Theme da australis-Eucalyptus Savannah in Papua — Heyligers 
485 
Fig. 7. The same plot after cutting shows the tussock bases, some leaf litter, and scattered gravel. The 
frame adapted from Daubenmire (1959) comprises an area of 0.2 m 2 and is painted to divide by sight the 
area into squares of 10%, 5%, and 2%% to facilitate estimation of cover. 
corporated in three groups of 6, 6, and 7 series 
respectively, called the Themeda-Heteropogon 
group, the T hemeda-Capillipedium group, and 
the Themeda-Sehima group. The three remain- 
ing series are the Themeda series, the Themeda- 
Sorghum series, and the Sehima-Heteropogon 
series. Of the three groups the production of 
the Themeda-Heteropogon group and of the 
T hemeda-Capillipedium group are not signifi- 
cantly different, but the Themeda-Sehima group 
produces significantly less than the two other 
groups (Table 2). 
Other data on the groups are given in Table 
3. There appears to be a good correlation be- 
tween the composition of the sward by weight 
and the basal cover of the tussocks. Also, total 
production and total basal cover show the same 
correlation. An inverse correlation exists be- 
tween basal cover of the tussocks and the 
number of tussocks: with increasing number of 
tussocks the basal cover decreases, due to the 
poorer quality of the tussocks, which is also 
reflected in the average length of the largest 
culms. 
The Themeda series consists of a pure but 
rather poor stand of Themeda australis. The 
Themeda-Sorghum series contains about equal 
TABLE 2 
Total Grass Production of the The?neda 
australis-Eucalyptus Savannah* 
AVERAGE GRASS PROD. 
GROUP AND SERIES (gm) 
T hem eda-H etero pogon gro up 
126 
■±2 
17 
T hemeda-Capillipedium group 
115 
16 
T hemeda-Sehima group 
81 
Hh 
10 
Themeda series 
76 
Hh 
32 
T hemeda-Sorghum series 
119 
60 
Sehima-Heteropogon series 
83 
18 
* Figures give the average production of grass in grams of 
air-dry matter per plot of 0.2 m 2 , with the 95% confidence 
limits to the means. 
