Changes in the abundance of the vascular plants of the Mount Wellington Range, Tasmania, following a severe fire

Abstract

A census of the vascular plants of the Mt. Wellington Range, Tasmania, is reported, the survey having been carried out in the two-year period between February 1973 and March 1975, i.e. six to eight years after the devasting bushfire of 7th February 1967. An earlier survey of Mt. Wellington by Martin published in 1940 provided the opportunity to examine whether the bushfire caused any extinction of plant species, or whether there were any important changes in relative species abundance. A total of 487 native vascular species were found in the survey zone, including 450 angiosperms, representing more than one-third of the known species of native flowering plants in Tasmania. Although certain plants, e.g. some species of Richea and some ferns, are making a slow recovery from the effects of the fire, no important changes in the flora have been observed in comparing the present survey with the earlier one. All species observed in the survey are presented in a detailed appendix, where the abundance of each species in each of eight vegetation zones is recorded. Current practice in the botanical naming of species is observed throughout.