Open Access

Jennie Whinam, N. M. Chilcott, J. W. Morgan

• Floristic community types and their environmental correlates are described for Sphagnum-dominated communities throughout Victoria. Current threats to the condition of these communities are outlined, with an assessment of their conservation status. Sites from lowland (350 m) to alpine (1780 m) areas were surveyed and seven floristic groups were recognised using cluster analysis and non-metric multi-dimensional scaling techniques. The strongest floristic gradients corresponded to altitude, temperature, rainfall, geology and current condition. Several of the sites surveyed were degraded, with some sites heavily impacted by cattle grazing or invaded by weeds. While some floristic groups, particularly sub-alpine bogs, are reserved in national parks, others such as montane and lowland bogs occur on forestry and private land tenures. Reservation has not protected some sites from threatening processes, most notably in alpine national parks, where cattle grazing has seriously degraded many of these Sphagnum peatland communities to either disclimax communities or isolated moss beds no longer functioning ecologically as peatlands. Further surveys of Sphagnum-dominated communities elsewhere in Victoria are warranted, especially montane and lowland areas. The results suggest Sphagnum-dominated communities will require conservation planning and management action throughout their geographic range in Victoria.