Central Hunter Valley eucalypt forest and woodland | |
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Ecology | |
Realm | Australasia |
Biome | Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands |
Borders | |
Geography | |
Country | Australia |
Elevation | 40–80 metres (130–260 ft) |
Coordinates | 32°35′S151°31′E / 32.58°S 151.52°E |
Climate type | Humid subtropical climate (Cfa) |
Soil types | Sand-clay |
The Central Hunter Valley eucalypt forest and woodland is a grassy woodland community situated in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia. It was listed in May 2015 as critically endangered under Australia's national environment law. [1] The Warkworth Sands Woodland of the Hunter Valley, situated in the area, was gazetted as an endangered ecological community in New South Wales on 13 December 2002 [2] [3] under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 and now under the Biodiversity Act of 2016 . [3]
It is found on low hillslopes and low ridges, or valley floors in undulating land, on soils traced from finer grained sedimentary rocks. The Warkworth Sands Woodland occurs on aeolian sand deposits south of Singleton in the Hunter Valley. [1] These sand dunes are thought to date from the Pleistocene, are from 1–6 m high and rest on a river terrace. [2] Under the Commonwealth EPBC Act it is listed as Warkworth Sands Woodland of the Hunter Valley. [4]
Warkworth Sands Woodland is found in a small area near Warkworth, with only 800 hectares remaining (thought to be perhaps 13% of its pre-settlement extent). [3] The entire known endangered community lies outside conservation reserves. [3] Extending from Newcastle in the southeast to Murrurundi to the northwest, traversing large towns such as Singleton and Muswellbrook, the community features mid to low woodland that is generally dominated by Angophora floribunda in its canopy and Banksia integrifolia subsp. integrifolia or Acacia filicifolia in the sub-canopy. [5]
It is dominated by Eucalyptus crebra, Corymbia maculata, Eucalyptus dawsonii, Angophora floribunda, Eucalyptus blakelyi, Eucalyptus glaucina, Eucalyptus tereticornis and Eucalyptus moluccana. Other tree species include Brachychiton populneus, Callitris endlicheri, Acacia salicina, Eucalyptus albens and Eucalyptus punctata. [1]
Animals include Litoria aurea, Petrogale penicillata, Pteropus poliocephalus, Pseudomys novaehollandiae, Dasyurus maculatus, Chalinolobus dwyeri, Nyctophilus corbeni, and Grantiella picta. [1] Threatened fauna which have been recorded in Warkworth Sands Woodland are: Petaurus norfolcensis , (Squirrel Glider), Chthonicola saggitata (Speckled Warbler), Climacteris picumnus victoriae (Brown treecreeper) and Pomatostomus temporalis temporalis (Grey-crowned Babbler). [2]
Goobang is a national park located in New South Wales, Australia, 296 kilometres (184 mi) northwest of Sydney. It protects the largest remnant forest and woodland in the central west region of the state, where interior and coastal New South Wales flora and fauna species overlap. Originally named Herveys Range by John Oxley in 1817, the area was reserved in 1897 as state forest because of its importance as a timber resource, and was designated a national park in 1995.
The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, Newcastle Region, or simply Hunter, is a region in northern New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately 162 km (101 mi) to 310 km (193 mi) north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and south. Situated at the northern end of the Sydney Basin bioregion, the Hunter Valley is one of the largest river valleys on the NSW coast, and is most commonly known for its wineries and coal industry.
Dichelachne crinita , commonly known as the longhair plume grass, is a type of grass found in Australia, New Zealand and islands of the Pacific Ocean. It is often seen on sandy soils near the sea as well as woodlands. The flowering panicles are open and feathery at maturity. The grass may grow up to 1.5 metres (5 ft) tall. Crinita, the specific epithet, is derived from Latin (hairy).
The Southern Sydney sheltered forest, or the Sydney Sandstone Gully Forest (SSGF), is a vegetation community found in Sydney, Australia that comprises an open forest composition grading into woodland or scrub, typically within gullies. The community is normally associated with sheltered heads and upper inclines of gullies on transitional zones where sandstone outcropping may be present.
The Littoral Rainforests of New South Wales is a group of fragmented and endangered ecological communities found by the coast in eastern Australia. Much of this seaside form has been destroyed by mining, tourist development or housing. It is threatened by extinction in the near future. 90% of the 433 sites are less than ten hectares in size. Littoral rainforest amounts to 0.6% of the rainforests in New South Wales.
Western Sydney Regional Park is a large urban park and a nature reserve situated in Western Sydney, Australia within the suburbs of Horsley Park and Abbotsbury. A precinct of Western Sydney Parklands, a park system, and situated within the heart of the Cumberland Plain Woodland, the regional park features several picnic areas, recreational facilities, equestrian trails, and walking paths within the Australian bush.
The Cumberland Plain Woodland, also known as Cumberland Plain Bushland and Western Sydney woodland, is a grassy woodland community found predominantly in Western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, that comprises an open tree canopy, a groundcover with grasses and herbs, usually with layers of shrubs and/or small trees.
The Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 (TSC Act) was enacted by the Parliament of New South Wales in 1995 to protect threatened species, populations and ecological communities in NSW. In 2016 it was replaced by the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016. These acts form the basis and the mechanisms in NSW by which species, populations and ecological communities are declared endangered, vulnerable or critically endangered, and under which people and corporations are prosecuted for destruction of habitat sheltering such species, populations or communities.
Bulga is a locality in the Singleton Council region of New South Wales, Australia. It had a population of 354 as of the 2016 census. The name is derived from an Aboriginal word for "mountain" or "isolated hill or mountain".
The Weeping Myall Woodlands is an endangered ecological community, under the EPBC Act of the Commonwealth of Australia. It is found in inland Queensland and inland New South Wales, on alluvial plains west of the Great Dividing Range. It takes its name from Acacia pendula, the weeping myall.
The New England Peppermint Grassy Woodland is a grassy-woodland community primarily situated in the New England and Northern Tablelands regions in northern New South Wales, Australia. Named after the Eucalyptus nova-anglica, it is listed as a critically endangered ecological communities (TECs) under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
The Southern Highlands Shale Forest and Woodland is a mixed grassy woodland and sclerophyll-temperate forest community situated within the Southern Highlands region of New South Wales, Australia. An ecotone featuring clay soils derived from Wianamatta Group, it is listed as an endangered ecological community by the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 as less than 5% of the original extent remains today. Three varieties of the Shale Woodland exist: ‘typical’, ‘tall wet’ and ‘short dry’.
The Shale Sandstone Transition Forest, also known as Cumberland Shale-Sandstone Ironbark Forest, is a transitory ecotone between the grassy woodlands of the Cumberland Plain Woodlands and the dry sclerophyll forests of the sandstone plateaus on the edges of the Cumberland Plain in Sydney, Australia.
The Elderslie Banksia Scrub Forest is a critically endangered scrubby woodland situated in southwestern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Listed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, it is a variety of stunted forest or woodland found on sandy substrates associated with deep Tertiary sand deposits, which has been reduced in extent of at least 90% of its original pre-European extent.
The Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub, which also incorporates Sydney Coastal Heaths, is a remnant sclerophyll scrubland and heathland that is found in the eastern and southern regions of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Listed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 as and endangered vegetation community and as 'critically endangered' under the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016, the Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub is found on ancient, nutrient poor sands either on dunes or on promontories. Sydney coastal heaths are a scrubby heathland found on exposed coastal sandstone plateau in the south.
The Lowland Grassy Woodland, or the Illawarra and South Coast Lowland Grassy Woodland is a grassland-savannah community mostly found in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. Stretching from the southern parts of the Illawarra in the north to the South East Corner in the south, it is an endangered ecological community that lies in a rain shadow area.
The River-flat eucalypt forest or Coastal floodplain eucalypt forest is a critically endangered threatened ecological community that is primarily found in southeastern Australia, from southeastern Queensland, through New South Wales, to eastern Victoria, on alluvial soils of the coastal floodplains. The name chiefly refers to its riparian and floodplain landscape location and the predominant tree canopy being Eucalyptus, Angophora and/or Corymbia, which may exceed 40 m in height.
The Blue Mountains Shale Cap Forest is a wet-sclerophyll temperate forest community predominantly found in the Blue Mountains, particularly in the Wollemi National Park, and parts of the Hawkesbury in New South Wales, Australia.