82 
D. R. MELICK 
Edaphic factors. There is some correlation 
between the topsoils and the vegetation pat¬ 
terns, but it seems that the former are of secon¬ 
dary importance to topographic features. 
Although the undisturbed rainforest community 
(Al) occurs most commonly on less acidic soils 
(Table 2), this is probably a reflection of the fact 
that the protected gullies, to which the rainforest 
is restricted, are eroded through limestone 
bands. It seems unlikely, therefore, that soil fac¬ 
tors per se are limiting the rainforest distribu¬ 
tion, a view supported by the fact that the dis¬ 
turbed rainforest (A2), which occurs outside the 
deeply eroded gullies, is present on soils with a 
wide range of pH (Tables 3, 4). Similarly, the 
relatively high pH and exchangeable calcium 
levels of soils associated with the damp scle- 
rophyll scrub (group Bl) may be attributed to 
the apparent leaching of limestone on the eas¬ 
tern hillside, or to the fact that Pomaderris 
aspera , which is dominant in this community, is 
known to return high amounts of calcium to the 
soil (Ashton 1981). The varied surface soil 
characteristics within the dry sclerophyll com¬ 
munities further demonstrate the primary role 
of topography rather than edaphic factors in 
determining vegetation types at this site. 
Eucalypt open forest (group Cl) showed a statis¬ 
tically significant correlation with less acidic 
soils (Table 4), due to a large tract of this com¬ 
munity growing on relatively high pH soils in the 
northwestern corner of the study area, but this 
community type extended across to the adjacent 
more acidic soils on the central plateaux, with no 
discernible affect on the vegetation. The soils on 
the ridges and flats dominated by the scrubby 
eucalypt woodlands (group C2), however, were 
generally more acidic. 
The general trend of higher phosphorus levels 
in soils associated with damp sclerophyll and 
rainforest communities than with dry scle¬ 
rophyll communities was not unexpected. 
Again, however, the extractable phosphorus 
content may be a reflection of the type of vege¬ 
tation cover rather than a factor limiting its dis¬ 
tribution, since nutrient turnover is much more 
rapid in moist forests than in dry ones (Attiwill 
& Leeper 1987). Although the average extract- 
able phosphorus levels of soils associated with 
the rainforest and damp sclerophyll communi¬ 
ties were relatively high, it should be noted that 
the range of values was also high (Table 3), with 
isolated pockets of fertile soil amongst low phos¬ 
phorus soils indicating localized enrichment. 
Such enrichment may result from landslips, 
flood accumulation of colloidal material, and 
lyrebird activity to which these sites are suscep¬ 
tible. The heterogeneity of the moist forest soils 
within the study site is highlighted by the fact 
that, amid the generally high fertility rainforest 
soils, the floors of the gullies supporting riparian 
rainforest communities are composed of imma¬ 
ture soils and nutrient-poor sands deposited 
during floods (Table 3). The predominance of 
Tristaniopsis lamina in the creek beds suggests 
that this may be the rainforest species that is best 
adapted to this environment, in which the 
intrinsic nutrient status of the sands is poor 
although the flux of nutrients through the 
system, following flooding, may be great (Melick 
1990). 
SUMMARY 
The study area is topographically delineated by 
lithology and by gorges cut by streams. The rela¬ 
tively moist conditions and the shelter provided 
from wind and fire has permitted the survival of 
warm temperate rainforest in the gullies. Fire 
disturbance seems to have played a major role in 
the floristics of present communities by simpli¬ 
fying the burnt rainforest (A2) and allowing the 
establishment of damp sclerophyll communities 
(B1, B2). Fire also appears to have induced a 
massive germination of Acacia mearnsii seed 
and regeneration of Kunzea ericoides from seed 
and lignotuber. Woodland and scrub areas may 
be due in some places to shallow rocky soils and 
hot dry aspects but they also seem to reflect a 
past history' of forest clearing. The combination 
of the above factors together with the mild cli¬ 
mate and erratic rainfall of this region has led to 
many unusual plant associations and to hetero¬ 
geneity within communities, making their clas¬ 
sification difficult. This difficulty has been 
reflected in the surveys of Gippsland vegetation 
(Gullan et al. 1981, Forbes et al. 1982) in which 
descriptions of community types take the form 
of “common names”, and which are not 
intended to form the basis for a formal nomen¬ 
clature. Some of the community types deli¬ 
neated in the present paper are comparable lo 
subcommunities identified in these earlier 
surveys but, owing to the broad scale of those 
surveys, such comparisons are not very spe¬ 
cific. 
The high pH levels and exchangeable calcium 
contents of surface soils throughout the park 
appear to reflect the distribution of limestone 
bands underlying the area. Soil characters show 
some correlation with vegetation distribution 
but these trends could be the result of vegetation 
