Rainforests Of Australia Research Articles

Biogeographic influences on the evolution and historical dispersal of the Australo‐Pacific Dacini fruit flies (Tephritidae: Dacinae)

AbstractFruit flies (Tephritidae: Dacini) are a frugivorous insect group that exhibit high endemic diversity in the rainforests of Australia and the western Pacific. In this region, biogeography has been influenced by tectonic plate movements and cycles of isolation and re‐connection of landmasses and rainforest habitats during glacial periods. However, how such factors have influenced the speciation and historical dispersal of the regional Dacini is largely unknown. To address this, we use a dated phylogeny to reconstruct the biogeographical history of the tribe. We found the Dacini radiated eastward into the Pacific islands largely from sources in New Guinea. We also found evidence for historical dispersal from both Australia and New Guinea into New Caledonia, a pathway unique to this island compared with neighbouring islands. There was also evidence for multiple, bidirectional dispersal events between Papua New Guinea and Australia, likely facilitated by the cyclically exposed Torres Strait land bridge. Cape York in far northern Australia was likely the only entry point for species dispersing into Australia; there was no evidence for entry of flies into Australia directly from West Papua or Wallacea. Several lineages radiated after entering Australia, such as members of the Bactrocera dorsalis species group. Within Australia, speciation was not associated with the biogeographic barriers known to have impacted other rainforest fauna in eastern Australia. Overall, we demonstrate that isolation between islands and large landmasses is important in the evolution of the Australo‐Pacific Dacini, but the reason for their extensive radiation within Australia and Papua New Guinea remains unclear.

Simulation and forecasting of atmospheric CO2 using RAMS

Concentration of carbon dioxide as the main greenhouse gas has been increasing, which has serious impacts on climate change, ecosystem, and human health. This study uses the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS V6.2) with the Simple Biosphere (SiB-2) sub-model to simulate and forecast the concentration of carbon dioxide over the Daintree Rainforest in Australia. To evaluate the performance of the model, results are compared with the satellite product (MultiInstrumentFusedXCO2). This work evaluates the impact of various grid sizes, different combinations of diffusion parameters, and boundary conditions on CO2 simulations. Results reveal that RAMS can remarkably improve the statistical measures of the simulations particularly compared with the previous modeling analysis. The maximum mean bias error and RMSE in this study for all simulations are smaller than 1.85 and 2.07 ppm, respectively. The most proper simulation type (type III) leads to the average bias error and RMSE of 0.34 and 0.94 ppm, respectively. Furthermore, results show that the fuzzy algorithm is a proper method to provide initial CO2 in forecasting. This study shows that RAMS can be efficiently used in CO2 simulation and forecasting, which is valuable for CO2 monitoring, climate, environment, and management applications.

The Daintree Blockade

Radio log 11/8/84
 D5 crossing creek under Timbertop’s tree ::: continues to fill the creek crossing ::: If he continues to fill it high enough the D10 should go through. Looks like a moonscape where the dozers are working.
 Timbertop’s other alias is Gummy, a well-known rainforest warrior of many campaigns. The radio log gives a live blow-by-blow account of the Daintree Blockade, of police heavy-handedness and council bulldozers destroying the fragile ecosystem. The blockade was started in response to Douglas Shire Council building a road through some of the last tropical lowland rainforest in Australia.

Wild Origins of Macadamia Domestication Identified Through Intraspecific Chloroplast Genome Sequencing.

Identifying the geographic origins of crops is important for the conservation and utilization of novel genetic variation. Even so, the origins of many food crops remain elusive. The tree nut crop macadamia has a remarkable domestication history, from subtropical rain forests in Australia through Hawaii to global cultivation all within the last century. The industry is based primarily on Macadamia integrifolia and M. integrifolia–M. tetraphylla hybrid cultivars with Hawaiian cultivars the main contributors to world production. Sequence data from the chloroplast genome assembled using a genome skimming strategy was used to determine population structure among remnant populations of the main progenitor species, M. integrifolia. Phylogenetic analysis of a 506 bp chloroplast SNP alignment from 64 wild and cultivated accessions identified phylogeographic structure and deep divergences between clades providing evidence for historical barriers to seed dispersal. High levels of variation were detected among wild accessions. Most Hawaiian cultivars, however, shared a single chlorotype that was also present at two wild sites at Mooloo and Mt Bauple from the northernmost distribution of the species in south-east Queensland. Our results provide evidence for a maternal genetic bottleneck during early macadamia domestication, and pinpoint the likely source of seed used to develop the Hawaiian cultivars. The extensive variability and structuring of M. integrifolia chloroplast genomic variation detected in this study suggests much unexploited genetic diversity is available for improvement of this recently domesticated crop.

Assisted natural regeneration accelerates recovery of highly disturbed rainforest

SummaryLarge areas of rainforests in Australia and other tropical regions have been extensively cleared since the mid‐19th century. As abandoned agro‐pastoral land becomes increasingly prominent, there is an ongoing need to identify cost‐effective approaches to reinstate forest on these landscapes. Assisted regeneration is a potentially lower cost restoration approach which aims to accelerate forest recovery by removing barriers to natural regeneration. However, despite being widely used its ecological benefits are poorly quantified, particularly on long cleared and grazed land. This study quantified the benefits of assisted regeneration on previously cleared land in a subtropical rainforest ecosystem within eastern Australia. Three different site types were used (grazed, grazing excluded and grazing excluded plus assisted regeneration, each with a maximum distance of 120 m to remnant forest) to compare forest recovery up to 10 years after grazing was relieved with and without 4–6 years of assisted regeneration. Assisted regeneration sites showed a threefold increase in canopy cover, fourfold increase in native tree and shrub species richness and over 40 times greater native stem density compared to nonassisted regeneration sites. Stimulation of native recruitment appears dependent on the simultaneous removal of multiple barriers to regeneration, with the exclusion of grazing alone insufficient. This demonstrates the additional ecological benefits arising from investment in assisted regeneration. It offers considerable promise as a cost‐effective tool for accelerating and improving reinstatement of forest on retired agro‐pastoral land in the humid subtropics.

Vertical (arboreality) and horizontal (dispersal) movement increase the resilience of vertebrates to climatic instability

AbstractAimSpecies that respond favourably to environmental change tend to be mobile or dispersive. Living within trees has some benefits over life on the ground. Species that move vertically within forest canopies can take advantage of increased complexity and resource availability, which should correspond to increased resilience to environmental variability and change. Here we show that two modes of movement, arboreality and horizontal dispersal, across an entire bioregional vertebrate fauna in the rain forests of Australia are associated with measures of historical environmental stability.LocationWet Tropics, Queensland, Australia.Time periodHistorical (c. 20,000 years ago) and current (1990‐2009).Major taxa studiedMammal, bird, reptile, and frog species.MethodsWe analysed vertebrate distribution for 195 species and trait data from 20 years of standardized sampling. We derived an arboreality index (i.e., the extent of vertical habitat used by each species) from a large database of field observations combined with expert opinion scores on arboreality. We compared community‐wide trends in arboreality and their horizontal dispersal potential with historical climate since the Last Glacial Maximum (c. 20,000 years ago) and current climate over 20 years of the recent past (1990–2009).ResultsVertical (arboreality) and horizontal (dispersal) movement were positively correlated, and both were negatively correlated with environmental stability. We found that arboreal species dominate communities in historically unstable areas, and these areas have both low richness and low endemism. Further, we show that low‐ and high‐altitude arboreal species experience similar thermal regimes, whereas low‐ and high‐altitude ground‐dwelling species experience little overlap in thermal regimes.Main conclusionHigher variability and overlap in temperature among rain forest canopies suggests less geographical separation in tolerable conditions for arboreal taxa when compared with ground‐dwelling taxa. Increased ecological plasticity in horizontal and vertical movement as well as exposure and pre‐selection to high temperature variability appears to allow arboreal species to exploit climatically uncertain areas, a capacity that may serve them well in responding to future climate change.

Comparing Floristic Diversity and Conservation Priorities across South East Queensland Regional Rain Forest Ecosystems Using Phylodiversity Indexes

Premise of research. Rain forest ecosystems globally are synonymous with biodiversity, yet these vegetation communities vary widely in structure and composition. Historical biogeography and environment are thought to have significantly impacted Australian rain forest diversity and composition. Rain forest in Australia is extensively fragmented, and detailed vegetation mapping is used as a tool for conservation and land management planning. In Queensland, a regional ecosystem (RE) vegetation classification scheme is used by land managers. However, there has been no assessment to date of how evenly rain forest RE types are conserved at a regional scale, whether those conserved are the best representatives of biodiversity, and whether there are significantly distinctive RE types that are relatively poorly conserved or not recognized for their significance to biodiversity conservation.Methodology. Our phylogeny for South East Queensland (SEQ) rain forest species, which encompasses 95% of rain forest species based on a unified three-marker DNA barcode, along with species lists were used for assessment of both species richness and phylogenetic diversity of RE types. We mapped the distribution of the most diverse and the most distinctive rain forest ecosystem types.Pivotal results. We found that there is enormous variation in phylogenetic diversity within and among rain forest RE types in SEQ, with some depauperate in species richness. We identified the rain forest RE types in SEQ containing the highest diversity as well as those significantly sampling a wide part of the SEQ rain forest species pool compared with other RE types with similar species richness.Conclusions. This study confirms that different RE types are not equivalent and so should not be considered as such in any conservation planning processes. Conservation assessment of ecosystems needs to take into account distinctiveness and diversity among types in order to gain better representativeness and complementarity across all RE types.

Rainforest seed rain into abandoned tropical Australian pasture is dependent on adjacent rainforest structure and extent

AbstractIt is well known that the recovery of abandoned tropical pastures to secondary rainforest benefits from the arrival of seeds from adjacent rainforest patches. Less is known, however, about how the structural attributes of adjacent rainforest (e.g. tree density, canopy cover and tree height) impact seed rain patterns into abandoned pastures. Between 2011 and 2013, we used seed traps and ground seed surveys to track the richness and abundance of rainforest seeds entering abandoned pastures in Australia's wet tropics. We also tested how seed rain diversity is related to the distance from forest, the proportion of forest cover in the landscape and several structural attributes of adjacent forest patches, specifically average tree height, canopy cover, tree species richness and density. Almost no seeds were captured in elevated pasture seed traps, even near forest remnants. Abundant forest seeds were found in ground surveys but only within 10 m of forest edges. In ground surveys, seeds from wind‐dispersed species were more abundant, but less species rich, than animal‐dispersed species. A survey of pasture seedling recruits suggested that some forest seeds must be dispersing more than 10 m into pasture at very low frequencies, but only a few species are establishing there. Recruits were predominantly animal‐dispersed not wind‐dispersed species. In addition to distance from forest and the proportion of forest within a 100‐ to 200‐m radius of sampling sites, the richness and density of adjacent forest trees were the most important factors for explaining the probability of seed occurrence in abandoned pastures. Results suggest that without some restoration assistance, the recovery of abandoned pastures into secondary rainforest in Australia's tropical rainforests will likely be limited, at least in part, by a very low rate of seed dispersal away from forest edges and by the diversity and density of trees in adjacent remnant forests.

Historical refugia have shaped biogeographical patterns of species richness and phylogenetic diversity in mite harvestmen (Arachnida, Opiliones, Cyphophthalmi) endemic to the Australian Wet Tropics

AbstractAimWe tested the hypothesis that areas that acted as historical refugia during restrictive climate regimes currently harbour higher levels of biodiversity than areas that lacked refugia.LocationThe rain forests of Australia's Wet Tropics, the largest remaining fragments of the humid forest habitats that once covered the Australian continent.MethodsWe generated a model of climatic suitability for arachnids in the genus Austropurcellia, a group of small, dispersal‐limited mite harvestmen that are found throughout the Wet Tropics. We then projected this model onto palaeoclimate data layers from time slices going back to the Last Glacial Maximum and summed suitability over time to arrive at a measure of stability. We compared the power of metrics of present and past climatic suitability and stability to predict diversity (species richness and phylogenetic diversity) across subregions of the Wet Tropics.ResultsWe found statistically significant correlations between measures of diversity (species richness and phylogenetic diversity) and present climatic suitability, LGM climatic suitability and our stability metric across subregions of the Wet Tropics. Although stability lost predictive power when analyses were corrected for spatial autocorrelation, and present‐day mean climatic suitability lost predictive power when corrected for spatial autocorrelation under one of our geographical binning schemes, mean climatic suitability during the Last Glacial Maximum had a positive and significant relationship to both number of species and phylogenetic diversity in all analyses.Main ConclusionsOur results support a model of biodiversity preservation within historical refugia, resulting in higher present‐day diversity in refugial areas than in non‐refugial areas. Although previous studies of the Wet Tropics biota have demonstrated a relationship between habitat stability and diversity, ours is the first such study to consider phylogenetic diversity in addition to number of species.

Assessing current and future risks of invasion by the “green cancer” Miconia calvescens

Miconia calvescens D.C. appears in the list ''100 of the world's worst invasive alien species'', devised by the IUCN. It is considered the worst plant pest in Hawaii and French Polynesia. This species has also invaded the rain forest of Australia, New Cale- donia and Sri Lanka, where it is extremely difficult to eradicate. To assess the susceptibility to invasion by M. calvescens in new areas, we investigated the current and future suitable areas for this aggressive invader worldwide. We also assessed the protected areas currently at risk of invasion by considering botanic gardens as a proxy for likelihood of introduc- tion, since most successful invasions by M. calvescens originated from private or public garden escapees. Our results predict that about 7.2 % of total landmass is currently suitable for M. calvescens, with 54.8 % outside the native range including 44.5 % within tropical forests in the southern hemisphere. We identified 91 countries, 400 islands, and up to 364 protected areas with suitable environments outside of M. calvescens native range. By the 2080s, worldwide land suitable for M. calvescens is predicted to be reduced by up to half due to climate change. This decrease is mainly predicted to occur in M. calvescens native ranges as well as in countries where the presence of the species has not yet been reported. In contrast, the invaded range is predicted to slightly decrease, showing an interesting example of a double negative effect of climate change on the distribution of an invader. Our work provides information for land managers and stakeholders that can help to avert the introduction and spread of M. calvescens in their territories. We also emphasize the importance of risk assessments on the living collections of botanic gardens, as a common source of escapees of invasive plants.

Conservation of imperiled crayfish, Euastacus clarkae Morgan, 1997 (Decapoda: Parastacidae), a highland crayfish from the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia’s World Heritage Area

The imperiled Clark’s crayfish, Euastacus clarkae Morgan (1997), was described from a handful of juvenile specimens collected from one location in 1981. The Australian Crayfish Project recently completed an intensive field survey project to better define its distribution, habitat, biology and conservation status. Euastacus clarkae is restricted to headwater reaches of highland streams feeding the Hastings and Forbes rivers, at elevations ranging from 670-1150 m. The entire Hastings River catchment (3846 km2) was surveyed and established the Extent of Occurrence for E. clarkae at 200 km2. The distribution was almost entirely located within Werrikimbe National Park where the species was locally abundant. We recommended conservation down listing from Critically Endangered to Endangered and present information to support future conservation efforts and allow specific management plans to be drafted for this rare, highland species. To assist with identification we provide a key to this and other Euastacus found in the Hastings and adjoining drainages.

Food web structure changes with elevation but not rainforest stratum

Changes in species richness along elevational gradients are well documented. However, little is known about how trophic interactions between species and, in particular, the food webs that these interactions comprise, change with elevation. Here we present results for the first comparison of quantitative food webs in forest understorey and canopy along an elevational gradient. Replicate quantitative food webs were constructed for assemblages involving 23 species of cavity‐nesting Hymenoptera and 12 species of their parasitoids and kleptoparasites in subtropical rainforest in Australia. A total of 1589 insects were collected using trap nests across 20 plots distributed at sites ranging from 300 to 1100 m a.s.l. Insect abundance, insect diversity and parasitism rate generally decreased with increasing elevation. Food web structure significantly changed with elevation. In particular, weighted quantitative measures of linkage density, interaction evenness, nestedness (weighted NODF) and potential for enemy mediated interactions (PAC) decreased with increasing elevation, and network specialisation (H2′) increased with increasing elevation, even after controlling for matrix size; but there was no change in weighted connectance. Changes in forest type and temperature along the elevational gradient are likely to be, at least partly, responsible for the patterns observed. We found no significant differences in insect abundance, insect diversity or parasitism rate between canopy and understorey. Furthermore, there were no differences in food web structure between strata. These results contribute further evidence to studies revealing changes in food web structure along natural environmental gradients and provide information that can potentially be used for predicting how communities may respond to climate change.

Promoting Gondwana: presentation of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area in tourist brochures

An 800 km stretch of the Eastern coast of Australia contains some of the last remnant fragments of the sub-tropical rainforests that once covered much of the region. This natural resource – declared as World Heritage in 1986 as the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves of Australia, but now known as the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia – serves as an important drawcard for tourist visitation to the region. Using a content analysis of 343 tourism brochures collected across one section of the Gondwana Rainforests area, this study examined the extent to which ‘rainforest’, ‘World Heritage’ and the ‘Gondwana Rainforests’ are present within text and imagery. Findings reveal a low prevalence of this ‘branding’; indeed only 3% of brochures mention ‘Gondwana’ or ‘Gondwana Rainforests’. As presentation is a key component of World Heritage-listed forests like Gondwana, the study's results reveal the importance of building awareness of the brand in the minds of users and the community.

Valuing Ecosystem Resilience

The concept of ecosystem resilience is being increasingly discussed as a driver of biodiversity values. It implies that marginal deteriorations in ecosystem conditions can abruptly result in non-marginal and irreversible changes in ecosystem functioning and the economic values that the ecosystem generates. This challenges the traditional approach to the valuation of biodiversity, which has focused on quantifying values attached to individual species or other elements of ecosystems. As yet, little is known about the value society attaches to changes in ecosystem resilience. This paper investigates this value. A discrete choice experiment is used to estimate implicit prices for attributes used to describe ecosystem resilience using the Border Ranges rainforests in Australia as an example. We find evidence that implicit prices for the attributes describing ecosystem resilience are positive and statistically significantly different from zero.

Valuing ecosystem resilience

The concept of ecosystem resilience is being increasingly discussed as a driver of values people attach to biodiversity. It implies that marginal deteriorations in ecosystem conditions can abruptly result in non-marginal and irreversible changes in ecosystem functioning and the economic values that the ecosystem generates. This challenges the traditional approach to the valuation of biodiversity, which has focused on quantifying values attached to individual species or other elements of ecosystems. As yet, little is known about the value society attaches to changes in ecosystem resilience. This paper investigates this value. A discrete choice experiment is conducted to estimate implicit prices for attributes utilized to describe ecosystem resilience using the Border Ranges rainforests in Australia as an example. We find evidence that implicit prices for the attributes used to infer the values people hold for ecosystem resilience are positive and statistically significantly different from zero.

Incorporating Indigenous values with ‘Western’ conservation values in sustainable biodiversity management

Biodiversity management in Australia is underlain by legislative mechanisms such as the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cwlth) and policies such as the national Strategy for the Conservation of Australia's Biological Diversity and the international Convention on Biological Diversity. While these policy directives encompass a range of values and components of ‘biodiversity’, on-ground planning and development assessments often focus only on threatened species and ecosystems as defined in state and national legislation. In regions such as northern Cape York Peninsula, which is managed by the resident Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities as Deed of Grant in Trust (DOGIT), planning for biodiversity management needs to acknowledge the high cultural values of such areas and to encompass Indigenous values and perspectives. A recent study assessed the significant species and habitats of the greater Lockerbie Scrub – the northernmost extent of rainforest in Australia and a region with high species and ecosystem diversity. While it is acknowledged that research into the cultural values of the plant species is preliminary, the minimal overlap between lists of flora from Western (i.e. under legislative mechanisms) and Traditional Owner perspectives suggests that cultural differences in values and perceptions may result in differing conservation management priorities. A more holistic, integrative approach to local and national biodiversity management planning could accommodate multiple perspectives and enable greater environmental and socio-cultural sustainability.

Revision of the Australo-Papuan genus Macrolema Baly (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Spilopyrinae), with description of a new genus

The chrysomelid genus Macrolema Baly 1861 is revised. 13 species are described including five new: Macrolema aenescens (Bowditch 1913), M. albascutica sp. nov., M. atripennis (Bowditch 1913), M. dickdaviesi sp. nov., M. giya sp. nov., M. karimui sp. nov., M. longicornis Jacoby 1895, M. metallica (Lea 1922), M. pulchra sp. nov., M. quadrivittata (Jacoby 1898), M. submetallica (Jacoby 1894), M. ventralis Lea 1921b, M. vittata Baly 1861. Macrolema vittata is a senior synonym of M. marginata Jacoby 1898 (syn. nov.). Allsortsia gen. nov., is erected for a species formerly in Macrolema, Allsortsia maculata (Lea 1922), comb. nov. Lectotypes are designated for Macrolema longicornis, M. vittata and Macrogonus quadrivittatus. Keys are provided for identification of the genera of Spilopyrinae and for the species of Macrolema. Macrolema is confined to the eastern rainforests of Australia (11 species) and highland New Guinea (2 species). Little is known of the biology of the species of Macrolema and Allsortsia, all of which are relatively rarely collected. A first-instar larva is tentatively ascribed to Macrolema.

Seasonality of a Diverse Beetle Assemblage Inhabiting Lowland Tropical Rain Forest in Australia

ABSTRACTOne of the least understood aspects of insect diversity in tropical rain forests is the temporal structuring, or seasonality, of communities. We collected 29,986 beetles of 1473 species over a 4‐yr period (45 monthly samples), with the aim to document the temporal dynamics of a trophically diverse beetle assemblage from lowland tropical rain forest at Cape Tribulation, Australia. Malaise and flight interception traps were used to sample adult beetles at five locations at both ground and canopy levels. Beetles were caught throughout the year, but individual species were patchy in their temporal distribution, with the 124 more abundant species on average being present only 56 percent of the time. Climatic variables (precipitation, temperature, and solar radiation) were poorly correlated with adult beetle abundance, possibly because: (1) seasonality of total beetle abundance was slight; (2) the peak activity period (September–November) did not correspond to any climatic maxima or minima; or (3) responses were nonlinear owing to the existence of thresholds or developmental time‐lags. Our results do not concur with the majority of tropical insect seasonality studies suggesting a wet season peak of insect activity, perhaps because there is no uniform pattern of insect seasonally for the humid tropics. Herbivores showed low seasonality and individual species’ peaks were less temporally aggregated compared to nonherbivores. Canopy‐caught and larger beetles (> 5 mm) showed greater seasonality and peaked later in the year compared to smaller or ground‐caught beetles. Thus seasonality of adult beetles varied according to the traits of feeding ecology, body size, and habitat strata.

A Re-evaluation of Queensland?s Wet Tropics based on ?Primitive? Plants

The diversity of angiosperms in primitive families, which occur in the Wet Tropics of Queensland, is frequently cited as evidence of the ancient nature of the Australian rain forests, but appears to be based on flawed taxonomic assumptions. We point out the error of identifying species as being primitive rather than representing families with ancient origins, list the families from near-basal lineages using a current molecular phylogeny, and compare their diversity with other areas of rain forest in Australia, and with other tropical areas in the Pacific. Twenty-eight dicot families below the eudicot clade may be regarded as near-basal; 16 of these are present in rain forest habitat in the Wet Tropics. The diversity of near-basal families, and of the species and endemics within these families, is similar in New Caledonia, and the family diversity similar to Costa Rica. We suggest that these data are consistent with other evidence that rain forest has persisted on the Australian continent for a long time, and that the role of Australian rain forests in harbouring a significant near-basal component has been underestimated. We also suggest that ongoing management might be focussed at conserving the evolutionary history present in the near-basal lineages, especially in the face of changing climatic patterns.

Identification and characterization of floristic groups in dry forests relicts of a West Coast region of New Caledonia

We describe the floristic composition of dry forest relicts on the west coast of New Caledonia. Using multivariate techniques, four floristic groups were defined from 71 floristic samples. The large proportion of species with rain forest affinities in all floristic groups shows similarities with the ?dry? rainforest of Australia. The two more open and disturbed groups have the highest proportion of species associated with dry areas, the strongest level of endemism and more ?most threatened? species. The two more closed groups have the highest proportion of rain forest species, but are slightly less original and have fewer threatened species. This raises the question of the exact relation of the dry forest still present in the study area to mesic forest, which has not yet been studied separately from dense humid forest in New Caledonia. The influence of the local micro-climatic conditions on the distribution of floristic groups appears critical. A good knowledge of these conditions is necessary for a sound delimitation of new protected areas, and for the implementation of protective and restorative measures appropriate to each vegetation category.