Gondwana Rainforests Types of Australia (CERRA)

Gondwana Rainforests Types of Australia (CERRA)
Big Volcano Regional Tourist and Visitor Guide

Descriptions of the rainforest types found in the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia (CERRA) World Heritage National Parks of New South Wales and South East Queensland, Australia.

Subtropical Rainforest
Sub-tropical rainforests are generally found where the rainfall is more than 1300mm annually and growing in fertile eutrophic parent rocks (basalt and rich shales), you'll most likely find subtropical rainforest favouring sheltered gullies from sea level to about 900 metres.

Littoral Rainforest
Littoral Rainforest is similar to Subtropical Rainforest, but occurs when it is close to the sea and exposed to salt laden winds. Usually on nutrient enriched deep sands or soils derived from slates and basalts, it's considered more as a distinctive series of communities rather than a subform of rainforest.

Dry Rainforest
Dry Rainforest types are distinguished from Subtropical rainforest by scattered emergent species such as Hoop Pine, Teak (Flindersia australis) and Lacebark (Brachychiton discolor) trees in the upper canopy, and 10 to 30 species in the lower canopy. Buttressing and palms are uncommon or absent.

Warm Temperate Rainforest
Found on poorer soils consisting rocks such as rhyolite, trachyte and slates in the Tweed (Wollumbin) Volcano region, and on the more fertile eutrophic rocks in southern cooler regions, Warm Temperate Rainforest requires rainfall over 1300mm per year.

Cool Temperate Rainforest
The last type of rainforest represented in CERRA, is that of the Cool Temperate Rainforest. It is noted for its commonest and most often only dominant species, the Southern or Antarctic Beech (Nothofagus moorei), which is testament to Australia's being part of the southern supercontinent, Gondwanaland, more than 130 million years ago.

Visit the web site to learn more about each of these rainforests.