The vegetation of the Great Northern Plain, northeastern Tasmania

The Great Northern Plain is the last major remnant of the extensive inland heaths found in northeastern Tasmania in the early nineteenth century. A poly the tic divisive classification of the vegetation of the plain and its environs, based on data from 131 quadrats, indicated that variation in structure, dominance and floristics was largely continuous, and that this variation was closely related to topographic position. A transect through the plain and adjacent woodland and forest showed that the position of the watertable in the soil and soil pH were independently strongly related to floristic and structural variation in the vegetation. Herbaceous exotic plant species have invaded parts of the plain, particularly in the areas near tracks. These exotic species do not present as severe a threat to the integrity of the area as Phytophthora cinnamomi, which had invaded to the south but which exhibits no symptoms on the plain itself.