Moss epiphytes on tree ferns in the Waitakere ranges

[Abstract of a paper read at the Ecological Society Conference, 1983.]

First paragraph:
A comparison was made between the mosses present on three species of tree-fern, Cyathea medullaris, Cyathea dealbata and Dicksonia squarrosa in a kauri/podocarp/broadleaf forest in the Waitakere Ranges, northern New Zealand. Observations were also made on a fourth phorophyte of similar growth form, the palm Rhopalostylis sapida. Frequency and cover values were obtained for the moss species present on the basal 1.5 m of trunk of 183 phorophytes. Thirty-eight moss species from 23 families were recorded. Detrended correspondence analysis ordination indicated that the moss communities on C. dealbata and D. squarrosa were similar, but quite distinct from those on C. medullaris. The moss communities on the palm were much more variable than those on any of the tree-fern species, and individual palm trees were found bearing moss communities typical of each of the tree-fern species.