Cunninghamia Date of Publication: October 2018 A journal of plant ecology for eastern Australia ISSN 0727- 9620 (print) • ISSN 2200 - 405X (Online) A new classification of savanna plant communities on the igneous rock lowlands and Tertiary sandy plain landscapes of Cape York Peninsula bioregion Eda Addicott*1, 2,3, Mark Newton1,2, Susan Laurance3, John Neldner1 , Melinda Laidlaw1 and Don Butler1 1Queensland Herbarium, Mt. Coot-tha Road, Toowong, Department of Environment & Science, Queensland Government, QLD 4066, AUSTRALIA 2Australian Tropical Herbarium, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD 4870, AUSTRALIA 3Centre for Tropical Environmental & Sustainability Science (TESS) and College of Science & Engineering, James Cook University, P.O. Box 6811, Cairns, QLD 4870, AUSTRALIA *corresponding author,
[email protected], Abstract: Classifying and mapping landscapes are tools to simplify complex systems into the discreet subsets widely used in landscape management. In 1999, the Queensland Government adopted a Regional Ecosystems approach as a state-wide landscape classification scheme. For the Cape York Peninsula bioregion in north-eastern Australia, Regional Ecosystems (RE) were initially recognised based on a pre-existing vegetation map and classification for the bioregion. The classification had been developed using expert-techniques based on extensive field plot data. Here, we use numerical analyses to classify the field plot data and identify savanna plant communities associated with two widespread landform groups in the bioregion (the old loamy and sandy plains (land zone 5) and the hills and lowlands on igneous rocks (land zone 12). Communities were identified at the plant association level, using species importance values calculated from foliage cover and vegetation height at each plot.