Appendix 2 - Vegetation Communities and Regional Ecosystems

Photograph 85. Shrubland
dominated by Melaleuca viridiflora
with scattered emergents of Parinari
nonda and Corymbia clarksoniana.
Site MO7 (Moa Island).
Vegetation Community 13c: Vegetation Community 13c represents a shrubland, canopy
heights ranging from 3m to 6m, dominated by Melaleuca viridiflora, Asteromyrtus symphyocarpa
and Banksia dentata. Hakea pedunculata and Melaleuca saligna may be associated although
they are always sub-dominant shrub components, and Melaleuca acacioides may occur on
community on saltpan margins. The secondary shrub layer is typically sparse, comprising species
characteristic of the upper stratum and the ground cover is dominated by sedges, typically not
forming more than 30% total cover. Melaleuca viridiflora is consistently represented by a
distinctive variety represented as a low and generally poorly formed shrub with thick leathery
leaves and distinctive red buds on growing points. The VC is consistent with the description
provided for sub-type RE3.3.42a (REDD, Version 5.2, 2007) and it has been mapped as such.
The major distribution of VC13j is on the larger islands of the Inner Island Group (Muralug and
Horn) and Moa Island, where it occupies poorly drained alluvial flats, typically on the peripheral
margins of outwash plains where sediments are dominantly silts and clays. A superficial coating
of fine white residual silica sand is often visible on the soil surface. This VC is also recorded on
LZ5.
Photograph 86. Vegetation
Community 13c on Muralug Island
(Site PW057).
3d Environmental – Torres Strait Regional Ecosystem Mapping Project – August 2008
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