Cushion plants and pandanis in mist, Southwest National Park, Tasmania

Cushion plants, pandanis, pineapple grass and dwarf myrtles grow on a remote mountain in the Southwest National Park. This fragile sub-alpine highland plant community, found no-where else on earth, thrives in the cool, moist conditions that prevail for much of the year. Such places are extremely vulnerable to fire, however, and climate change induced hot, dry summers, coupled with dry lightning strikes, pose a grave threat to their long term survival.