The ecology of a graveyard

Abstract

The present-day vegetation of a cemetery at Gingin, Western Australia, is described by means of normal and inverse information analysis. In spite of severe disturbance during the past 10 years through annual burning and slashing, a well-defined floristic pattern is identifiable, even in the absence from the analysis of the two most characteristic species, Anigozanthos manglesii and A. humilis.

It is suggested that whereas, in the past, parts of the cemetery were ecologically distinct and characterized by different groups of species, regular disturbance is altering these ecological conditions and causing changes in the distribution and behaviour of the species present. This changing ecology appears to be most sensitively demonstrated by the behaviour of A. manglesii and A. humilis.