Composition of the plant community in remnant patches of grassy woodland along an urban-rural gradient in Melbourne, Australia

The composition of the plant community in remnant patches of open grassy woodlands with an overstorey of Eucalyptus camaldulensis was investigated along an urban-rural gradient in Melbourne, Australia. The plant community showed very little difference between patches along the gradient, particularly in terms of the indigenous plant species. Average annual rainfall was the main factor contributing to patterns of indigenous plant species richness, while the level of urbanization in the surrounding landscape had a strong influence on the number of non-indigenous species recorded in the remnant plant community. Patterns of species richness were largely influenced by landscape-scale factors, while the percent cover of indigenous and non-indigenous plant species were more strongly influenced by patch scale factors. The findings of this study suggest that the plant communities investigated during this study appear to be relatively resilient to changes in the landscape associated with urbanization, but the plant community may be affected by predicted changes in average annual rainfall associated with climate change. © 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.