The relative importance of height as a variable influencing epiphyte communities varies with forest stature. Taller forests obviously have a much stronger vertical component of moisture gradients than shorter forests. Thus, vertical stratification of epiphyte communities is distinct in tall forests (e.g., McCune et al. 2000), while substrate effects and horizontal gradients of moisture availability are more easily distinguished in short forests (e.g., Kantvilas and Minchin 1989).