Flora Queensland tropical rain forests

young cassowary in daintree rainforest

the queensland tropical rain forests designated 1 of global 200 ecoregions. ecoregion largest remnant of australia s rain forest flora, home ancient assemblage of plants, called antarctic flora, presently characteristic of new zealand , southern chile. fossil pollen records indicate closed forest covered of australia between 50 100 million years ago. these forests represent closest living remnant of vegetation type of australia s unique marsupials developed. vegetation remained across australia , antarctica until 15 million years ago.

conifers of southern hemisphere family araucariaceae characteristic tree species. in northern section of ecoregion, kauri commonly form forest canopy, agathis robusta common @ lower elevations, , a. microstachya , a. atropurpurea predominant @ higher elevations. in southern sections, araucaria cunninghamii predominant, araucaria bidwillii dominant in 2 small areas. conifers in family podocarpaceae present, including genera podocarpus , sundacarpus. forests thick vines, ferns, epiphytes, , palms.

these forests limited areas of high rainfall , soils. in waterlogged soils, rainforest flora gives way melaleuca thickets, , on poor soils , in drier areas eucalyptus becomes dominant. rainforest flora intolerant of fire, , periods of drought have allowed devastating fires, rainforest flora has retreated, allowing fire-tolerant eucalyptus become established. if relatively wet period persists, rainforest flora may reestablish itself. thought land management practices of aboriginal australians, involve setting regular fires keep eucalyptus woodlands open, may have encouraged expansion of eucalyptus forests @ expense of rainforest flora. these rainforests seem have retreated considerably since arrival of aboriginals ancestors 50,000 years ago, , presently limited isolated pockets comprising less 2% of continent s area.