A local ecologist has revealed some of the hidden attractions in the Bundaberg Botanic Gardens rainforest, saying it’s a great place to see unique flora and fauna.
Red Ash Consulting principal ecologist Carly Sugars said the Botanic Gardens rainforest provides easy access to amazing vegetation and a diverse range of plant forms.
“It enables the community to see parts of our ecosystems that are not always easily accessible,” Carly said.
“In the Botanic Gardens we have a range of plant life forms.
“We have tall canopy trees, growing on these trees we can find epiphytes such as your staghorns and your elkhorns.
“Closer down to the ground layer we have a range of ferns, you can see tree ferns and hidden in amongst the little pockets you can also find mosses which are in a little group of plants called bryophytes.”
Carly said the Botanic Gardens rainforest was a great place to explore, attracting a diverse range of fauna.
“For example, fruit eating bird species are common in rainforests because of the diversity of fruit producing tree species.
“Ground dwelling fauna is also quite common in rainforests such as your ground dwelling birds, quails and small mammals such as bandicoots.
“Also, reptiles that like to live in the leaf litter layer on the forest floor.
“The diversity of plant life that grow in a rainforest, it also attracts a lot of invertebrate species, in particular butterflies.
“Bundaberg Botanic Gardens is a fantastic place to come down and check some of those out.”
Carly said it was important to conserve our remnant patches of rainforest in the Bundaberg Region.
“Botanists are discovering new species everyday and even here in Queensland research is continuing into the uses of rainforest plants for various things, medicinal uses, agricultural uses and commercial uses.
“In the Bundaberg area we have a range of other rainforest communities and they’re typically drier rainforest communities.
“For example, on The Hummock we have a dry rainforest community called the Wongarra Vine Scrub.”
- Other news: Botanic Gardens rare fruit trees blooming
- Queen's Park a link with original rainforest
