Back of Beyond The NT: Remnant Vine Forest I May 2011

Monsoon vine-forests in the Top End of the N.T. occur in a variety of habitats, from situations favoured by year-round moisture availability, to sites where moisture is seasonally scarce. They also occur on a broad range of rock and soil types. As might be expected monsoon vine-forest vegetation is thus structurally very variable, ranging from tall evergreen forests over 30m in height, to deciduous thickets often only 2-3m in height on particularly harsh dry sites.

Evergreen vine-forests are associated with rare perennial spring and seepage habitats, as well as along the margins of some perennial streams. Good examples in the Darwin region include Holmes Jungle, Berry Springs, Howard Springs and Black Jungle. In these situations soils are typically waterlogged with relatively deep organic loams overlaying grey clays. Under optimal conditions canopy height is seldom greater than 25m, the upper canopy dominated by evergreen trees.

Coastal vine-forests

Coastal vine-forests occur on a variety of mainly seasonally dry substrates, especially sandy or shelly beach ridges (e.g. parts of Casuarina Beach, Darwin), and lateritic landforms (e.g. East Point Reserve, Darwin). As with other types of vine-forest vegetation tolerant of seasonal dryness, coastal vine-forests show no particular requirement for deep soils as on substrates which offer no impediment to deep root development. The canopy of coastal vine-forests is typically less than 10m in height, although individual emergent trees, especially deciduous trees may attain heights of 16m or more.

Acacia hemignosta