Gallery rainforest is a complex habitat usually found near a water source such as the banks of a river or creek.
Gallery rainforest is a complex habitat usually found near a water source such as the banks of a river or creek. Highly damp and rich in biodiversity, these rainforests form a corridor of dense vegetation that follows a water source, which is in contrast with their surrounding drier ecosystems.
This habitat performs a wide range of ecosystem functions such as storing carbon, protecting soil from erosion, intercepting nutrients and pollutants, plus regulating ground water.
One notable feature of gallery rainforests is the abundance of climbing plants and vines, which intertwine with trees to form a dense, tangled network.
Gallery rainforests support a variety of flora and fauna, with these habitats in SEQ being home to over 30 vulnerable species. Providing important habitats and food resources for native wildlife, many plants within a gallery rainforest are bird-dispersed with some fruit-eating birds migrating seasonally from up land to low land rainforest.
A gallery rainforest plays home to many litter-foraging animals, invertebrates and a broad range of insects. Locally, this rainforest is especially important as it is the site of a White-Bellied Sea-Eagle’s well-established nest.
Gallery rainforests act as ‘green corridors’ for wildlife, with some animals, like tree frogs and small marsupials, relying on these forests to migrate and find food sources.
