Shale Sandstone Transition Forest

Shale Sandstone Transition Forest
Shale Sandstone Transition Forest
	lithosols), loam

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.^[1]

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.^[2]

Geography

Found on soils that are chiefly traced from

Cooks River/Castlereagh Ironbark ecological community

, which is a forest-scrub ecoregion.

Only 22.6% of its original extent remaining today and reminiscent of a forest–savanna mosaic, the area lies on the transition between shales and sandstones of the Wianamatta and Hawkesbury Groups, including the transitional Mittagong Formation. The community is situated in an area that receives an annual rainfall between 800mm and 1100mm at an elevations less than 200 m above sea level, but may occur at about 600 m ASL at its southern extent in the Southern Highlands.^[2]

Ecology

The community is predominated by forest or woodland with an overstorey that features several

understorey that consists of sclerophyll shrubs, grasses and herbs. Zones that are proximate to sandstone may have a more shrubby understorey, while those with less sandstone would feature more herbs and grasses in the understorey. The canopy consists of trees that reach 20 m on average, with a projective foliage cover of roughly 20%.^[2]

Species include Eucalyptus punctata, Eucalyptus crebra, Eucalyptus fibrosa, Eucalyptus tereticornis, Eucalyptus resinifera, Eucalyptus eugenioides, Eucalyptus globoidea and Angophora bakeri, in addition to smaller trees like Allocasuarina littoralis and Syncarpia glomulifera.

Shrubs include

Leucopogon juniperinus and Pultenaea villosa

.

Grasses and herbs include,

Pratia purpurascens, Solanum prinophyllum and Themeda triandra.^[3]

Fauna

Animals include birds such as,

Saccolaimus flaviventris, Varanus rosenbergii, Pseudophryne bibroni and Pommerhelix duralensis.^[2]

References

^ Shale/Sandstone Transition Forest Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) Approved Conservation Advice (including listing advice) for Shale Sandstone Transition Forest of the Sydney Basin Bioregion (EC25R) Office of Environment & Heritage. Retrieved 13 September 2022. Text was copied from this source, which is available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
^ Shale Sandstone Transition Forest in the Sydney Basin Bioregion - profile Office of Environment & Heritage. Retrieved 13 September 2022.

[1] Shale/Sandstone Transition Forest Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Retrieved 13 September 2022.

[environment-2] Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) Approved Conservation Advice (including listing advice) for Shale Sandstone Transition Forest of the Sydney Basin Bioregion (EC25R) Office of Environment & Heritage. Retrieved 13 September 2022. Text was copied from this source, which is available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

[3] Shale Sandstone Transition Forest in the Sydney Basin Bioregion - profile Office of Environment & Heritage. Retrieved 13 September 2022.

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v t e Native Sydney bushland – Indigenous vegetation communities
Critically endangered	Blue Gum High Forest Castlereagh Scribbly Gum and Agnes Banks Woodlands Cumberland Plain Woodland Cooks River/Castlereagh Ironbark Forest Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub/Sydney Coastal Heaths Elderslie Banksia Scrub Forest Shale Sandstone Transition Forest Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest
Threatened	Coastal Swamp Oak Forest Coastal Upland Swamps River-flat eucalypt forest Southern Sydney sheltered forest Sydney Sandstone Ridgetop Woodland Themeda Grassland Western Sydney Dry Rainforest
Other	Ecology of Sydney Eastern Australian temperate forests