ECOLOGY OF RAINFOREST AND SCLEROPHYLLOUS COMMUNITIES 
77 
Fig. 3. PCOA ordination plot illustrating the relationship between the 20 group centroids initially delineated by 
the MACINF program from which the 6 major community groups were selected. 
very common epiphyte. This unburnt forest best 
conforms to closed forest in respect to Specht 
(1970) and microphyll fern forest according to 
Webb’s (1968) general physiognomic-structural 
rainforest classification. The species compo¬ 
sition is similar to, though somewhat more at¬ 
tenuated than, the warm temperate rainforest 
described by Forbes et al. (1982) in East Gipps- 
land. 
Disturbed rainforest (group A2, 30 quadrats). 
Burnt forest is more open and contains fewer 
lianes and less variety of ferns than the undis¬ 
turbed rainforest, supporting instead a denser 
sclerophyllous understorey and a greater num¬ 
ber of herbs and graminoids. Tristaniopsis lau- 
rina and to a lesser extent Acmena smithii form a 
canopy with an average cover of 40%; i.e. at the 
present time this community is an open forest 
but it seems likely to regenerate a rainforest 
canopy. The understorey (approximately 40% 
cover) consists mainly of Pomaderris aspera and 
Baeckea virgata in conjunction with Kunzea eri- 
coides. In the ground stratum Dichondra repens, 
Geranium solanderi, Hydrocotyle hirta and 
Oxalis corniculata together with the grasses 
Microlaena stipoides and Oplismenus aemulus 
are prevalent. Although the variety of ferns 
found in the undisturbed rainforest is lacking, 
Pellaea falcata, Adiantum aethiopicum and 
Asplenium JJabellifolium are abundant. The 
vines within this community are poorly deve¬ 
loped and generally may be classified as thin 
wiry lianes (sensu Webb 1978). This community 
may be regarded as a simplified version of 
Webb’s (1968) microphyll fern forest. 
Supergroup B. Damp sclerophyll communities 
These communities have suffered variable 
degrees of fire disturbance and the overstoreys 
are dominated by eucalypts. The ordination 
clearly delineates these groups and suggests an 
important habitat control associated with the 
presence of ferns and typical wet sclerophyll spe¬ 
cies. Floristically these communities are quite 
bizarre, having dry and wet sclerophyll together 
