Len Webb Ecological Images Collection

Image No. 5-3

Disturbance -- Cyclones Very broken canopy of tropical wet lowland rainforest damaged by cyclone nine months previously McNamee Creek near Innisfail, Queensland November 1956 Larger image (158K)

Cyclone was in March, this photograph was taken nine months later, showing rapidity of secondary growth, including vines. Some tree species with deep tap roots seem less liable to windthrow than plank-buttressed species with more shallow roots. Also, leaves of certain species are more vulnerable to shredding and stripping than others.
Tropical wet lowland rainforest (complex mesophyll vine forest).
Reference:
Webb, L.J. (1958) "Cyclones as an ecological factor in tropical lowland rain forest". Australian Journal of Botany, 6: 220-228.

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