MAINTAINING INTEGRITY COMPARED WITH MAINTAINING RARE AND THREATENED TAXA IN REMNANT BUSHLAND IN SUBHUMID TASMANIA

The native vegetation remnants in the agricultural country of subhumid Tasmania are important strongholds for regionally and globally rare a nd threatened species. A detailed survey of the best 100 of these remn ants indicated that there was no relationship between the size, age an d juxtaposition of the remnants and an index of rare and threatened sp ecies, either in the data set as a whole or in phytosociologically def ined subsets. Rare and threatened species were found in remnants of wi dely varying integrity, as indicated by native and exotic species rich ness and cover. Some species were only found in remnants that were of poor integrity. Efforts to preserve vegetation remnants need to be dir ected towards both those that are representative and of high,integrity , and those that contain rare and the threatened species. No great coi ncidence can be expected, because the causes of maintenance of good co ndition are not necessarily the causes of survival of many rare and th reatened taxa.