The Southern Tablelands Temperate Grassland, formally Natural Temperate Grassland of the Southern Tablelands, is a

temperate grassland Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands is a terrestrial biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The predominant vegetation in this biome consists of grass and/or shrubs. The climate is temperate and ranges from semi-arid to sem ...

community situated in the

Southern Tablelands The Southern Tablelands is a geographic area of New South Wales, Australia, located south-west of Sydney and west of the Great Dividing Range. The area is characterised by high, flat country which has generally been extensively cleared and ...

and Monaro region of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, extending into the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...

and the

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

border.Natural Temperate Grassland of the Southern Tablelands of NSW and the Australian Capital Territory.
Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...

. Retrieved 7 September 2022.Natural Temperate Grassland of the South Eastern Highlands - profile
Office of Environment & Heritage. Retrieved 7 September 2022. Listed as Endangered under the

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cultu ...

1999, the grassland is dominated by reasonably tall, dense to open tussock grasses.National Recovery Plan for Natural Temperate Grassland of the Southern Tablelands (NSW and ACT): An Endangered Ecological Community
Environment ACT 2005 National Recovery Plan for Natural Temperate Grassland of the Southern Tablelands (NSW and ACT): an endangered ecological community (Environment ACT, Canberra). Retrieved 7 September 2022. CC-BY icon

Text was copied from this source, which is available unde
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Temperate Grassland new listing, definition; critically endangered
Conservation Council.org.au. Retrieved 7 September 2022.

Geography

The community is commonly present in the Southern Tablelands of NSW and ACT, where it covers areas such as,

Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of the Australian state of New South Wales, approximately south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters pate ...

, Braidwood, Yass, Abercrombie River,

Boorowa Boorowa () is a farming village in the Hilltops Region in the south west slopes of New South Wales, Australia. It is located in a valley southwest of Sydney around above sea-level. The town is in Hilltops Council local government area. H ...

Jindabyne Jindabyne () is a town in south-east New South Wales, Australia that overlooks Lake Jindabyne near the Snowy Mountains, in Snowy Monaro Regional Council. It is a popular holiday destination year round, especially in winter. This is due to its ...

, Bombala, south to the Victorian border at Delegate, on the eastern boundary of

Kosciuszko National Park The Kosciuszko National Park () is a national park and contains mainland Australia's highest peak, Mount Kosciuszko, for which it is named, and Cabramurra, the highest town in Australia. Its borders contain a mix of rugged mountains and wilde ...

. The area features relatively low rainfall between 560 and 1200 metres in altitude, with low nutrient, highly textured soils on the valleys and low slopes (which grade with grassy woodland), and on the wider plains. 20 000 ha of natural temperate grassland was present in the ACT prior to European settlement and in NSW around 450 000 ha of grassland occurred. In the ACT there are four reserved sites that comprise a total area of 206 ha of grassland and in NSW there are two proposed nature reserves totaling around 200 ha. The region lies on broad plains with poor drainage and features cold air

inversion Inversion or inversions may refer to: Arts * , a French gay magazine (1924/1925) * ''Inversion'' (artwork), a 2005 temporary sculpture in Houston, Texas * Inversion (music), a term with various meanings in music theory and musical set theory * ...

s that encourages frosts which suppresses tree growth. The scattered community is bounded by the

Snowy Mountains The Snowy Mountains, known informally as "The Snowies", is an IBRA subregion in southern New South Wales, Australia, and is the tallest mountain range in mainland Australia, being part of the continent's Great Dividing Range cordillera syst ...

and Brindabella Range in the southwest, with he northwestern boundary passing from Burrinjuck Dam and to the

Lachlan River The Lachlan River is an intermittent river that is part of the Murrumbidgee River, Murrumbidgee drainage basin, catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, located in the Southern Tablelands, Central West (New South Wales), Central West, and R ...

and north to

Wyangala Dam Wyangala Dam is a major gated rock fill with clay core embankment and gravity dam with eight radial gates and a concrete chute spillway across the Lachlan River, located in the south-western slopes region of New South Wales, Australia. The d ...

Ecology

The area predominantly features moderately tall (25-50 cm) to tall (50 cm-1 m), thick to open

tussock grass Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are a group of grass species in the family Poaceae. They usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, hummocks, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn, in meadows, grasslands, and prairies. As perenni ...

es, such as

Bothriochloa macra ''Bothriochloa macra'', commonly known as red-leg grass, red grass, redleg or pitted beard grass is a perennial grass species that is native to eastern Australia and New Zealand. It is naturalised in Tasmania and Norfolk Island. References

...

, Themeda australis, Austrodanthonia spp., Austrostipa and

Poa ''Poa'' is a genus of about 570 species of grasses, native to the temperate regions of both hemispheres. Common names include meadow-grass (mainly in Europe and Asia), bluegrass (mainly in North America), tussock (some New Zealand species), a ...

spp with up to 70% of the species being forbs, which are namely daisies, lilies and native legumes. The grassland is generally treeless, though trees may be present in low densities (10%), either as sporadic individuals or in clusters, with the main tree species being

Eucalyptus melliodora ''Eucalyptus melliodora'', commonly known as yellow box, honey box or yellow ironbark, is a species of medium-sized to occasionally tall tree that is endemic to south-eastern, continental Australia. It has rough, flaky or fibrous bark on part o ...

. Herbs,

wildflower A wildflower (or wild flower) is a flower that grows in the wild, meaning it was not intentionally seeded or planted. The term implies that the plant probably is neither a hybrid nor a selected cultivar that is in any way different from the ...

s and forbs species include: *

Diuris chryseopsis ''Diuris chryseopsis'', commonly known as common golden moths or small snake orchid, is a species of orchid that is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is a common and widespread species growing in woodland, often in colonies and has up to fo ...

* Dillwynia glaucula *

Diuris pedunculata ''Diuris pedunculata'', commonly known as the small snake orchid, is a species of orchid which is endemic to New South Wales. It usually has two leaves at its base and one or two yellow and orange flowers with purple markings. It originally occu ...

* Dodonaea procumbens *

Leucochrysum albicans ''Leucochrysum albicans'', commonly known as hoary sunray, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is a small perennial with grey leaves, white or yellow flower-heads and is endemic to Australia. Description ''Leucochrysum albicans'' ...

Prasophyllum petilum ''Prasophyllum petilum'', commonly known as the Tarengo leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to eastern Australia. It has a single tubular, green leaf and up to eighteen pinkish mauve to greenish flowers, well-spaced along a slender flowe ...

Rutidosis leptorrhynchoides ''Rutidosis leptorrhynchoides'', the button wrinklewort, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Its natural distribution is southeastern Australia where its restricted to undisturbed grasslands and woodlands. As much of its original habi ...

Carex inversa ''Carex inversa'', commonly known as knob sedge, is a species of sedge of the family Cyperaceae that is native to parts of Australia and New Zealand and has also been introduced into Great Britain. Description The monoecious and rhizomatous per ...

Schoenus apogon ''Schoenus apogon'', known as common bog-rush, is a species of sedge native to eastern Australia, New Zealand and Japan. A tufted annual grass-like plant growing to 55 cm tall. Often seen in seasonally wet habitats. A species of variable fo ...

Lomandra filiformis ''Lomandra filiformis'', commonly known as wattle mat-rush, is a tussock forming perennial herb that is native to Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the ma ...

Wurmbea dioica ''Wurmbea dioica'', commonly known as early Nancy, is a species of plant in the family Colchicaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is a herb with three linear to thread-like leaves and usually two to seven white flowers with a purple or greenis ...

Bulbine bulbosa ''Bulbine bulbosa'', commonly known as bulbine lily, native leek, golden lily, or native onion, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asphodelaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is a perennial herb with thick roots, channelled leaves, a ...

* Microtis unifolia * Cheilanthes austrotenuifolia *

Asperula conferta ''Asperula conferta'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is Australian endemic distributed across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and the Northern Territory. Description ''Aspe ...

Chrysocephalum apiculatum ''Chrysocephalum apiculatum'', known by the common names common everlasting and yellow buttons, is a perennial herb native to southern Australia. It is a member of the Asteraceae, the daisy family. The name "everlasting" was inspired by its use a ...

* Convolvulus erubescens *

Cymbonotus lawsonianus ''Cymbonotus lawsonianus'', commonly known as bears ear, is a species of small shrub in the family Asteraceae from southeastern Australia. It has been described as ''Arctotis lawsoniana''. It is one of three species in the small genus '' Cymbon ...

* Desmodium varians *

Craspedia variabilis ''Craspedia variabilis'', commonly known as billy buttons, is an erect annual or perennial herb which occurs in all mainland states of Australia except for the Northern Territory and in a wide range of habitats in temperate zones but not in alpin ...

Wahlenbergia communis ''Wahlenbergia capillaris'', commonly known as tufted bluebell, is a plant in the family ''Campanulaceae'' and is native to Australia and New Guinea. It is an erect perennial herb with a few to many stems and grows to a height of . The leaves ar ...

Ajuga australis ''Ajuga australis'', commonly known as Austral bugle, is a herbaceous flowering plant native to Eastern Australia. First described by Robert Brown, it is occasionally seen in horticulture. Classification Scottish botanist Robert Brown describe ...

Eryngium ovinum ''Eryngium ovinum'', commonly known as the blue devil, is a plant species native to Australia. References {{Taxonbar, from=Q3057581 ovinum Flora of New South Wales Flora of South Australia Plants described in 1825 ...

Geranium solanderi ''Geranium solanderi'' (common names - native geranium, Australian cranesbill, Austral cranesbill, Cut-leaf cranesbill, native carrot, and hairy geranium) is a species of plant in the family Geraniaceae. It is native to Australia (New South Wa ...

* Dichondra repens *

Brachyloma daphnoides ''Brachyloma daphnoides'', commonly known as daphne heath, is a flowering plant in the family Ericaceae. It is a small upright shrub with dull grey-green leaves and white tubular flowers. Description ''Brachyloma daphnoides'' is a small, upright ...

* Lissanthe strigosa * Melichrus urceolatus *

Cryptandra amara ''Cryptandra amara'', commonly known as bitter cryptandra or pretty pearlflower, is a species of flowering plant in the family Rhamnaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a densely-branched shrub with clustered, more or less linear to ...

* Daviesia genistifolia *

Hymenanthera dentata ''Melicytus dentatus'', the tree violet, is a shrub that is native to south-east Australia. It grows up to 4 metres high and has branchlets that are often armed with spines and have leaves that are 5 to 50 mm long and sometimes toothed. T ...

* Hibbertia obtusifolia * Dodonaea procumbens *

Hakea microcarpa ''Hakea microcarpa '', commonly known as small-fruit hakea is a flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a spreading shrub, often growing in woodlands, heathlands and near swamps in montane areas of east ...

Animals

Synemon plana ''Synemon plana'', commonly known as the golden sun moth, is a Diurnal animal, diurnal moth native to Australia and throughout its range, it is currently classified as vulnerable under the ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Ac ...

Aprasia parapulchella ''Aprasia'' is a genus of lizards in the family Pygopodidae. The genus is endemic to Australia. The species in the genus ''Aprasia'' are worm-like, burrowing lizards. At least four of the species are oviparous. Species The genus ''Aprasia'' cont ...

* Delma impar *

Suta flagellum The little whip snake (''Suta flagellum''), also known commonly as the whip hooded snake, is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae. The species is endemic to Australia. Description ''S. flagellum'' can have a total length (including ...

* Dodonaea procumbens *

Microseris lanceolata ''Microseris lanceolata'' is an Australian alpine herb with yellow flowers and one of three plants known as murnong or yam daisy along with '' Microseris scapigera'' and '' Microseris walteri.'' The plant is found in southern parts of Austral ...

Tympanocryptis pinguicolla ''Tympanocryptis pinguicolla'', also known as Victorian grassland earless dragon, is a species of lizard in the family Agamidae. It is one of a documented species of a relatively small dragon belonging to the genus ''Tympanocryptis''. Taxonomy ...

* Lampropholis delicata *

Neobatrachus sudelli The Sudell's frog, painted burrowing frog (''Neobatrachus sudellae''), trilling frog or desert trilling frog (formerly ''Neobatrachus centralis'') is a species of burrowing frog common to a large part of southeastern Australia. It is found on ...

Coturnix ypsilophora The brown quail (''Synoicus ypsilophorus''), also known as the swamp quail, silver quail and Tasmanian quail, is an Australasian true quail of the family Phasianidae. It is a small, ground-dwelling bird and is native to mainland Australia, Tasma ...

* Gallinago hardwickii

References

{{Australasia grasslands navbox Grasslands of Australia Remnant urban bushland Vegetation of Australia Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands Environment of New South Wales Landforms of the Australian Capital Territory Ecoregions of New South Wales Endangered Ecological Community