Ferns are common and conspicuous epiphytes on
D. antarctica, and to a lesser extent, C. cunninghamii.
The relatively fewer fern species than bryophyte species
does not imply that tree-ferns are poor hosts for
ferns, but that bryophyte species vastly outnumber
ferns in Tasmanian temperate forests (Dalton 1998b).
In fact, epiphytic ferns are often abundant, and almost
all of the typically epiphytic ferns occurring in
Tasmania were on these tree-fern hosts. Several
fern species show strong preferences for tree-fern
trunks (e.g. Hymenophyllaceae and Tmesipteris spp.;
Garrett 1996). Of these species, only Tmesipteris
obliqua and Hymenophyllum rarum were not found on
C. cunninghamii as well as D. antarctica in this study,
possibly due only to insufficient sample size. Two species
more typical of terrestrial environments (Blechnum
nudum and Polystichum proliferum) were also found on
D. antarctica trunks, suggesting the soft and fibrous
root mantle of this species is suitable for the establishment
of non-specialist species. Non-epiphytic seed
plants (e.g. Coprosma quadrifida, Pimelea drupacea,
Pittosporum bicolor and Atherosperma moschatum) were
also frequently observed on this host.
Although not identified to species level, lichens were
common and may contribute significantly to the epiphytic
diversity on tree-ferns. Ford and Gibson (2000)
found 25 lichen species growing on D. antarctica
trunks in three rainforest sites in Victoria. They concluded
that, although D. antarctica trunks generally
make poorer hosts for lichens than other rainforest
hosts such as Nothofagus cunninghamii, they nonetheless
provide an important substrate, and are preferred
by a few species.