Tuart forest is an open

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

in which the dominant overstorey tree is '' Eucalyptus gomphocephala'' (tuart). This form of vegetation occurs only in the

Southwest Botanical Province Southwest Australia is a biogeographic region in Western Australia. It includes the Mediterranean-climate area of southwestern Australia, which is home to a diverse and distinctive flora and fauna. The region is also known as the Southwest Aus ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...

. Tuart being predominantly a coastal tree, tuart forest occurs only in a narrow belt along the coast.

Logging history and conservation

Coastal land in the southwest of Western Australia has been in high demand ever since British settlement of the

Swan River Colony The Swan River Colony, also known as the Swan River Settlement, or just Swan River, was a British colony established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. This initial settlement place on the Swan River was soon named Perth, and it ...

, initially for grazing, and more recently for housing. Tuart was also a prized timber. It is light in colour, similar to honey oak, and unusually hard. It was particularly useful where a very hard wood was needed, and most old-style butchers had a tuart "round" as a durable chopping block. As a result of its value as a timber and as grazing land, most of the tuart forest has now been cleared. The only remaining tall tuart forest is the Ludlow Tuart Forest now protected by the Tuart Forest National Park. Other tuart forest occurs in the Maiden Tuart Forest near Bunbury, and further north near Mandurah, although these are smaller trees. The forests and other surviving remnants are now the target of active conservation efforts such as the

National Trust of Australia The National Trust of Australia, officially the Australian Council of National Trusts (ACNT), is the Australian national peak body for community-based, non-government non-profit organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's I ...

's Tuart Forest Appeal. The world's only tall tuarts grow in an area of less than around

Ludlow Ludlow () is a market town in Shropshire, England. The town is significant in the history of the Welsh Marches and in relation to Wales. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road (Great Britain), A49 road which ...

near

Busselton Busselton is a city in the South West region of the state of Western Australia approximately south-west of Perth. Busselton has a long history as a popular holiday destination for Western Australians; however, the closure of the Busselton ...

, south of Perth, making it one of the rarest forests in the world. Now that it has been preserved from further logging, the next challenge is to revive the ageing forest, which suffers from degradation due to almost two centuries of cattle grazing, to weed infestation (particularly arum lilies), and an absence of new young trees due to overpopulation of

western grey kangaroo The western grey kangaroo (''Macropus fuliginosus''), also referred to as a western grey giant kangaroo, black-faced kangaroo, mallee kangaroo, sooty kangaroo and (when referring to the Kangaroo Island subspecies) Kangaroo Island grey kangaroo, is ...

(''Macropus fuliginosus''), for whom infant tuart saplings are a favoured dietary item. In addition, many areas of tuart forest have suffered from tree death and decline due to a newly described dieback organism, (''

Phytophthora multivora ''Phytophthora multivora'' is a species of Oomycete, water moulds, identified as a plant pathogen implicated in dieback. It was first isolated in tuart forest of Southwest Australia in a study of the decline of tuart ''Eucalyptus gomphocephala'', ...

''), which acts in a similar way to the well-publicised (''

Phytophthora cinnamomi ''Phytophthora cinnamomi'' is a soil-borne water mould that produces an infection which causes a condition in plants variously called " root rot", "dieback", or (in certain ''Castanea'' species), "ink disease". The plant pathogen is one of the w ...

'').

Fauna

Besides the western grey kangaroos, other inhabitants are the western brushtail and the endangered western ringtail possum (''Pseudocheirus peregrinus occidentalis''), whose principal diet is the leaves of the peppermint (''

Agonis flexuosa ''Agonis flexuosa'' is a species of tree that grows in the south west of Western Australia. It is easily the most common of the '' Agonis'' species, and is one of the most recognisable trees of Western Australia, being commonly grown in park ...

'') tree. These animals rest by day in hollows in the tuart trees and move to the peppermints to feed at night. Also inhabiting the forest are the carnivorous wambenger ('' Phascogale tapoatafa'') and the quenda (''

Isoodon obesulus The southern brown bandicoot (''Isoodon obesulus'') is a short-nosed bandicoot, a type of marsupial, found mostly in southern Australia. It is also known as the quenda in South Western Australia (from the Noongar word ''). Taxonomy George Shaw ...

'') or southern brown bandicoot, and the tiny freetail bat (''

Tadarida australis The white-striped free-tailed bat (''Austronomus australis'') is a species of bat in the family Molossidae. Its echolocation calls are audible to humans, which is a characteristic found in only a few microbat species. The species was formerly c ...

''). Abundant birdlife can be seen in the forest and the nearby Vasse-Wonnerup Estuary. A number of spectacular birds of prey will frequently be seen, such as

osprey The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

s (''Pandion haliaetus cristatus'') and

whistling kite The whistling kite (''Haliastur sphenurus'') is a medium-sized diurnal raptor found throughout Australia (including coastal islands), New Caledonia and much of New Guinea (excluding the central mountains and the northwest). Also called the whi ...

s (''Haliastur sphenurus''), but of particular interest is the Australian shelduck (''Tadorna tadornoides'') which nests high in tuart tree hollows. The female incubates five to fourteen cream-coloured eggs for 30 to 33 days while her mate defends the surrounding territory. The newly hatched young leap from the nest cavity to the ground and are led by their parents on a perilous overland journey to their brooding territory in the nearby estuary. They remain together in a family group for the first six weeks of the ducklings' lives. Once the young birds fledge they are completely independent.

Logging history and conservation

Fauna

References

Further reading