Cyclical Changes in an Australian Fjaeldmark Community

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Abstract
Cyclical changes in an Epacris petrophila f jaeldmarK community and associated soils are described from the Mount Kosciusko area, Australia. Severe, unidirectional winds result in simultaneous erosion of individual Epacris clumps on the windward side and their renewal on the leeward side. The arrangement of the clumps of Epacris and intervening wind-scoured areas has a definite pattern, in which the clumps of Epacris are developing in a downward direction at the rate of about 0.5 in. (c. 1 cm) per year. A full cycle of development, during which given areas are alternately denuded and covered by Epacris, takes about 26 years. Associated soil changes include the simultaneous erosion and deposition of the surface 1-2 in. (c. 2.5-5.0 cm) of soil, to produce soils within the Epacris clump which are significantly richer in fines. The fines under Epacris are essentially the same as those of the wind-scoured pavement as regards aggregation, mechanical composition, N content, total exchange capacity and available water-holding capacity, but are slightly less acid with a higher content of bases on tne exchange complex. These ameliorating effects are probably unimportant for the development of the fjaeldmark community itself, on account of the continual removal of the soil by erosion; however, they probably contribute to the development of adjacent soils in less exposed sites, where the erosion products are accumulated by closed vegetation.

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