrichment planting is often suggested as a means of enhancing the productivity of logged rainforest. However, little is known about the long-term survival and growth of these trees. In this study, we used historical data from enrichment planting trials ranging from 15 to 32 years old to examine the survival and growth of 16 tree species across different sites in north Queensland, Australia. The results complement and extend current knowledge on the potential role of enrichment planting from a production perspective. A key finding was that the initial level of post-logging overwood did not appear to affect the immediate survival of enrichment plantings, but in the longer term (up to 30 years) survival decreased as post-logging overwood and regrowth increased. This suggests that removal of overwood should take place at the time of enrichment planting. A further key finding was that despite regular tending to remove vegetation adjacent to the plantings, competition from saplings and trees that were situated outside the tended area emerged as a major source of competition in some plots. By implication, the success of enrichment planting may depend on removal of competition from the entire logged area, not just adjacent to enrichment plantings. Results between individual species and trials varied widely. The best development of Flindersia brayleyana resulted in a mean tree diameter of 32.5 cm at age 22 for the 100 tallest trees per hectare. Although Eucalyptus grandis, Eucalyptus microcorys, and Eucalyptus pilularis all failed—as expected, because they do not normally grow in rainforest—Corymbia torelliana, Cardwellia sublimis, Araucaria bidwillii, Khaya senegalensis, Flindersia amboinensis, and Swietenia macrophylla also failed although they grow naturally in similar sites. In other trials, tree height and basal area growth were often poor. For example, Khaya ivorensis grew to a basal area of only 1.3 m2/ha and a mean height of 7.7 m at age 10, and Flindersia ifflaiana only grew to a basal area of 0.7 m2/ha and a height of 7.9 m, also at age 10. Overall, these results emphasise the necessity of site–species matching before enrichment planting begins and the necessity of post-planting monitoring and remedial tending.

Making the Rainforest Aboriginal: Tindale and Birdsell’s foray into deep time

In the late 1930s Norman Tindale and Joseph Birdsell identified the inhabitants of the North Queensland rainforests as a distinct race of Indigenous Australians. This classification was a keystone of their attempted reconstruction of the deep past of Australia. According to their narrative, the Aboriginal inhabitants of the rainforests were relicts of the first human occupants of Australia, refugees from later waves of Aboriginal invaders who seized all but the most inhospitable parts of the continent. From the outset, Tindale and Birdsell’s argument was burdened with serious problems, both in the qualities they attributed to rainforest people and in their representation of the rainforest environment as a ‘refuge’. While Tindale and Birdsell’s racial theorising and historical speculations drew some supporters, they failed to win general academic acclamation and by the 1970s were quite thoroughly discredited. Yet the category ‘rainforest Aboriginal’ survived, disengaged from the reconstruction of Australia’s past that had inspired it and anchored instead to the distinctive economy of rainforest subsistence, instantiated in a unique material culture. This paper takes Tindale and Birdsell’s relict-race representation of rainforest Aboriginal people as the starting point in an exploration of how European people represented the Aboriginal inhabitants of the North Queensland rainforests over roughly a hundred years, from the 1870s to the 1970s.

Designs on the Future: Aboriginal Painted Shields and Baskets Of Tropical North Queensland, Australia

Iconic painted shields and baskets made by Aboriginal people of the North Queensland rainforest region have been collected and placed in museums all over the world. We describe the historical ethnographic context of the production and use of these things and explore transformations in their value through time. These things are of value to museums and were of value to the collectors who originally procured them. They were also of value to the Aboriginal producers and are of value today to their descendants. We reflect upon the concept of value by considering the different values that inform how the shields and baskets were valued in the past, and how their worth continues to be evaluated today.

Vertical stratification of beetles in tropical rainforests as sampled by light traps in North Queensland, Australia

How arthropods are distributed within the vertical structure of tropical rainforests is of considerable interest to ecologists. Here, we examine how light trapped beetles are distributed in tropical rainforest in North Queensland, Australia. In January and July 2012, traps were suspended 0 m, 10 m, 20 m and 30 m above the ground in five locations with no more than one trap at any single location on any night. Maximum canopy height at the sites was 35 m. A total of 7299 individuals of 492 morphospecies and 66 families were collected. The species abundance-based coverage estimator predicted a total species richness of 765. Sample completeness decreases with increasing height from the ground suggesting higher strata were less well sampled. Distance-based redundancy analysis showed species richness was significantly different between 30 m and all other levels but not between other paired strata. In contrast, both species composition and family composition were significantly distinct for all strata pairs except 10 m with 20 m, and 20 m with 30 m, suggesting that the most distinct strata were 0 m and 30 m. The first two axes of ordination and hierarchical clustering accounted for 46.5% and 17.4% of species composition variation corresponding with season and stratum, respectively. Family level analyses gave similar results to those at the species level. We found stratification of different feeding guilds with herbivores comprising a larger percentage of species in higher strata, whereas saprophages were restricted to the lower strata, reflecting the availability of key resources for these guilds. Fewer species or families were found to be indicators of strata, as measured using IndVal, than for Malaise and flight interception traps (FIT). Dytiscidae and Hydraenidae were abundant but had not been collected using Malaise and FIT. Which species or families are indicators of strata depends on sampling method suggesting multiple sampling methods should be used to establish indicators.

The Australian Barrineans and Their Relationship to Southeast Asian Negritos: An Investigation using Mitochondrial Genomics

The existence of a short-statured Aboriginal population in the Far North Queensland (FNQ) rainforest zone of Australia's northeast coast and Tasmania has long been an enigma in Australian anthropology. Based on their reduced stature and associated morphological traits such as tightly curled hair, Birdsell and Tindale proposed that these "Barrinean" peoples were closely related to "negrito" peoples of Southeast Asia and that their ancestors had been the original Pleistocene settlers of Sahul, eventually displaced by taller invaders. Subsequent craniometric and blood protein studies, however, have suggested an overall homogeneity of indigenous Australians, including Barrineans. To confirm this finding and determine the degree of relatedness between Barrinean people and Southeast Asian negritos, we compared indigenous Australian mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences in populations from the FNQ rainforest ecozone and Tasmania with sequences from other Australian Aboriginal populations and from Southeast Asian negrito populations (Philippines Batek and Mamanwa, and mainland Southeast Asian Jahai, Mendriq, and Batak). The results confirm that FNQ and Tasmanian mtDNA haplogroups cluster with those of other Australian Aboriginal populations and are only very distantly related to Southeast Asian negrito haplogroups.

The Australian Barrineans and Their Relationship to Southeast Asian Negritos: An Investigation using Mitochondrial Genomics

The existence of a short-statured Aboriginal population in the Far North Queensland (FNQ) rainforest zone of Australia’s northeast coast and Tasmania has long been an enigma in Australian anthropology. Based on their reduced stature and associated morphological traits such as tightly curled hair, Birdsell and Tindale proposed that these “Barrinean” peoples were closely related to “negrito” peoples of Southeast Asia and that their ancestors had been the original Pleistocene settlers of Sahul, eventually displaced by taller invaders. Subsequent craniometric and blood protein studies, however, have suggested an overall homogeneity of indigenous Australians, including Barrineans. To confirm this finding and determine the degree of relatedness between Barrinean people and Southeast Asian negritos, we compared indigenous Australian mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences in populations from the FNQ rainforest ecozone and Tasmania with sequences from other Australian Aboriginal populations and from Southeast Asian negrito populations (Philippines Batek and Mamanwa, and mainland Southeast Asian Jahai, Mendriq, and Batak). The results confirm that FNQ and Tasmanian mtDNA haplogroups cluster with those of other Australian Aboriginal populations and are only very distantly related to Southeast Asian negrito haplogroups.

Specialization of rainforest canopy beetles to host trees and microhabitats: not all specialists are leaf-feeding herbivores

Reliable estimates of host specificity in tropical rainforest beetles are central for an understanding of food web dynamics and biodiversity patterns. However, it is widely assumed that herbivores constitute the majority of host specific species, and that most herbivore species feed on leaves. We tested the generality of this assumption by comparing both plant host- and microhabitat-specificity between beetle communities inhabiting the foliage (flush and mature), flowers, fruit, and suspended dead wood from 23 canopy plant species in a tropical rainforest in north Queensland, Australia. Independent of host tree identity, 76/77 of the most abundant beetle species (N ≥ 12 individuals) were aggregated on a particular microhabitat. Microhabitat specialization (measured by Sm and Lloyd's indices) was very high and did not differ between flower and foliage communities, suggesting that each newly-sampled microhabitat has a large additive effect on total species richness. In accordance with previous studies, host specificity of foliage-inhabiting beetles was most pronounced among herbivorous families (Curculionidae, Chrysomelidae). By contrast, host specificity among flower-visitors was equally high among herbivorous and nonherbivorous families (e.g. Nitidulidae, Staphylinidae, Cleridae). Effective specialization (FT) measures showed that traditional correction factors used to project total species richness in nonherbivorous groups fail to fully capture diversity in the flower-visiting beetle fauna. These results demonstrate that host specialization is not concentrated within folivores as previously assumed.

Can rodents enhance germination rates in rainforest seeds?

SummaryThe decline of large coevolved frugivorous species within fragmented habitats can have an effect on ecological processes, for example, seed dispersal and germination. It is therefore necessary for more resilient species to ensure essential processes are maintained within the system. This study investigates the influence of two rodent species, Melomys cervinipes (Fawn‐footed Melomys) and Rattus fuscipes (Bush Rat), on the germination process of rainforest fruits. Both species are endemic to north Queensland rainforest and commonly found in fragmented habitats in high densities. We found in 85% of fruit species tested, rodent feeding increased seed germination rate by a factor of 3.5. Our results suggest that rodents can play a significant role in enhancing germination rates of fruits in the tropical rainforest of far north Queensland.

A novel association between oribatid mites and leafy liverworts (Marchantiophyta: Jungermanniidae), with a description of a new species of Birobates Balogh, 1970 (Acari: Oribatida: Oripodidae)

AbstractThis paper contains a description of a new species of oribatid mite, Birobates hepaticolus sp. nov., from eucalypt woodland and rainforest in North Queensland, Australia. Adults and immatures of B. hepaticolus live completely enclosed within the ventral lobules of the corticolous liverwort Frullania ferdinandi‐muelleri Steph. The ventral lobes provide a protected, moisture‐buffered microhabitat on tree bark that would otherwise be subject to extremes of wetting and drying. Analysis of gut contents indicates that B. hepaticolus appears to feed on liverwort tissue. To our knowledge this is the first documented example of an association between an oribatid mite and a leafy liverwort based on the provision of food and habitat. The genus Birobates is redefined and diagnosed.

Hasubanan Alkaloids with δ-Opioid Binding Affinity from the Aerial Parts of Stephania japonica

Two new (1 and 2) and six known hasubanan alkaloids (3-8) and one morphinane alkaloid (9) were isolated from the leaves of the North Queensland rainforest vine Stephania japonica. The structures of 1 and 2 were determined by interpretation of their 1D and 2D NMR spectra. The hasubanan alkaloids showed affinity for the human delta-opioid receptor with IC(50) values ranging from 0.7 to 46 microM. The compounds were also tested for their affinity to micro- and kappa-opioid receptors and shown to be inactive against kappa-opioid receptors, but were of similar potency against the micro-opioid receptor.

Was god ever a ‘boss’ at Wujal Wujal? Lutherans and Kuku-Yalanji: A socio-historical analysis

Lutheran missionaries from Germany arrived in 1887 to ‘care for’ and to evangelise to the Kuku-Yalanji people of the Bloomfield River area of the north Queensland rainforests. They left fifteen years later without having converted a single soul. Was this failure the result of inept missionisation? Was Lutheranism at odds with Kuku-Yalanji religious beliefs? This paper argues that the answer lies rather at the core of the Kuku-Yalanji worldview and social universe. Using rich historical sources, this paper demonstrates that Kuku-Yalanji people— who have particular socio-territorial ties to the mission lands—instigated an experiment with the missionaries. Their assumption was that the missionaries held a role that was structurally equivalent to that of ‘majamaja’ in their own system—key focal individuals with religious knowledge, power and achieved status operating at the node of a social network on a particular area of ‘country’. The missionaries failed to live up to this expectation and for this and other reasons, Kuku-Yalanji left and the mission failed with no lasting Christian impact. PREFACE It has always interested me that the Kuku-Yalanji people of North Queensland used the term ‘maja’ interchangeably with the word ‘boss’ in English and also for the words ‘God’ or ‘Lord’. This was true in daily parlance; it was true in the discussion of issues around Christianity or church. And the term is also used in the published translations of Bible stories in the Kuku-Yalanji language (e.g. Wycliffe Bible Translators 1972). Similarly, another Kuku-Yalanji word, ‘Jawun,’ was always used for Jesus. Jawun means ‘friend’ or, in other contexts, ‘countryman’. In practice, over the twenty or so years of my active dealings with Kuku-Yalanji people, it has generally been used for Europeans who came, developed a long-term relationship with the area and people and who were interested in or sympathetic to the local Aboriginal culture. Thus the Wycliffe Bible translators, Hank and Ruth Hershberger, who spent almost twenty-five years at Bloomfield translating the Bible, were always referred to as Jawun. I, too, during my fieldwork and afterwards, was often introduced by Kuku-Yalanji to others as ‘Ngananga jawun’ [‘our friend’]. Other more temporary but keen residents (linguists, medical doctors, lawyers and other anthropologists) were also often called jawun.

Processes controlling transpiration in the rainforests of north Queensland, Australia

Transpiration is a major component of the water balance of tropical rainforests and it is important to know how it might change in response to climate and/or land use change. Substantial amounts of transpiration data are now available for Australian rainforests in northern Queensland and this paper presents an analysis of these data for four different rainforest types. Measured transpiration rates are much lower than potential transpiration rates, largely because the rainforest canopy conductances are much lower than that associated with the potential rate. Canopy conductance was found to be strongly related to atmospheric vapour pressure deficit and only weakly to solar radiation; because the forests are highly coupled to the atmosphere, due to their very high aerodynamic conductance. The best predictive model of rainforest transpiration is one based directly on daily average vapour pressure deficit and solar radiation. Models based on canopy conductance can give daytime transpiration rates, but they do not account for the significant amounts (20–50%) of nocturnal transpiration that are observed. We also found little/no evidence for any direct soil moisture influence on canopy conductance or transpiration.

Migration of feral pigs (Sus scrofa) in rainforests of north Queensland: fact or fiction?

The Wet Tropics bioregion of north Queensland has been identified as an area of global significance. The world-heritage-listed rainforests have been invaded by feral pigs (Sus scrofa) that are perceived to cause substantial environmental damage. A community perception exists of an annual altitudinal migration of the feral-pig population. The present study describes the movements of 29 feral pigs in relation to altitudinal migration (highland, transitional and lowland areas). Feral pigs were sedentary and stayed within their home range throughout a 4-year study period. No altitudinal migration was detected; pigs moved no more than a mean distance of 1.0 km from the centre of their calculated home ranges. There was no significant difference between the mean (±95% confidence interval) aggregate home ranges for males (8.7 ± 4.3 km2, n = 15) and females (7.2 ± 1.8 km2, n = 14). No difference in home range was detected among the three altitudinal areas: 7.2 ± 2.4 km2 for highland, 6.2 ± 3.9 km2 for transitional and 9.9 ± 5.3 km2 for lowland areas. The aggregate mean home range for all pigs in the present study was 8.0 ± 2.4 km2. The study also assessed the influence seasons had on the home range of eight feral pigs on the rainforest boundary; home ranges did not significantly vary in size between the tropical wet and dry seasons, although the mean home range in the dry season (7.7 ± 6.9 km2) was more than twice the home range in the wet season (2.9 ± 0.8 km2). Heavier pigs tended to have larger home ranges. The results of the present study suggest that feral pigs are sedentary throughout the year so broad-scale control techniques need to be applied over sufficient areas to encompass individual home ranges. Control strategies need a coordinated approach if a long-term reduction in the pig population is to be achieved.

Cyclone damage sustained by riparian revegetation sites in the Tully‐Murray floodplain, Queensland, Australia

Abstract Cyclones have been instrumental in shaping the structural and floristic composition of tropical forests, including tropical rainforests of north Queensland, Australia. The response of tropical riparian rehabilitation sites to cyclonic wind damage, however, is currently unknown. This lack of knowledge may severely hamper long‐term success of riparian restoration efforts, particularly in light of predictions that cyclones in north Queensland may become less frequent but more severe. In this study, we examined the extent, type and magnitude of damage inflicted on revegetation works in the Tully‐Murray floodplain of north Queensland by Severe Tropical Cyclone Larry. We compared wind damaged in 20 paired revegetated and associated rainforest remnant sites, using (i) gross community damage scores, (ii) mean weighted damage scores, and (iii) type of damage sustained by individual plants. Overall, wind damage due to Severe Tropical Cyclone Larry was surprisingly similar in revegetated and remnant sites. Both gross community damage scores and mean weighted damage scores did not differ between paired revegetated and remnant sites. In contrast, the type of damage sustained by individual plants was not independent of site, with a larger proportion in revegetated sites sustaining severe damage compared with remnant sites. This larger proportion of severely damaged individuals in revegetated sites was at least in part due to the significantly higher proportion of pioneers at these sites. The pioneer species Homalanthus novoguineensis was particularly susceptible to wind damage. The potential effects of spatial differences, such as consistent bias due to size, shape or exposure between the remnants and revegetated sites, on our results are discussed. In light of our results, we recommend that future revegetation sites include fewer pioneer species that are highly susceptible to wind damage, more pioneer species that are resistant to wind damage, and alteration of pioneer species distribution within planting matrices.

Predicting dispersal and recruitment of Miconia calvescens (Melastomataceae) in Australian tropical rainforests

Miconia calvescens (Melastomataceae) is a serious invader in the tropical Pacific, including the Hawaiian and Tahitian Islands, and currently poses a major threat to native biodiversity in the Wet Tropics of Australia. The species is fleshy-fruited, small-seeded and shade tolerant, and thus has the potential to be dispersed widely and recruit in relatively intact rainforest habitats, displacing native species. Understanding and predicting the rate of spread is critical for the design and implementation of effective management actions. We used an individual-based model incorporating a dispersal function derived from dispersal curves for similar berry-fruited native species, and life-history parameters of fecundity and mortality to predict the spatial structure of a Miconia population after a 30 year time period. We compared the modelled population spatial structure to that of an actual infestation in the rainforests of north Queensland. Our goal was to assess how well the model predicts actual dispersion and to identify potential barriers and conduits to seed movement and seedling establishment. The model overpredicts overall population size and the spatial extent of the actual infestation, predicting individuals to occur at a maximum 1,750 m from the source compared with the maximum distance of any detected individual in the actual infestation of 1,191 m. We identify several characteristic features of managed invasive populations that make comparisons between modelled outcomes and actual infestations difficult. Our results suggest that the model’s ability to predict both spatial structure and spread of the population will be improved by incorporating a spatially explicit element, with dispersal and recruitment probabilities that reflect the relative suitability of different parts of the landscape for these processes.

Importance of drought on the distribution of the birds nest fern, Asplenium nidus, in the canopy of a lowland tropical rainforest in north‐eastern Australia

Abstract The birds nest fern, Asplenium nidus, contributes greatly to the epiphytic biomass in the canopies of both south‐east Asia and tropical north Queensland rainforests. It is generally believed that their abundance and their capacity to store water is an important feature for habitat fragmentation in the canopy. We investigated the microclimate of A. nidus and the effects of severe drought periods on the A. nidus population over a 20‐year period, hypothesizing that water availability is the most important factor controlling the population under drought conditions. One of two neighbouring A. nidus plants of the same size and age was irrigated artificially before, during and after a significant dry period in 2000. By monitoring the microclimate within and around both ferns we were able to estimate that four continuous weeks of rainless weather completely dried out the accumulated humus of the non‐irrigated A. nidus fern. Prolonged dry periods were shown to kill the roots of A. nidus, which attach the fern to the bark and eventually the affected A. nidus on verticals stems fell to the ground. Periods longer than 8 weeks may even kill adult plants sitting in more protected branch forks. Analysis of the whole A. nidus population within the 1‐ha Canopy Crane plot and the determination of the morphological age of all plants enabled an evaluation of the historical development of the population. The oldest plant originated in 1985, just 1 year after the longest recorded drought for the site. We suspect that the 1984 drought killed every A. nidus plant within the study plot. Years with low recruitment coincide with years with long drought periods.

Spatial and temporal patterns of feral pig diggings in rainforests of north Queensland

Feral pigs (Sus scrofa) are believed to have a severe negative impact on the ecological values of tropical rainforests in north Queensland, Australia. Most perceptions of the environmental impacts of feral pigs focus on their disturbance of the soil or surface material (diggings). Spatial and temporal patterns of feral pig diggings were identified in this study: most diggings occurred in the early dry season and predominantly in moist soil (swamp and creek) microhabitats, with only minimal pig diggings found elsewhere through the general forest floor. The overall mean daily pig diggings were 0.09% of the rainforest floor. Most diggings occurred 3–4 months after the month of maximum rainfall. Most pig diggings were recorded in highland swamps, with over 80% of the swamp areas dug by pigs at some time during the 18-month study period. These results suggest that management of feral pig impacts should focus on protecting swamp and creek microhabitats in the rainforest, which are preferred by pigs for digging and which have a high environmental significance.

Ecological impacts of feral pig diggings in north Queensland rainforests

This two-year study examined the impacts of feral pig diggings on five ecological indicators: seedling survival, surface litter, subsurface plant biomass, earthworm biomass and soil moisture content. Twelve recovery exclosures were established in two habitats (characterised by wet and dry soil moisture) by fencing off areas of previous pig diggings. A total of 0.59 ha was excluded from further pig diggings and compared with 1.18 ha of unfenced control areas. Overall, seedling numbers increased 7% within the protected exclosures and decreased 37% within the unprotected controls over the two-year study period. A significant temporal interaction was found in the dry habitat, with seedling survival increasing with increasing time of protection from diggings. Feral pig diggings had no significant effect on surface litter biomass, subsurface plant biomass, earthworm biomass or soil moisture content.