I’m writing this article to you as I hide away in a far-flung corner of one of the Blackall Ranges precious rainforest remnants. My expose on the evils of too much lawn (see previous newsletter) has brought the full force of the turf barons down upon me. As I write you this, the CLPA (Central Lawn Protection Agency) and FBT (Federal Bureau of Turf) are combing the forest searching for the ‘rebel without a mower’.
Any way, keeping my head down and laying low in this little forest patch is giving me good chance to re-aquaint myself with the life of the forest floor. I can tell you – the sooner the tree house is finished the better! There’s a Black Possum or Bobuck Trichosurus caninus who thinks my dried Paw-paw sticks are just irresistible; Common Leaches Chtonobdella whitmani must think my O+ blood type is the nectar of the gods and I’m hosting a tick convention of Ixodes holocyclus behind my left ear. It was dark when I fled to the forest last night and my nerves got the better of me and, you guessed it, the call of nature led to a rather extremely painful encounter with the leaves of the Giant-leaf Stinging Tree Dendrocnide excelsa.
The leaf litter of the forest floor is amazing stuff (if sometimes a little bumpy and prickly). At this time of year as temperatures increase, the leaf litter thickens as trees drop old leaves to reduce their water-loss and also to conserve soil moisture by the thicker mulch layer. Thick layers of Leaf litter are more commonly seen in our drier rainforest patches, where the canopy is lower at 10 –15 metres and on poorer well-drained soils.
A range of seeds also add to the leaf litter at this time of year. These include the Brown Tulip Oak Argyrodendron trifoliatum, whose bronze winged fruit gently whirl to earth like little helicopters when the breeze picks up. An amazing adaptation that the Argyrodendron genus has made is the development of moisture-conserving gels that surround their seeds. The Black Booyong Argyrodendron actinophyllum produces an enormous quantity of gel around its seed when wetted. This is great for protecting the seedling from drying out in the harder soils of the range where it naturally grows. Conversely this moisture-holding gel can be a bit tricky to cope with when propagating them in nurseries, as they may be kept too moist and rot.
The forest’s leaf litter and the soil below it, is home to a myriad of life forms such as millipedes, mites, snails, spiders, worms, beetles, ticks, fungi and so much more. The leaf litter is the powerhouse of nutrient recycling that maintains the ongoing health of the trees, shrubs and vines that make up the forest. This leaf litter and all the tiny creatures that make it their home, are also the start of the food chain for all the larger creatures that call the forest home. Take the amazing Brown Antechinus Antechinus stuartii of our local forests. These little guys are often confused with rodents but are serious carnivores and are distant relatives of the Tassie tiger. I imagine Antechinus with the “Jaws” sound track playing in the background. To see them in action is fantastic! The sight of two furry little ears protruding through the leaf litter doing circles around a bush cockroach before it leaps up and takes its prey in one foul swoop and ducks back below the leaf litter is awesome.
And where would the infamous Brush Turkey Alectura lathami be without a good pile of leaf litter to rake up. The compost heaps they make from the forest floor are not only crucial to the incubation of their own young, but also the concentrated goodness of these piles makes a perfect home for all sorts of little critters and fungi. Perfect germination sites for some species of plants that need that extra bit of moisture can be found around these piles and sometimes even the composting effects of the pile can help break seed dormancy. The Brush Turkey unfortunately cops a lot of bad press due to its activities in some perfect gardens. But where else in the world do humans have the good fortune of living side by side in the suburbs with such a large wild animal a creature whose greatest crime is building compost heaps and occasionally getting a bit too friendly with one’s domestic poultry.
In closing, next time you’re hiding out in the forest from whatever dominant paradigm you have challenged, don’t forget to appreciate the leaf litter that you are snuggled down in and wonder at all those marvellous little fungi on the log you’re using as a pillow. And as the Clash sang back in the 80’s “I fought the law-n and the law-n won, I fought the law-n and the law-n won” – well for now anyway!
by Spencer Shaw