Editing Epacris impressa (section)

==Ecology==
[[File:Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris female.jpg|left|thumb|Eastern spinebill on ''Epacris impressa'',  [[Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens]]]]
[[Honeyeater]]s such as the [[eastern spinebill]] are attracted to the flowers. As the bird gathers the nectar, the pollen, which has fins, attaches itself to the feathers on the heads of the birds and is carried to other flowers, aiding [[cross pollination]].<ref Name=PV>{{cite web|title=Common (or Pink) Heath|work=Fact Files|publisher=Parks Victoria|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110806124300/http://www.parkweb.vic.gov.au/education/factfiles/09.htm|archive-date= 6 August 2011 |url=http://www.parkweb.vic.gov.au/education/factfiles/09.htm}}</ref> A study in forests near [[Hobart]] in Tasmania found that the eastern spinebill arrived in the area at the same time the common heath was in flower in March, and left once flowering had finished. Other honeyeaters, such as the [[strong-billed honeyeater|strong-billed]], [[crescent honeyeater|crescent]] and [[yellow-throated honeyeater]]s, fed occasionally at common heath flowers.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Thomas |first=D.G. | year = 1980| title = Foraging of Honeyeaters in an Area of Tasmanian Sclerophyll Forest | journal = Emu | volume =80 | issue =2 | pages =55–58 | doi =10.1071/MU9800055 | url= http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/MU9800055.htm}}</ref> Field work in the [[Mount Lofty Ranges]] in South Australia recorded the [[white-plumed honeyeater|white-plumed]] and [[New Holland honeyeater]]s, as well as the crescent honeyeater and the eastern spinebill.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Paton, D.C. |author2=Ford, H.A. |title=Pollination by birds of native plants in South Australia|journal = Emu |year=1977 | volume =77|issue=2| pages= 73–85 |doi=10.1071/MU9770073}}</ref>

Insects recorded visiting white-flowered plants include the [[Australian painted lady]] (''Vanessa kershawi'') and [[yellow admiral]] (''V. itea''), as well as bees.<ref name=StaceII/> Field work in southern Tasmania showed that the introduced bumblebee (''[[Bombus terrestris]]'') sometimes robbed nectar by piercing the base of the tube. This then allowed honeybees (''[[Western honey bee|Apis mellifera]]'') to retrieve nectar the same way.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Hingston, Andrew B. |author2=McQuillan, Peter B |title= Nectar Robbing in ''Epacris impressa'' (Epacridaceae) by the Recently Introduced Bumblebee ''Bombus terrestris'' (Apidae) in Tasmania |journal= Victorian Naturalist |volume= 115 |issue= 4|pages= 116–19 |issn= 0042-5184 |year=1998}}</ref> ''Epacris impressa'' is host to the [[scale insect]] ''[[Lecanodiaspis microcribraria]]''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ben Dov|first=Yair|title=A Systematic Catalogue of Eight Scale Insect Families (Hemiptera: Coccoidea) of the World: Aclerdidae, Asterolecaniidae, Beesoniidae, Carayonemidae, Conchaspididae, Dactylopiidae, Kerriidae and Lecanodiaspididae|publisher=Elsevier|date=2006|page=335|isbn=0-08-046531-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O2A8xdNN3BUC&pg=PA335}}</ref>

A field study of the invasion of the pathogen ''[[Phytophthora cinnamomi]]'' into the [[Brisbane Ranges National Park]] in Victoria in 1971 indicated that ''Epacris impressa'' was moderately susceptible to the pathogen.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Weste, Gretna |author2=Taylor, P. |title= The Invasion of Native Forest by ''Phytophthora cinnamomi''. I. Brisbane Ranges, Victoria | journal=Australian Journal of Botany |volume=19|issue=3|pages=281–94 |year=1971|doi=10.1071/BT9710281}}</ref> Inoculation of seedlings confirmed this.<ref>{{cite journal | title=''Phytophthora cinnamomi'' in the Common Heath, ''Epacris impressa'' |  journal =Australasian Plant Pathology |year= 1996 |volume = 25 |issue=2 |page = 141 |author1=Shanahan, Kylie |author2=Weste, Gretna |author3=Guest, David | doi=10.1071/AP96023| s2cid =26679825 }}</ref> Fieldwork in the Brisbane Ranges National Park in 1985 showed that there was some evidence that ''E. impressa'' seedlings were able to recolonise areas that had been infested with ''P. cinnamomi'' a decade before.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Vegetation Changes Associated With Invasion by Phytophthora cinnamomi of Defined Plots in the Brisbane Ranges, Victoria, 1975–1985 |author= Weste, Gretna | journal= Australian Journal of Botany |volume = 34 |issue= 6 |pages= 633–48 |year=1986 |doi=10.1071/BT9860633}}</ref>

''Epacris impressa'' regenerates after [[Bushfires in Australia|bushfire]] by seed and [[Resprouter|resprouting]].<ref name=Wark-White-et-al.-1987>{{Cite journal | last1= Wark | first1= Margaret C. | last2= White | first2= Mary D. | last3= Robertson | first3= David J. | last4= Marriott | first4= Philip F. | year= 1987 | title= Regeneration of Heath and Heath Woodland in the North-eastern Otway Ranges following the Wildfire of February 1983 | journal= Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria| volume= 99 | issue= 2 | pages= 51–88| url= http://cedric.slv.vic.gov.au/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=2453893&custom_att_2=direct | access-date= 7 Aug 2014}}</ref><ref name=Molnar-Fletcher-Parsons-1989>{{Cite journal | last1= Molnar | first1= Cathy D. | last2= Fletcher | first2= Daintree | last3= Parsons | first3= Robert F. | year= 1989 | title= Relationships between heath and ''Leptospermum laevigatum'' scrub at Sandringham, Victoria | journal= Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria | volume= 101 | pages= 77–87 | url= http://cedric.slv.vic.gov.au/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=2540571&custom_att_2=direct | access-date=  7 Aug 2014 }}</ref> Fieldwork in heathland in the [[Otway Ranges]] in the years following the 1983 [[Ash Wednesday bushfires]] showed that large numbers of ''E. impressa'' seedlings appeared in some areas, and that flowering took place as early as the second year after the fire.<ref name=Wark-White-et-al.-1987/>

The roots of ''Epacris impressa'' are colonized by fungi forming [[ericoid mycorrhiza]]. It is believed that the fungal species vary between regions.<ref name="McLean & Lawrie 1996">{{cite journal|author1=McLean, C. |author2=Lawrie, A.C. |title=Patterns of Root Colonization in Epacridaceous Plants Collected from Different Sites|journal=Annals of Botany|year=1996|volume=77|issue=4|pages=405–412 |doi=10.1006/anbo.1996.0049|doi-access=free}}</ref>