Illawarra Fly Tree Top Walk - Southern Highlands, NSW, Australia

Light gaps in the forest

The gaps among the trees were caused many years ago when one or two large trees were cut down or fell down, perhaps during a violent wind storm. The gap in the tree canopy allowed sunlight to penetrate to the floor of the forest. Stimulated by the light, the gap was quickly filled by a dense tangle of vines, creepers and other small plants.

Wattles and small rainforest trees usually appear in the "light gap" next, followed by taller trees. Tall eucalypts eventually dominate, shading out the original "colonising" plants and thereby completing the process of regeneration. Some gaps take many years to repair because the dense growth of small plants does not allow tree seedlings and saplings to emerge.