Leaf litter in two southern Tasmanian creeks and its relevance to palaeobotany

Abstract

Benthic and drifting leaf litter were examined in two parallel creeks in mixed forest in southern Tasmania, and the occunence of whole leaves recorded. Nothofagus cunninghamii leaves were dominant in both the benthic and drift samples, Atherosperma moschatum occuned in the drift but only in trace quantities in the benthic samples, Phy!locladus aspleniifolius occurred in the benthos but only in trace quantities in the drift samples, and whole Eucalyptus obliqua leaves were absent from all samples. Otherwise most species occurred in similar proportions in both creeks and for both sampling strategies. It is concluded that the processes of litter input, leaf buoyancy, and leaf breakdown will result in an unequal potential for fossilisation of the leaves of different species; accordingly, attempts to reconstruct vegetation using macrofossils need to be approached with caution.