New England Peppermint Grassy Woodland

Last updated

New England Peppermint Grassy Woodland
Bolivia NSW New England Highway.JPG
New England Highway traversing the grasslands
Ecology
Realm Australasia
Biome Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands
Borders
Geography
CountryAustralia
Elevation750–900 metres (2,460–2,950 ft)
Coordinates 30°12′S151°31′E / 30.2°S 151.52°E / -30.2; 151.52
Geology Sedimentary rock
Climate type Subtropical highland climate (Cfb)
Soil types Loam-clay

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. [1]

Contents

Geography

A hilly, wooded grassland in Hillgrove. Bakers Creek.jpg
A hilly, wooded grassland in Hillgrove.

The community is found throughout the Northern Tablelands and New England bioregion in northern New South Wales, near the Queensland border, at an elevation above 750 m, on cold drainage lines, upper riparian areas, valley bottoms, and low-lying flats with badly drained soils of moderate to high fertility, with some pockets in the NSW North Coast and Nandewar. [2]

The community stretches from Wallangarra in the north, Armidale in the centre, to Nundle in the south, though only 10% of its original habitat remains. It covers the Guyra, Inverell and Tenterfield Local Government Areas. It is one of the most significantly impacted ecoregion on the Northern Tablelands due to its fertile grazing land. [3]

Ecology

Ranging from 35 to 50 trees per hectare, the trees are mainly composed of E. nova-anglica, though secondary species such as, Eucalyptus stellulata, Eucalyptus stellulata, Eucalyptus dalrympleana, Eucalyptus blakelyi, Eucalyptus conica, Eucalyptus pauciflora and Angophora floribunda. [4]

There is very small and undefined amount of shrubs, but a variety of grass and herbs species in the understory are present, with the common ones being Poa sieberiana and Themeda triandra. The scarce shrubs would include Bursaria spinosa, Rubus parvifolius, Lissanthe strigosa, Leucopogon fraseri, Melichrus urceolatus and Acacia dealbata. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New England (New South Wales)</span> Region in New South Wales, Australia

New England is a geographical region in the north of the state of New South Wales, Australia, about 60 km (37 mi) inland from the Tasman Sea. The area includes the Northern Tablelands and the North West Slopes regions. As of 2021, New England had a population of 185,560, with over a quarter of the people living in the area of Tamworth Regional Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Tablelands</span> Region in New South Wales, Australia

The Northern Tablelands, also known as the New England Tableland, is a plateau and a region of the Great Dividing Range in northern New South Wales, Australia. It includes the New England Range, the narrow highlands area of the New England region, stretching from the Moonbi Range in the south to the Queensland border in the north. The region corresponds generally to the Bureau of Meteorology forecast area for the Northern Tablelands which in this case includes Inverell although it is significantly lower in elevation.

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

Eucalyptus nicholii, commonly known as the narrow-leaved black peppermint or willow peppermint, is a species of small to medium-sized tree that is endemic to New South Wales. It has thick, rough, fibrous bark on the trunk and branches, small, narrow adult leaves, flower buds arranged in groups of seven, white flowers and small, hemispherical, bell-shaped or conical fruit.

<i>Eucalyptus nova-anglica</i> Species of eucalyptus

Eucalyptus nova-anglica, commonly known as the New England peppermint or black peppermint, is a species of small to medium-sized tree endemic to eastern Australia. It has thick, rough, fibrous bark on the trunk and larger branches, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, white flowers and hemispherical or conical fruit.

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

Eucalyptus caliginosa, commonly known as broad-leaved stringybark or New England stringybark, is a tree that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has stringy bark, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven or nine, white flowers and more or less hemispherical fruit. It is common on the Northern Tablelands and North West Slopes of New South Wales and adjacent areas of Queensland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern Australian temperate forests</span> Ecoregion in Australia

The Eastern Australian temperate forests is a broad ecoregion of open forest on uplands starting from the east coast of New South Wales in the South Coast to southern Queensland, Australia. Although dry sclerophyll and wet sclerophyll eucalyptus forests predominate within this ecoregion, a number of distinguishable rainforest communities are present as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Lofty woodlands</span> Ecoregion in South Australia

The Mount Lofty woodlands, or the Peppermint Box Grassy Woodland of South Australia, is an ecoregion in South Australia, which includes woodlands, shrublands, and grasslands in the Mount Lofty Ranges, Fleurieu Peninsula, and Kangaroo Island.

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

Eucalyptus aggregata, commonly known as black gum, is a medium-sized tree that is endemic to southeastern Australia. It has rough, flaky bark, sometimes smooth on the branches, lance-shaped leaves, green to yellow flower buds in group of seven, white flowers and more or less cup-shaped fruit. It is a component of grassy woodland, often in low-lying or swampy areas, much of which has been cleared and it is under threat.

The Black Andrew Nature Reserve is a protected nature reserve located on the south west slopes of New South Wales, Australia. The 1,559-hectare (3,850-acre) reserve is situated on the southern shore of Burrinjuck Dam on the Murrumbidgee River, an important reservoir for the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New England Tablelands bioregion</span> Region in Australia

New England Tablelands, an interim Australian bioregion, is located mainly in New South Wales, comprising 3,002,213 hectares, of which 2,860,758 hectares or 95.23 per cent of the bioregion lies within New South Wales; and the residual within Queensland. This bioregion is one of the smaller bioregions in NSW, occupying 3.57 per cent of the state.

The Little Llangothlin Nature Reserve is a protected wetland nature reserve that is located on the Northern Tablelands in the New England region of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The 257-hectare (640-acre) reserve is situated approximately 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) north-east of the rural locality of Llangothlin, and some 20 kilometres (12 mi) north-east of Guyra.

The Queanbeyan Nature Reserve is a protected nature reserve that is located in the Southern Tablelands region of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The 67-hectare (170-acre) reserve is situated approximately 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) west-south-west of the City of Queanbeyan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cumberland Plain Woodland</span> Indigenous woodland community in Sydney, Australia

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ecology of Sydney</span> Geographic aspect of Sydney, Australia

The ecology of Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia, is diverse for its size, where it would mainly feature biomes such as grassy woodlands or savannas and some sclerophyll forests, with some pockets of mallee shrublands, riparian forests, heathlands, and wetlands, in addition to small temperate and subtropical rainforest fragments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Hunter Valley eucalypt forest and woodland</span> Endangered ecological community

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. 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 under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 and now under the Biodiversity Act of 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Highlands Shale Forest and Woodland</span> Ecological community in New South Wales

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’.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lowland Grassy Woodland</span> Ecological community in the south coast of New South Wales

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River-flat eucalypt forest</span>

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.

References

  1. New England Peppermint (Eucalyptus nova-anglica) Grassy Woodlands Department of the Environment (2022). New England Peppermint (Eucalyptus nova-anglica) Grassy Woodlands in Community and Species Profile and Threats Database, Department of the Environment, Canberra. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  2. New England Peppermint (Eucalyptus nova-anglica) Grassy Woodlands Environmental Justice Australia for Environment Council of Central Queensland. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  3. New England Peppermint (Eucalyptus nova-anglica) Grassy Woodland Trees on the Tablelands. NSW Government. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  4. New England Peppermint (Eucalyptus nova-anglica) Woodland on Basalts and Sediments in the New England Tableland Bioregion - profile Office of Environment & Heritage. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  5. FARMING AND NATIONALLY PROTECTED NEW ENGLAND PEPPERMINT GRASSY WOODLANDS The Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Retrieved 8 September 2022.