It was the weirdest Field Nat outing in a long time. The weather report was reasonable but as we gathered at the meeting point, people were hunting for their raincoats or bemoaning the fact that they hadn’t brought them. The experts assured us that the sun would eventually come out and burn this heavy mizzle off. So the order of doing things was swapped about hoping that if we did that, we could enjoy the 360 degree views from atop Mt. Horror.
(photos are clickable)

Mike Douglas had a myriad of stories for us at the old township of Forester, 23 km northeast of Scottsdale. Timber cutting had been the reason for the establishment of this once thriving township. Now, the population is 6 ! 

When we could wait no longer, we drove to the top of Mt. Horror, stopping on the way to admire a relict stand of Cyathea australis, the rough tree fern. The person who has the big picture of the botany of NE Tasmania in his head, Ian Thomas, explained the relevance of that and other rainforest species which we had gone up to see but which that day we would have to give a miss. 

A small permanent lagoon located nearby in the North Scottsdale Forest Reserve contains 4,000 years of environmental history in its peaty sediments. An analysis of pollen and spores shows that the present day heathy woodland vegetation has persisted for the entire time period. One strange event though, is a huge increase in Sphagnum spores at about 3,500 years BP. Considering that the dry heathy components have remained stable, a co-incident increase in rainforest and wet forest pollen and spores, including Nothofagus, Cyathea and Pomaderris is strange and probably best explained by a short phase of lower temperatures rather than an increase in precipitation. Low temperatures would have expressed themselves in reduced summer evaporation that led to more effective ground water. Data from block-field activations on the alpine summits of the northeast confirm a period of lowered temperatures at about 3,500 BP. 

The Nothofagus rainforest located on the southern aspect of Mt Horror appears to have temporarily expanded out of it’s climatically constrained range at that time. The Mount Horror rainforest must have survived through the arid and cold Last Glacial and attests to a great age (pre-Last Glacial) for the patch and for the ability of Nothofagus to persist in geographically suitable refugia under conditions of reduced temperatures. Sadly, the ability of Nothofagus to survive increasing temperatures and associated fire pressure is about to be tested. 

The sun eventually shone through as, at the base of Mt. Horror, we decided to walk down to the Scout Hut. 

A huge thanks to Mike Douglas for agreeing to help out when the leader who had helped with the planning was called elsewhere.