ANODOPETALUM BIGLANDULOSUM - GROWTH FORM AND ABUNDANCE IN TASMANIAN RAIN-FOREST

Anodopetalum biglandulosum grows in a variety of habits in Tasmanian rainforest. Forty-eight stands were classified to produce a typology of growth forms for the species. The species has a fundamentally deterministic growth form and exhibits a variety of responses to canopy disruption. The responses are related to community floristics, forest structure and the disturbance regime. The roles of canopy proliferation and clonal spread were investigated for their ecological significance. In some forests A. biglandulosum may dominate the regrowth after tree-fall, resulting in a late successional shift in the forest structure.