Appendix 2 - Vegetation Communities and Regional Ecosystems

distinctive structural components. On Mabuiag and Hammond Islands, Welchiodendron forms a
canopy with evergreen species and this grouping has also been included in VC4a. A
representative assemblage of canopy species in this VC includes Welchiodendron longivalve as a
dominant to sub-dominant species with Acacia polystachya, Endiandra glauca, Canarium
australianum, Psydrax sp. (DGF8884+), Syzygium bungadinnia, Dysoxylum oppositifolium,
Alphitonia excelsa, Sterculia quadrifida, Parinari nonda, Canarium australianum, Pouteria
sericea, Gyrocarpus americanus, Drypetes deplanchei and Bombax ceiba var. leiocarpum.
Vegetation Community 4b: Vegetation Community 4b forms a low woodland variant of this
RE with typical examples on Gebar and Mabuiag with a well-developed grassy ground cover.
Small areas on Moa Island where Welchiodendron mixes with Melaleuca dealbata on loamy
granite slopes are represented as VC4c. The RE also forms a component of vegetation grassland
complex 17h. Vegetation Community 17h represents a grassland complex behind St Paul’s
Village (Moa Island) where, through the process of repetitive burning, Welchiodendron dominant
open forest has retreated into sheltered pockets along gully lines within a broader grassland
community.
Photograph 125. Welchiodendron
longivalve dominant closed forest on
Mabuiag Island (MA003).
Photograph 126. Low
Welchiodendron longivalve
dominant woodland on acid volcanic
footslopes (VC4b-Gebar Island).
3d Environmental – Torres Strait Regional Ecosystem Mapping Project – August 2008
129