The Southern Sydney sheltered forest, or the Sydney Sandstone Gully Forest (SSGF), is a vegetation community found in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

that comprises an open forest composition grading into woodland or scrub, typically within

gullies A gully is a landform created by running water, mass movement, or both, which erodes soil to a sharp angle, typically on a hillside or in river floodplains or terraces. Gullies resemble large ditches or small valleys, but are metres to t ...

. The community is normally associated with sheltered heads and upper inclines of gullies on transitional zones where

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

outcropping may be present. The community also incorporates Western Sandstone Gully Forest to the

west West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

and Coastal Sandstone Gully Forest to the east on the infertile

Hawkesbury sandstone Sydney sandstone, also known as the Hawkesbury sandstone, yellowblock, and yellow gold, is a sedimentary rock named after Sydney, and the Hawkesbury River north of Sydney, where this sandstone is particularly common. It forms the bedrock f ...

Geography

The sheltered forest on transitional sandstone soils is an open forest or woodland dominated by eucalyptus trees with disjointed subcanopy trees, various shrub layer and a groundcover of ferns, forbs, grasses and graminoids, primarily on soft terrain, with slopes rarely surpassing 10°, and sandstone outcrops occur at parts, compared to areas within well-developed, precipitous gullies. The forest occurs in sheltered gullies and hillsides, on soils based on

Hawkesbury Sandstone Sydney sandstone, also known as the Hawkesbury sandstone, yellowblock, and yellow gold, is a sedimentary rock named after Sydney, and the Hawkesbury River north of Sydney, where this sandstone is particularly common. It forms the bedrock f ...

with some clay influences, principally centred on Allenby Park in

Allambie Heights Allambie Heights is a suburb of Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 17.5 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. It is part of the Nor ...

. It occupies areas that receive more than 1000mm of average annual rainfall. This is a fairly flat terrain with occasional slopes up to 10°. The sheltered forest been recorded in the local government areas of Campbelltown,

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Georges River The Georges River, also known as Tucoerah River, is an intermediate tide-dominated Ria, drowned valley estuary, that is located in Sydney, Australia. The Georges River is located south and south-west from the Sydney central business district, w ...

Hurstville Hurstville is a suburb in Southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is south of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD and is part of the St George, New South Wales, St George area. Hurstville is the administrative centre of ...

Kogarah Kogarah () is a suburb of Southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Kogarah is located 14 kilometres (9 miles) south-west of the Sydney central business district and is considered to be the centre of the St George area. Loc ...

Sutherland Sutherland () is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in the Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland. The name dates from the Scandinavian Scotland, Viking era when t ...

Wollondilly Wollondilly Shire is a periurban local government area that is located on the far southwest fringe of the Greater Sydney area in New South Wales, Australia. The local government area is part of the Macarthur and Blue Mountains regions. The Wol ...

and

Wollongong Wollongong ( ; Dharawal: ''Woolyungah'') is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near water' or 'sound ...

in the

Sydney Basin The Sydney Basin is an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, interim Australian bioregion and is both a structural entity and a depositional area, now preserved on the east coast of New South Wales, Australia and with some of its ...

Bioregion with an extent of less than 45 000 ha, where it is bounded by Hurstville, Carss Park,

Bundeena Bundeena is a village and suburb on the outskirts of southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Bundeena is located south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the Local government in Australia, local govern ...

Otford Otford is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It lies on the River Darent, north of Sevenoaks. Otford's four churches are the Anglican Church of St Bartholomew in the village centre, the Otford Methodist C ...

, Stanwell Tops, Darkes Forest, Punchbowl Creek and Menai.

Ecology

Common tree species include the Blackbutt, Sydney Red Gum,

Turpentine Turpentine (which is also called spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, terebenthine, terebenthene, terebinthine and, colloquially, turps) is a fluid obtainable by the distillation of resin harvested from living trees, mainly pines. Principall ...

and Watergum. Other species include

Corymbia gummifera ''Corymbia gummifera'', commonly known as red bloodwood, is a species of tree, rarely a mallee, that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has rough, tessellated bark on the trunk and branches, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups o ...

Eucalyptus piperita ''Eucalyptus piperita'', commonly known as Sydney peppermint and urn-fruited peppermint, is a small to medium forest tree native to New South Wales, Australia. Description It has grey, rough and finely fibrous bark on its trunk, but its branches ...

Eucalyptus sieberi ''Eucalyptus sieberi'', commonly known as the silvertop ash or black ash, is a species of medium-sized to tall tree that is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It has rough bark on the trunk and the base of larger branches, and smooth bark abov ...

Banksia serrata ''Banksia serrata'', commonly known as the saw banksia, the old man banksia, the saw-tooth banksia or the red honeysuckle and as wiriyagan by the Cadigal people, is a species of woody shrub or tree of the genus ''Banksia'', in the family P ...

Ceratopetalum gummiferum ''Ceratopetalum gummiferum'', the New South Wales Christmas bush, is a tall shrub or small tree popular in Plant cultivation, cultivation due to its sepals that turn bright red-pink at around Christmas time. The specific name ''gummiferum'' all ...

Smilax glyciphylla ''Smilax glyciphylla'', the sweet sarsaparilla, is a dioecious climber native to eastern Australia. It is widespread in rainforest, sclerophyll forest and woodland; mainly in coastal regions. The leaves are distinctly three-veined with a glauco ...

Acacia suaveolens ''Acacia'', commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Australa ...

Acacia terminalis ''Acacia terminalis'' (sunshine wattle) is a shrub or small tree to 6 m in height. It is an Australian native whose range extends through New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Common names are cedar wattle (also used of '' Acacia elata''), e ...

and

Banksia ericifolia ''Banksia ericifolia'', the heath-leaved banksia, or lantern banksia, is a species of woody shrub of the family Proteaceae native to Australia. It grows in two separate regions of Central and Northern New South Wales east of the Great Dividing ...

References

{{Sydneybushland Forests of New South Wales Geography of Sydney Eastern Australian temperate forests

Geography

Ecology

See also

References