The Southeast Australia temperate forests is a

temperate broadleaf and mixed forests Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest is a temperate climate terrestrial habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature, with broadleaf tree ecoregions, and with conifer and broadleaf tree mixed coniferous forest ecoregions. These f ...

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.

Geography

The ecoregion covers most of the state of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, and extends into southeastern New South Wales. It includes the coastal plain and the drier western slope of the Great Dividing Range. It surrounds the Australian Alps montane grasslands, which lie above 1200 in the highest portion of the Great Dividing Range. The northern portion of the ecoregion, lying north of the Great Dividing Range and the

Grampians The Grampian Mountains (''Am Monadh'' in Gaelic) is one of the three major mountain ranges in Scotland, that together occupy about half of Scotland. The other two ranges are the Northwest Highlands and the Southern Uplands. The Grampian r ...

, is in the basin of the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) ( Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longe ...

. The southern portion of the ecoregion, south and east of the Grampians and Great Dividing Range, is drained by the Yarra, Macalister,

Thompson Thompson may refer to: People * Thompson (surname) * Thompson M. Scoon (1888–1953), New York politician Places Australia *Thompson Beach, South Australia, a locality Bulgaria * Thompson, Bulgaria, a village in Sofia Province Canada * ...

Snowy Snowy may refer to: People People with the given name or nickname Snowy include: * Snowy Baker (1884–1953), Australian athlete, sports promoter, and actor * Snowy Evans (c. 1891–1925), Australian machine gunner credited with firing the shot ...

, and other rivers which empty into the

Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The strait provides the most direct wat ...

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea ( Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer ...

. It borders the

Eastern Australian temperate forests The Eastern Australian temperate forests is a broad ecoregion of open forest on uplands (typically on the Great Dividing Range) starting from the east coast of New South Wales in the South Coast to southern Queensland, Australia. Although dry s ...

to the northeast. The

Southeast Australia temperate savanna The Southeast Australia temperate savanna ecoregion is a large area of grassland dotted with eucalyptus trees running north–south across central New South Wales, Australia. In Australia, the region is known as, or corresponds to, the Grey Bo ...

lies to the north, the Murray-Darling woodlands and mallee lies to the northeast, and the

Naracoorte woodlands The Naracoorte woodlands is an ecoregion in southern Australia. It covers the Naracoorte coastal plain in southeastern South Australia and southwestern Victoria. It is coterminous with the Naracoorte Coastal Plain IBRA region. Only 10% of th ...

lies to the east. The ecoregion encompasses six IBRA bioregions – the New South Wales South Western Slopes,

South East Coastal Plain The South East Coastal Plain is an interim Australian bioregion located in coastal southern Victoria. It has an area of . The South East Coastal Plain bioregion is part of the Southeast Australia temperate forests ecoregion and also features t ...

, South East Corner,

South Eastern Highlands The South Eastern Highlands is an interim Australian bioregion in eastern Australia, that spans parts of the states and territories of New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, and Victoria. The bioregion comprises and is approx ...

Southern Volcanic Plain The Southern Volcanic Plain is an interim Australian bioregion located in western Victoria and south-eastern South Australia. It has an area of . The Southern Volcanic Plain bioregion is part of the Southeast Australia temperate forests ecoreg ...

, and

Victorian Midlands The Victorian Midlands is an interim Australian bioregion located in central Victoria. It has an area of . The Victorian Midlands bioregion is part of the Southeast Australia temperate forests ecoregion. Subregions The Victorian Midlands bior ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

, Australia's second-largest city, is the largest city in the ecoregion.

Flora

Plant communities in the ecoregion include wet

sclerophyll Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaves, short internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is parallel or oblique to direct ...

forests, dry sclerophyll forests, eucalypt woodlands, temperate rainforest, grasslands, dense heath, coastal vegetation, and

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks a ...

communities. Wet sclerophyll forests are common between the coast and the Great Dividing Range, which separates these more humid forests from the drier forests and woodlands of the interior. Trees are generally of medium height, with an understory of low shrubs.

Eucalypt Eucalypt is a descriptive name for woody plants with capsule fruiting bodies belonging to seven closely related genera (of the tribe Eucalypteae) found across Australasia: ''Eucalyptus'', '' Corymbia'', '' Angophora'', '' Stockwellia'', '' Allo ...

s are the predominant trees, and characteristic species include brown stringybark (''Eucalyptus baxteri''),

manna gum ''Eucalyptus viminalis'', commonly known as the manna gum, white gum or ribbon gum, is a species of small to very tall tree that is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It has smooth bark, sometimes with rough bark near the base, lance-shaped to c ...

(''E. viminalis''), messmate stringybark (''E. obliqua''), and

mountain grey gum ''Eucalyptus cypellocarpa'', commonly known as mountain grey gum, mountain gum, monkey gum or spotted mountain grey gum, is a species of straight, smooth-barked forest tree that is endemic to southeastern Australia. It has relatively large, lanc ...

(''E. cypellocarpa''). Brown stringybark is found on low-fertility soils, and messmate stringybark becomes common on more fertile soils. Box-ironbark forest is found in the low hills between the Great Dividing Range and the drier woodlands of the interior plains. The predominant trees are grey box (''Eucalyptus microcarpa''),

yellow gum ''Eucalyptus leucoxylon'', commonly known as yellow gum, blue gum or white ironbark, is a species of small to medium-sized tree that is endemic to south-eastern continental Australia. It has smooth yellowish bark with some rough bark near the ba ...

(''E. leucoxylon''), and red ironbark (''E. sideroxylon''). Eucalypt woodland is found in the drier interior. It is an open woodland of medium-sized trees, with 10 to 30 percent tree canopy cover. Common trees include grey box, yellow box (''Eucalyptus melliodora''), and Blakely's red gum (''E. blakeleyi''). The understorey is dominated by grasses such as ''

Themeda triandra } ''Themeda triandra'' is a species of perennial tussock-forming grass widespread in Africa, Australia, Asia and the Pacific. In Australia it is commonly known as kangaroo grass and in East Africa and South Africa it is known as red grass and red ...

'' with few shrubs. In the Geelong area and on the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales there are treeless basalt plains dominated by spear grasses ('' Stipa scabra'' and '' S. bigeniculata'').

Fauna

Native mammals include the

koala The koala or, inaccurately, koala bear (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the ...

(''Phascolarctos cinereus''), southern subspecies of

tiger quoll The tiger quoll (''Dasyurus maculatus''), also known as the spotted-tail quoll, the spotted quoll, the spotted-tail dasyure, native cat or the tiger cat, is a carnivorous marsupial of the quoll genus '' Dasyurus'' native to Australia. With male ...

(''Dasyurus maculatus maculatus''),

long-nosed potoroo The long-nosed potoroo (''Potorous tridactylus'') is a small, hopping, gerbil-like mammal native to forests and shrubland of southeastern Australia and Tasmania. A member of the rat-kangaroo family (Potoroidae), it lives alone and digs at night f ...

(''Potorous tridactylus''),

feathertail glider The feathertail glider (''Acrobates pygmaeus''), also known as the pygmy gliding possum, pygmy glider, pygmy phalanger, flying phalanger and flying mouse, is a species of marsupial native to eastern Australia. It is the world's smallest gliding ...

(''Acrobates pygmaeus''), and

eastern pygmy possum The eastern pygmy possum (''Cercartetus nanus'') is a diprotodont marsupial of south-eastern Australia. Occurring from southern Queensland to eastern South Australia and also Tasmania, it is found in a range of habitats, including rainforest, ...

(''Cercartetus nanus''). The mainland

swamp antechinus The swamp antechinus (''Antechinus minimus''), also known as the little Tasmanian marsupial mouse, is a species of shrew-like marsupial of the family Dasyuridae and as such is related to dunnarts, quolls and the Tasmanian devil. Taxonomy The s ...

(''Antechinus minimus maritimus'') and white footed dunnart (''Sminthopsis leucopus'') are restricted to the coastal region. The

smoky mouse The smoky mouse (''Pseudomys fumeus'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae native to southeastern Australia. It was first described in 1934 and its species name is Latin for "smoky". As its name suggests, it is a grey-furred mouse, darke ...

(''Pseudomys fumeus'') and

agile antechinus The agile antechinus (''Antechinus agilis'') is a species of small carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. It is found in Australia. Taxonomy The agile antechinus was long considered to be a form of the brown antechinus (''Antechinus ...

(''Antechinus agilis'') are near-endemic. Leadbeater’s possum (''Gymnobelideus leadbeateri'') is endemic to the ecoregion, restricted to wet eucalypt forests of the Victorian Central Highlands.

Protected areas

12.6% of the ecoregion is in protected areas. Protected areas include

Croajingolong National Park The Croajingolong National Park is a coastal national park located in the East Gippsland region of the Australian state of Victoria. The national park is situated approximately east of Melbourne and south of Sydney. The name ''Croajingolon ...

Snowy River National Park The Snowy River National Park is a national park located in the alpine and East Gippsland regions of Victoria, Australia. The national park is situated approximately northeast of Melbourne and southwest of Canberra, south of the Black-A ...

Wadbilliga National Park Wadbilliga National Park is a national park that is located in high country spanning the Monaro and South Coast regions of south-eastern New South Wales, Australia. Location and features Wadbilliga National Park is located southwest of Sydn ...

, and

Murramarang National Park Murramarang is a national park in New South Wales, Australia, southwest of Sydney. It follows the coastline from Long Beach north to Merry Beach near Ulladulla. It is surrounded by three state forests, Kioloa, South Brooman, and Benandarrah ...

in the South East Corner,

Grampians National Park The Grampians National Park commonly referred to as The Grampians, is a national park located in the Grampians region of Victoria, Australia. The Jardwadjali name for the mountain range itself is Gariwerd. The national park is situated bet ...

in the Victorian Midlands,

Great Otway National Park The Great Otway National Park is a national park located in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia. The national park is situated approximately southwest of Melbourne, in the Otway Ranges, a low coastal mountain range. It con ...

in the coastal Otway Ranges southwest of Melbourne, and

Mount Imlay National Park Mount Imlay is a national park in New South Wales ( Australia), 387 km south of Sydney, named after the Imlay brothers, who were early pioneers to the district. It is accessed from the Princes Highway, south of Eden, New South Wales. The ...

External links

References

{{Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA), state=collapsed Biogeography of New South Wales Biogeography of Victoria (Australia) Ecoregions of Australia Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests Sclerophyll forests