Forests of Australia

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Australian forest cover Australia forest cover by Global Ecological Zones.tif
Australian forest cover
Total employment in forestry and logging in Australia (thousands of people) since 1984 ABS-6291.0.55.003-LabourForceAustraliaDetailedQuarterly-EmployedPersonsByIndustrySubdivisionSex-EmployedTotal-ForestryLogging-Persons-A2546075C.svg
Total employment in forestry and logging in Australia (thousands of people) since 1984

Australia has many forests of importance due to significant features, despite being one of the driest continents. As of 2009, Australia has approximately 147 million hectares of native forest, which represents about 19% of Australia's land area. [1] The majority of Australia's trees are hardwoods, typically eucalypts, rather than softwoods like pine. While softwoods dominate some native forests, their total area is judged insufficient to constitute a major forest type in Australia's National Forest Inventory. The Forests Australia website provides up-to-date information on Australia's forests. Detailed information on Australia's forests is available from Australia's State of the Forests Reports that are published every five years.

Contents

Forest types

There are 458 forest communities distributed across Australia. These have been grouped into the following seven native forest types, which are characterised by dominant species and the structure of the forest:

Plantation forests (softwood and hardwood) have been defined as an eighth group that covers trees planted for commercial use.

Government

Policies

In Australia the states and territories are responsible for managing forests. [2] Guidance is primarily provided by the 1992 National Forest Policy Statement (NFPS). [3] The NFPS allows for the inclusion of Regional Forest Agreements, which are 20-year plans for the management of native forests.

Departments

List of significant forests

ForestStateImageNotable features
Alpine National Park Victoria Mount-howitt-summit.jpg Extensive mountain ash and snowgum forests.
D'Aguilar National Park QueenslandLarge nature reserve on the western boundary of the City of Brisbane, bordering on the Mount Coot-tha Reserve, that supports a large variety of native plants and animals.
Brown Mountain forest Victoria Brown Mountain 08 Pengo.jpg Located in East Gippsland, Victoria, abuts the Errinundra National Park, and is notable for containing large tracts of old growth forest, including over fifty mountain ash trees estimated to be over 300 years old. The eucalypt forest provides key habitat for rare and threatened species such as the powerful owl, the spotted quoll, mainland Australia's largest marsupial carnivore, and the long-footed potoroo, Victoria's rarest marsupial. Campaigns to protect the area from logging led to blockades and non-violent direct action in 1990 and 2009. [4]
Central Highlands (Victoria) Victoria 1939 Regrowth 01 Pengo.jpg Contain cool temperate rainforests; dominated by myrtle beech and southern sassafras, with an understorey of ferns and mosses. They may also contain eucalypt trees and Australian blackwood. Eastern forests of the Central Highlands such as the Toolangi State Forest and Melbourne's forested water catchments provide habitat for the threatened Leadbeater's possum.
Cumberland Plain Woodland New South Wales Regionalparksydney.jpg Found in scattered forms in the Greater Western Sydney area, it is made up of dry sclerophyll woodlands and forests, reminiscent of the Mediterranean forests, totaling only around 6400 hectares. Grey Box (Eucalyptus moluccana) and Forest Red Gum (Eucalyptus tereticornis) dominate the woodland.
Wet Tropics Rainforest Queensland Rain Forest Daintree Australia.jpg Tropical rainforest near Tropical North Queensland. At around 1200 square kilometres the Wet Tropics Rainforest is a part of Australia's largest contiguous area of rainforest. Contains 30% of frog, marsupial and reptile species in Australia, and 65% of Australia's bat and butterfly species. 20% of bird species in the country can be found in this area including the threatened cassowary. Added to the World Heritage List in 1988. This followed campaigning by environmentalists, including blockades against logging and road construction earlier in the decade. [4]
Disappointment Reference Area VictoriaExtensive mountain ash (Eucalyptus regnans) forest with dense treeferns along many creeks. Prior to the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires, which burnt the majority of the reference area, this forest has not been burned since the 1700s, making many of the trees ~300 years old.
Errinundra forests Victoria Errinundra National Park 2010.jpg The Errinundra National Park in East Gippland contains the largest remaining cool temperate rainforests in Victoria. These old growth forests harbour many rare and threatened species of flora and fauna, including powerful owls, tiger quolls and long-footed potoroos.
Gloucester National Park Western Australia ClimbingTheGloucesterTree 2005 SeanMcClean.jpg Karri eucalyptus forests that includes the Gloucester Tree, Western Australia's most famous karri tree (pictured)
Gondwana Rainforests of Australia New South Wales N Eng NP (1).jpg Remnants of Gondwanaland forests. Pictured is Point Lookout, New England National Park, NSW.
Goolengook VictoriaOld growth cool temperate rainforest in Eastern Victoria.
Great Otway National Park Victoria Otway Fly Treetop Walk 2010.jpg Diverse range of landscapes and vegetation types including some old growth eucalyptus forest.
Karawatha Forest Queensland Stretton Karawatha forest.jpg Protected bushland at Karawatha, Queensland.
Kinglake National Park Victoria Masons Falls.JPG While much of the forest area was logged in the early part of the 20th century, many old growth trees remain.
Lake Mountain Victoria Lake-Mountain-trail.jpg Old growth mountain ash and snowgum forests, including habitat for the threatened Leadbeater's possum.
Lamington National Park Queensland/New South Wales Lamington NP 1 Stevage.jpg Part Gondwana Rainforests of Australia of the World Heritage site on the Queensland/New South Wales border. One of the largest upland subtropical rainforest remnants in the world and the most northern southern beech cool temperate rainforest in Australia.
Leard State Forest New South WalesThe biggest remnant of natural bushland on the Liverpool Plains in north-west NSW and the most extensive and intact stand of the nationally listed critically endangered box-gum woodland remaining in Australia. It is habitat for 34 critically endangered species and several endangered ecological communities. [5]
Limpinwood Nature Reserve New South Wales World Heritage listed wilderness region of 26 km2 situated in the Border ranges of north eastern New South Wales. Vegetation is primarily sub-tropical rain forest with some wet sclerophyll forest.
Mount Buffalo National Park Victoria Mt buffalo plateau.jpg Over 550 native species occur; the most significant vegetation communities are the alpine and sub-alpine communities. The lower slopes have communities of mixed gum and peppermint, including the bogong gum, Eucalyptus chapmaniana. These grade into pure stands of alpine ash, Eucalyptus delegatensis around 1100 metres elevation, and subalpine woodland of snow gum, Eucalyptus pauciflora above 1300 metres. Numerous endemic plant species.
Mount Warning National Park Queensland AU Mt Warning from Tweed.jpg Included in the UNESCO World Heritage Listings in 1986. Extensive subtropical rainforest remnants.
Mount Read (Tasmania) TasmaniaDespite extensive historic mining and human activity on its slopes, Mount Read has unique and significant stands of rare Huon pine forests on its slopes.
Pilliga forest New South Wales CkInPilliga.jpg Australia's largest inland native forest. Covering over 450,000 hectares.
Sherbrooke Forest Victoria Sherbrooke forest Victoria 220rs.jpg Wet sclerophyll forest with the dominant tree species being the mountain ash, Eucalyptus regnans , the tallest flowering plant in the world. The forest has recovered well from logging that occurred from the mid-19th century until 1930. Sherbrooke Forest is famous for its population of superb lyrebirds.
Springbrook National Park Queensland IMAG0310.jpg Part of the World Heritage site Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves. Rainforest and eucalypt forest.
Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest New South Wales Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest, Yaralla Estate, Concord West, NSW, 2.JPG The main canopy trees are turpentine ( Syncarpia glomulifera ), grey ironbark ( Eucalyptus paniculata ), narrow-leaved ironbark ( Eucalyptus crebra ) and red ironbark. Very few remnants of Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest remain.
Tarkine Tasmania Tarkine walks.JPG Extensive stands of eucalypt forest and cool temperate rainforest that includes ancient myrtle beech trees. Conservationists have intermittently blockaded logging in the forest since the mid-1990s. [4]
Tarra-Bulga National Park Victoria Tarra Bulga NP600x800.jpg Remnant cool temperate rainforest in the Stzelecki Ranges. The deeply incised river valleys of the park are dominated by wet sclerophyll tall open forest of mountain ash ( Eucalyptus regnans ), with an understorey of blackwood ( Acacia melanoxylon ), hazel pomaderris ( Pomaderris aspera) and tree ferns ( Dicksonia antarctica and Cyathea australis ). Pockets of the park feature cool temperate rainforest, including myrtle beech ( Nothofagus cunninghamii ).
Tuart Forest National Park Western AustraliaContains rare old growth Tuart ( Eucalyptus gomphocephala ) forest.
Walpole-Nornalup National Park Western Australia Valley of the giants skywalk.jpg Contains rare old growth giant Tingle eucalypt forest known as "The Valley of the Giants".
Wielangta forest Tasmania Sandspit River Wielangta Forest.jpg Part of remnant glacial refugia forest and contains blue gum eucalypt forest and pockets of cool temperate rainforest. The forest is a key habitat of rare and threatened species, including the Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagle, swift parrot, broad-toothed stag beetle, spotted-tail quoll and eastern barred bandicoot. A rare orchid (Corunastylis nuda) has also been discovered in the forest.
Wollemi National Park New South Wales (1)Capertee River.jpg Contains the only known wild specimens of the Wollemi pine (Wollemia nobilis), a species thought to have become extinct approximately thirty million years ago, but discovered alive in three small stands in 1994.

Bushfires

Over the years, Bushfires have destroyed a lot of trees and this in turn destroyed the habitat of many animals. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Eucalyptus</i> Genus of flowering plants in the myrtle family

Eucalyptus is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of Eucalyptus are trees, often mallees and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including Corymbia and Angophora, they are commonly known as eucalypts. Plants in the genus Eucalyptus have bark that is either smooth, fibrous, hard or stringy, the leaves have oil glands, and the sepals and petals are fused to form a "cap" or operculum over the stamens. The fruit is a woody capsule commonly referred to as a "gumnut".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alpine National Park</span> Protected area in Victoria, Australia

The Alpine National Park is a national park located in the Central Highlands and Alpine regions of Victoria, Australia. The 646,000-hectare (1,600,000-acre) national park is located northeast of Melbourne. It is the largest National Park in Victoria, and covers much of the higher areas of the Great Dividing Range in Victoria, including Victoria's highest point, Mount Bogong at 1,986 metres (6,516 ft) and the associated subalpine woodland and grassland of the Bogong High Plains. The park's north-eastern boundary is along the border with New South Wales, where it abuts the Kosciuszko National Park. On 7 November 2008 the Alpine National Park was added to the Australian National Heritage List as one of eleven areas constituting the Australian Alps National Parks and Reserves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yarra Ranges National Park</span> Protected area in Victoria, Australia

Yarra Ranges National Park is located in the Central Highlands of Australia's southeastern state Victoria, 107 km northeast of Melbourne. Established in 1995 and managed by the statutory authority Parks Victoria, the park features a carbon-rich, temperate rainforest and a subalpine eucalypt forest on its northern plateau. It is home to large stands of mountain ash, the tallest tree species in Australia and among the tallest in the world. A wide diversity of fauna make their home across the park's 76,003 hectares, including kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, platypuses and 120 species of native birds. Among the conservation challenges facing Yarra Ranges National Park are climate change and invasive species of weeds.

<i>Eucalyptus regnans</i> Species of eucalyptus

Eucalyptus regnans, known variously as mountain ash, swamp gum, or stringy gum, is a species of medium-sized to very tall forest tree that is native to the Australia states of Tasmania and Victoria. It is a straight-trunked tree with smooth grey bark, but with a stocking of rough brown bark at the base, glossy green, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of between nine and fifteen, white flowers, and cup-shaped or conical fruit. It is the tallest of all flowering plants; the tallest measured living specimen, named Centurion, stands 100 metres tall in Tasmania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leadbeater's possum</span> Species of marsupial

Leadbeater's possum is a critically endangered possum largely restricted to small pockets of alpine ash, mountain ash, and snow gum forests in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia, north-east of Melbourne. It is primitive, relict, and non-gliding, and, as the only species in the petaurid genus Gymnobelideus, represents an ancestral form. Formerly, Leadbeater's possums were moderately common within the very small areas they inhabited; their requirement for year-round food supplies and tree-holes to take refuge in during the day restricts them to mixed-age wet sclerophyll forest with a dense mid-story of Acacia. The species was named in 1867 after John Leadbeater, the then taxidermist at the Museum Victoria. They also go by the common name of fairy possum. On 2 March 1971, the State of Victoria made the Leadbeater's possum its faunal emblem.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old-growth forest</span> Type of forest

An old-growth forest, sometimes synonymous with primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, first-growth forest, or mature forest, is a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological features, and might be classified as a climax community. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations defines primary forests as naturally regenerated forests of native tree species where there are no clearly visible indications of human activity and the ecological processes are not significantly disturbed. Barely one-third of the world's forests are primary forests. Old-growth features include diverse tree-related structures that provide diverse wildlife habitats that increases the biodiversity of the forested ecosystem. Virgin or first-growth forests are old-growth forests that have never been logged. The concept of diverse tree structure includes multi-layered canopies and canopy gaps, greatly varying tree heights and diameters, and diverse tree species and classes and sizes of woody debris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of Tasmania</span>

Tasmania, the largest island of Australia, has a landmass of 68,401 km2 (26,410 sq mi) and is located directly in the pathway of the notorious "Roaring Forties" wind that encircles the globe. To its north, it is separated from mainland Australia by Bass Strait. Tasmania is the only Australian state that is not located on the Australian mainland. About 2,500 kilometres south of Tasmania island lies the George V Coast of Antarctica. Depending on which borders of the oceans are used, the island can be said to be either surrounded by the Southern Ocean, or to have the Pacific on its east and the Indian to its west. Still other definitions of the ocean boundaries would have Tasmania with the Great Australian Bight to the west, and the Tasman Sea to the east. The southernmost point on mainland Tasmania is approximately 43°38′37″S146°49′38″E at South East Cape, and the northernmost point on mainland Tasmania is approximately 40°38′26″S144°43′33″E in Woolnorth / Temdudheker near Cape Grim / Kennaook. Tasmania lies at similar latitudes to Te Waipounamu / South Island of New Zealand, and parts of Patagonia in South America, and relative to the Northern Hemisphere, it lies at similar latitudes to Hokkaido in Japan, Northeast China (Manchuria), the north Mediterranean in Europe, and the Canada-United States border.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strzelecki Ranges</span>

The Strzelecki Ranges is a set of low mountain ridges located in the West Gippsland and South Gippsland regions of the Australian state of Victoria.

<i>Nothofagus cunninghamii</i> Species of tree

Nothofagus cunninghamii, commonly known as myrtle beech or Tasmanian myrtle, is the dominant species of cool temperate rainforests in Tasmania and Southern Victoria. It has low fire resistance and grows best in partial shade conditions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Styx Valley</span> Valley on the island of Tasmania, Australia

The Styx Valley is a valley located adjacent to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Site on the island of Tasmania, Australia. The Styx River is the main drainage system of the valley that lies about 100 kilometres (62 mi) northwest of Hobart, with the nearest town being Maydena.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Highlands (Victoria)</span> Region in Victoria, Australia

The Central Highlands subregion is part of the Grampians region in western Victoria. It includes the municipalities of Rural City of Ararat, City of Ballarat, Golden Plains Shire, Shire of Hepburn, Shire of Moorabool, Shire of Pyrenees.

Toolangi is a locality in Victoria, Australia. At the 2016 census, Toolangi and the surrounding area had a population of 344. It is situated on the edge of the Toolangi State Forest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodchipping in Australia</span> Australian timber export sector

Woodchipping is the act and industry of chipping wood for pulp. Timber is converted to woodchips and sold, primarily, for paper manufacture. In Australia, woodchips are produced by clearcutting or thinning of native forests or plantations. In other parts of the world, forestry practices such as short rotation coppice are the usual methods adopted.

Aroostook State Park is public recreation area within the southern municipal boundary of the city of Presque Isle in Aroostook County, Maine. The state park's 898 acres (363 ha) encompass Quaggy Jo Mountain and sit adjacent to Echo Lake. "Quaggy Jo" is an altered version of the mountain's Native American name, "Qua Qua Jo", which means "twin-peaked."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toolangi State Forest</span>

The Toolangi State Forest region in southern Australia extends from Mount Monda in the south up to Murrindindi in the north and includes the township of Toolangi. The forest is mainly eucalypt forest that has regrown from the 1939 Victoria Bushfires.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farm Forestry Toolbox</span>

The Farm Forestry Toolbox is a collection of computer programs, referred to as 'Tools', intended to be used by farm forest owners and managers to aid decision making. The Toolbox includes a set of simple 'Hand Tools'; conversion of measurements and map co-ordinates; measuring the volume of stacked logs, slope, basal area; and a survey tool. A second set of more complex tools or 'Power Tools'; can be used to estimate site productivity, volume and value of wood grown for individual trees, at the coupe or stand level and forest estate level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forests Department (Western Australia)</span>

The Forests Department was a department of the Government of Western Australia created in 1919 under Conservator of Forests Charles Lane Poole, that was responsible for implementing the State's Forests Act (1918–1976) legislation and regulations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forests Commission Victoria</span> Government authority managing forests in Victoria, Australia

The Forests Commission Victoria (FCV) was the main government authority responsible for management and protection of State forests in Victoria, Australia between 1918 and 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Redwoods of the Otway Ranges</span> Grove of Coast redwoods in Victoria, Australia

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forestry Corporation of NSW</span> Forestry company in Australia

The Forestry Corporation of NSW is a state-owned corporation that has been appointed to manage environmental conservation, community access, tourism, fire, land management and renewable timber production across 2 million hectares of public land on behalf of the NSW Government.

References

  1. Australian Forest Profiles Archived 2011-06-04 at the Wayback Machine – Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources
  2. "Australia's Forest Policies". Department of Agriculture. 5 February 2013. Archived from the original on 17 May 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  3. "National Forest Policy Statement". Department of Agriculture. 5 February 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 McIntyre, Iain (2020-11-04). "Environmental Blockading in Australia and Around the World - Timeline 1974-1997". The Commons Social Change Library. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
  5. http://nccnsw.org.au/sites/default/files/Leardweb.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  6. "Bushfires – across the nation".