Last Friday, a few epiphyters got together to practise some tree climbing. We climbed some eucalypts and noticed a stark absence of epiphytes, vines, mistletoes... there wasn't even significant moss or lichen! (the light shading of green on some bark could be moss?). We attributed the host tree nakedness to the bark-shedding habit of this species.
But not all exotics are poor hosts, for example, Pinus radiata was recorded as a pretty good host by Colin Burrows in Westland and the following photo is of a Griselinia lucida shrub established in a pine in Pukekura Park, New Plymouth.
A hard-working epiphyter in Te Aroha has shown that a Quercus palustri can be a superb host for a range of native and exotic epiphyte and even non-epiphyte species. Check out his amazing "epiphyte tree".
Given the choice, it must be better to have native trees for hosting epiphytes, vines and mistletoes because they are more likely to have complimentary life cycles. For example, a tawa host tree provides fairly consistent habitat conditions for an epiphytic species because it is evergreen and thus light levels and quantities of leaf litter are steady throughout the year. In contrast, the habitat conditions in a deciduous exotic host tree will vary with the seasons. This may not necessarily be detrimental to native epiphytic species but it is not conducive to the establishment of a natural community. I'll leave it there because I could ramble and speculate all day but I do think an exotic tree is better than no tree!
I'll leave you to contemplate the importance of exotic trees for epiphytes with a nice photo taken from a lovely gum :)
Given the choice, it must be better to have native trees for hosting epiphytes, vines and mistletoes because they are more likely to have complimentary life cycles. For example, a tawa host tree provides fairly consistent habitat conditions for an epiphytic species because it is evergreen and thus light levels and quantities of leaf litter are steady throughout the year. In contrast, the habitat conditions in a deciduous exotic host tree will vary with the seasons. This may not necessarily be detrimental to native epiphytic species but it is not conducive to the establishment of a natural community. I'll leave it there because I could ramble and speculate all day but I do think an exotic tree is better than no tree!
I'll leave you to contemplate the importance of exotic trees for epiphytes with a nice photo taken from a lovely gum :)
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