Vegetation of Phytophthora cinnamomi-infested and adjoining uninfested sites in the northern jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) forest of Western Australia

Abstract

The vegetation of seven sites in the northern jarrah forest of Western Australia infested with Phytophthora cinnamomi was recorded and compared with adjoining vegetation. The number of species per quadrat was found to be the same in vegetation affected by P. cinnamomi as in healthy vegetation, although there were more species overall in affected vegetation. Vegetation of uninfested sites had a higher cover and more species per quadrat of trees and shrubs and lower cover and fewer species per quadrat of annual plants than vegetation of infested sites. Although many species that are known to be highly susceptible to infection by P. cinnamomi were rare at infested sites, only two (Banksia grandis and Tetratheca hirsuta) were absent from all of the 50-year-old infested parts of sites. Several species that are known to be highly susceptible to infection by P. cinnamomi were as common at infested as at healthy sites. The presence of such species at infested sites and the capacity of P. cinnamomi to infect species it does not kill suggest that this pathogen will persist and continue to influence future vegetation in the jarrah forest.