16. A Comparison of the Ecology and Conservation Management
335
lichens, and further work is being undertaken on the nonvascular plants .
In addition to these broad studies , more detailed studies have been
conduct ed of the communities associated with Huon Pine (Gibson et al. ,
1991; Shapcott, 1991), Athrotaxis spp. (Cullen & Kirkpatrick, 1990a,b) ,
relict rainforest patches in eastern Tasmania (Neyland & Brown , 1991),
swamp forests (Pannell , 1992) and of epiphytic lichen communities
(Kantvilas , 1988; Kantvilas & Minchin, 1989).
These community studies are of great utility in determining the extent
to which known occurrences fall within reserves. However they are of
limited use in inaccessible or poorly known vegetation, especially in
determining the areal extent of anyone community. A complementary
approach to the problem has been to use environmental domain analysis.
The method is described in detail in Hickey and Brown (1989); in essence
it consists of locating potential regional rainforest reserve areas occurring
on the range of geologies over five altitude classes found within each
forested region of the state. Tasmania has been divided into 11 nature
conservation regions (Orchard, 1988) and in each of these that contain
rainforest, Recommended Areas for Protection (RAPs) were targeted to
include 30% of rainforest in each altitude/geological class. ,This approach
is similar to the biogeoclimatic classification adopted for forest management in Canada (Boyle , Chapter 18), except that is has been used in
Tasmania specifically to target gaps in the reserve system.
At the formation level, 45% of rainforest is in secure reserves and
another 12% is in currently proposed RAPs . Another 20% of the rainforest is in zones recognized to be of high conservation value and in which
logging has been deferred for at least ten years until conservation evaluations have been made (Rolley & Brown , 1992). Thus over three quarters
of the rain forest is in reserves , RAPs , or deferred forest categories
(Jarman et al. , 1991).
Most of the rainforest dominants are well reserved; Nothofagus
cunninghamii has 57% of its areal extent in reserves . The corresponding
figures for the other dominants which have been mapped are N. gunnii,
95% , Lagarostrobos, 76%, Athrotaxis cupressoides, 100% , A. selaginoides ,
84% (Jarman et al. , 1991). At the community level, 6 of the 38 communities are not known from reserves, but all of these are expected to be
found within RAPs when surveys are completed (Jarman et al., 1991). At
the individual species level, all of the vascular plants have populations
within reserves , but Shapcott (1991), for example, has demonstrated that
current reserves of Lagarostrobos do not sample its full genetic variation,
even though 76% of the species is reserved. There is insufficient information to make any more than a preliminary statement about the
bryoph ytes and lichens. This is partly because most studies have been
conducted within reserves and also because distribution information
for the species is very poor (G . Kantvilas , S.J. Jarman, personal
communication).
335
lichens, and further work is being undertaken on the nonvascular plants .
In addition to these broad studies , more detailed studies have been
conduct ed of the communities associated with Huon Pine (Gibson et al. ,
1991; Shapcott, 1991), Athrotaxis spp. (Cullen & Kirkpatrick, 1990a,b) ,
relict rainforest patches in eastern Tasmania (Neyland & Brown , 1991),
swamp forests (Pannell , 1992) and of epiphytic lichen communities
(Kantvilas , 1988; Kantvilas & Minchin, 1989).
These community studies are of great utility in determining the extent
to which known occurrences fall within reserves. However they are of
limited use in inaccessible or poorly known vegetation, especially in
determining the areal extent of anyone community. A complementary
approach to the problem has been to use environmental domain analysis.
The method is described in detail in Hickey and Brown (1989); in essence
it consists of locating potential regional rainforest reserve areas occurring
on the range of geologies over five altitude classes found within each
forested region of the state. Tasmania has been divided into 11 nature
conservation regions (Orchard, 1988) and in each of these that contain
rainforest, Recommended Areas for Protection (RAPs) were targeted to
include 30% of rainforest in each altitude/geological class. ,This approach
is similar to the biogeoclimatic classification adopted for forest management in Canada (Boyle , Chapter 18), except that is has been used in
Tasmania specifically to target gaps in the reserve system.
At the formation level, 45% of rainforest is in secure reserves and
another 12% is in currently proposed RAPs . Another 20% of the rainforest is in zones recognized to be of high conservation value and in which
logging has been deferred for at least ten years until conservation evaluations have been made (Rolley & Brown , 1992). Thus over three quarters
of the rain forest is in reserves , RAPs , or deferred forest categories
(Jarman et al. , 1991).
Most of the rainforest dominants are well reserved; Nothofagus
cunninghamii has 57% of its areal extent in reserves . The corresponding
figures for the other dominants which have been mapped are N. gunnii,
95% , Lagarostrobos, 76%, Athrotaxis cupressoides, 100% , A. selaginoides ,
84% (Jarman et al. , 1991). At the community level, 6 of the 38 communities are not known from reserves, but all of these are expected to be
found within RAPs when surveys are completed (Jarman et al., 1991). At
the individual species level, all of the vascular plants have populations
within reserves , but Shapcott (1991), for example, has demonstrated that
current reserves of Lagarostrobos do not sample its full genetic variation,
even though 76% of the species is reserved. There is insufficient information to make any more than a preliminary statement about the
bryoph ytes and lichens. This is partly because most studies have been
conducted within reserves and also because distribution information
for the species is very poor (G . Kantvilas , S.J. Jarman, personal
communication).