Western Sydney Dry Rainforest

Last updated

Western Sydney Dry Rainforest and Moist Woodland on Shale
Maldon Bridge Cables Deck.jpg
Fragments of the rainforest in Maldon
Ecology
Realm Australasia
Biome Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forests
Borders Shale Sandstone Transition Forest and Cumberland Plain Woodland
Geography
Area9.5 km2 (3.7 sq mi)
CountryAustralia
Elevation60–300 metres (200–980 ft)
Coordinates 34°10′51″S150°40′47″E / 34.1808°S 150.6798°E / -34.1808; 150.6798 Coordinates: 34°10′51″S150°40′47″E / 34.1808°S 150.6798°E / -34.1808; 150.6798
Geology Sandstone, shale
Climate type Humid subtropical climate (Cfa)
Soil types Clay

The Western Sydney Dry Rainforest and Moist Woodland is a dry rainforest found in small pockets in south-western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Mostly featuring sclerophyll vegetation, it is listed as critically endangered under Australia's national environment law, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) as more than 70 per cent of its original extent has been reduced as a result of clearing, logging, weed invasion and heavy grazing. [1]

Contents

Geography

It is a dry, scrubby, vegetation community is scant, disjointed and is limited to the covered slopes and gully bottoms of the Cumberland Plain, where it is found in small parts in the natural areas of Picton, Camden, Grose Vale, Cattai, Campbelltown, Razorback, Abbotsbury (near Calmsley Hill City Farm), and as well to the north in Richmond, Parramatta, Ryde, Baulkham Hills, where it grades from a dry rainforest with a closed non-eucalypt canopy into moist woodland with an open canopy dominated by eucalypts. It is found in relatively higher rainfall areas compared to the areas on the western Sydney plain in precipitous and more rugged terrain. Only about 950 hectares remain, almost all of which occurring as highly disunited patches under 10 ha in size. [1]

Ecology

The dry rainforest is a low, closed forest that mostly features non-eucalypts, such as Melaleuca styphelioides, Acacia implexa, Alectryon subcinereus and Melicope micrococca with an understory of various shrubs, and a mostly sparse cover of grasses, vine thickets, ferns and other herbs such as Alchornea ilicifolia. Plants that generally occur in other types of rainforest/moist woodland in New South Wales are usually nonexistent in this community, such as palms and mosses. [1]

Shrubs include Notelaea longifolia, Spartothamnella juncea, Marsdenia viridiflora, Clerodendrum tomentosum and Pittosporum revolutum, with vines such as Aphanopetalum resinosum, Pandorea pandorana and Causonis clematidea. [2]

Fauna

Fauna species include Mixophyes iteratus, Alectura lathami, Stagonopleura guttata, Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris and Anthochaera phrygia. [1]

Related Research Articles

<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">Sclerophyll</span> Type of plant

Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaves, short internodes and leaf orientation which is parallel or oblique to direct sunlight. The word comes from the Greek sklēros (hard) and phyllon (leaf). The term was coined by A.F.W. Schimper in 1898, originally as a synonym of xeromorph, but the two words were later differentiated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests</span> Habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature

Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature.

Shrubland Vegetation dominated by shrubs

Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It may be the mature vegetation type in a particular region and remain stable over time, or a transitional community that occurs temporarily as the result of a disturbance, such as fire. A stable state may be maintained by regular natural disturbance such as fire or browsing. Shrubland may be unsuitable for human habitation because of the danger of fire. The term was coined in 1903.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cumberland Plain</span> Plain in Australia

The Cumberland Plain, an IBRA biogeographic region, is a relatively flat region lying to the west of Sydney CBD in New South Wales, Australia. Cumberland Basin is the preferred physiographic and geological term for the low-lying plain of the Permian-Triassic Sydney Basin found between Sydney and the Blue Mountains, and it is a structural sub-basin of the Sydney Basin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mallee Woodlands and Shrublands</span>

Mallee Woodlands and Shrublands is one of 32 Major Vegetation Groups defined by the Australian Government Department of the Environment and Energy.

<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">Kimberley tropical savanna</span> Terrestrial ecoregion in Western Australia

The Kimberley tropical savanna is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands ecoregion in northwestern Australia, covering portions of Western Australia and the Northern Territory south of the Timor Sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victoria Plains tropical savanna</span>

The Victoria Plains tropical savanna is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands ecoregion in northwestern Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Sydney Regional Park</span> Park in Sydney

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.

Tasmania can be broadly divided into two distinct regions, eastern and western, that exhibit major differences in climate, geology and vegetation. This divide, termed Tyler’s Corridor, runs from just south of the northwestern corner, and continues south, cutting roughly down the center of the island. The vegetation changes occur principally due to variations in soil types, which are a result of the geological composition, and the vast difference in climate across the state. Generally, the west has a higher mean rainfall but poor acidic soil while the east has a lower mean rainfall but slightly more fertile soil. This results in a larger proportion of rainforest, moorland and wet sclerophyll vegetation dominating in the west and predominantly dry sclerophyll in the east.

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

The Cumberland Plain Woodland, or 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">Prospect Nature Reserve</span>

Prospect Nature Reserve is a nature reserve and recreational area that is situated in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, which incorporates the Prospect Reservoir, and also features picnic spots, lookouts, walking tracks and BBQ areas within the Australian bush. It is located within the Blacktown City local government area, but is also close to the boundaries of Cumberland Council and the City of Fairfield.

<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 and some sclerophyll forests, with a few pockets of mallee shrublands, subtropical and temperate rainforests (evergreen), heathlands, and wetlands. The combination of climate, topography, moisture, and soil influence the dispersion of these ecological communities across a height gradient from 0 to 200 metres. There are many hiking trails, paved and unpaved roads for exploring the many different biomes and ecosystems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southeast Australia temperate forests</span> Terrestrial ecoregion in Australia

The Southeast Australia temperate forests is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion of south-eastern Australia. It includes the temperate lowland forests of southeastern Australia, at the southern end of the Great Dividing Range. Vegetation ranges from wet forests along the coast to dry forests and woodlands inland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue Mountains and Southern Highlands Basalt Forests</span> Ecological community in New South Wales

The Blue Mountains and Southern Highlands Basalt Forests are a sclerophyll temperate forest community that stretch from the northern fringes of the Blue Mountains to the Southern Highlands. Featuring both wet and dry sclerophyll forests, as well as small rainforest pockets, the community features tall (30m+) and open eucalypt forests and woodlands that lie on igneous rock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shale Sandstone Transition Forest</span> Indigenous woodland community in Sydney, Australia

The Shale Sandstone Transition 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. Listed in 2001 under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, the forest lies between other ecological communities found on shale or sandstone substrates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illawarra-Shoalhaven subtropical rainforest</span> Indigenous woodland community in Sydney, Australia

The Illawarra-Shoalhaven subtropical rainforest, or Illawarra Subtropical Rainforest (ISR), is a scattered rainforest community in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. Occurring just south of Sydney, it spans from the Royal National Park to the Milton-Ulladulla district in the south, albeit in scattered fragments.

References