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Bryophyte diversity in a remnant upland rainforest on the Atherton Tablelands, Queensland, Australia

Bryophytes are an important but neglected component of the flora of the Australian Wet Tropics bioregion. In particular, the bryophyte flora of complex notophyll vine forest 5b, also known as Mabi forest, that occurs on fertile basaltic soils in the upland regions of the Atherton Tablelands, Queensland has not been thoroughly examined, despite the endangered status of this forest type. To address this information gap, we collected bryophytes using a floristic habitat survey   method where we sampled a wide range of microhabitats and substrates in a ~6 ha patch of Mabi forest within Hallorans Hill Conservation Park, Atherton. We collected 202 bryophyte specimens, and identified 44 species of moss, 41 species of liverworts, and two species of hornworts. Substrates included tree bark and twigs (epiphytic – 66.7% of bryophyte species), rock (epilithic – 41.4%), decaying logs (epixylic – 31%), soil (terrestrial –12.6%), and on leaves (epiphyllous – 3.4%). Around 30% of species occurred on multiple substrates. The high bryophyte diversity recorded in our survey highlights the need for additional bryophyte surveys in Mabi forests in the Wet Tropics, as well as investigations into their ecology.

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