Sydney Turpentine–Ironbark Forest

Characteristics

Sydney Turpentine–Ironbark Forest contains trees which are around 20–30 metres tall, with ground cover composed of flowering shrubs and native grasses. This type of forest prefers a fertile clay soil derived from shale, with undulating hills and moderate rainfall. Its range does not extend to drier Cumberland Plain Woodland, or high-rainfall ridges (where it meets with Blue Gum High Forest, also endangered), or areas with less fertile, sandy soil.{{cite web |access-date = 2007-07-02 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070930041109/http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/PDFs/EECinfo_Sydney_Turpentine_Ironbark_Forest.pdf |archive-date = 2007-09-30

The main canopy trees in this forest community are Turpentine (Syncarpia glomulifera, can grow over 30 metres high), and a number of different species of Ironbark, which vary depending on local environmental conditions. Grey Ironbark (Eucalyptus paniculata), Narrow-leaved Ironbark (Eucalyptus crebra), Red Ironbark{{cite web |access-date = 2007-07-01 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070827020104/http://www.ryde.nsw.gov.au/environment/ironbark.htm |archive-date = 2007-08-27

Understorey plants include wattles such as Parramatta Green Wattle (Acacia parramattensis) and Sydney Golden Wattle (Acacia longifolia), the Common Hop Bush (Dodonaea triquetra), as well as native grasses, herbs and flowers such as Kangaroo Grass (Themeda australis) and Australian Bluebell (Wahlenbergia gracilis).{{cite web |access-date = 2007-07-01 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070827020104/http://www.ryde.nsw.gov.au/environment/ironbark.htm |archive-date = 2007-08-27

Plant species growing in Sydney Turpentine–Ironbark Forest typically number upwards of 70, although fewer species are found in the smaller surviving pockets, and some may not be visible above ground, awaiting climatic conditions favourable for seed germination.{{cite web |access-date = 2007-07-01 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070905083539/http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/npws.nsf/Content/Sydney+turpentine+ironbark+forest+endangered+ecological+community+listing |archive-date = 2007-09-05

Distribution

The natural distribution of Sydney Turpentine–Ironbark Forest is limited to the Sydney Region, and occurs in areas with deep clay soils derived from Wianamatta shale, or shale layers within Hawkesbury sandstone.{{cite web |access-date = 2007-07-01 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070905083539/http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/npws.nsf/Content/Sydney+turpentine+ironbark+forest+endangered+ecological+community+listing |archive-date = 2007-09-05

STIF grew in clay soils overlaying the sandstone of the Hornsby plateau, as well as in Sydney’s inner-west where the annual rainfall is between 900 and 1,000mm. Because the land favoured by Sydney Turpentine–Ironbark Forest plant species is very fertile (more so than the sandy soils derived from Hawkesbury sandstone), after British settlement much of the land was cleared for its timber, as well as for subsequent farming activity. Much of this forest type's area of distribution is now occupied by suburban dwellings.{{cite web

Very few remnants of Sydney Turpentine–Ironbark Forest still exist. The most substantial undisturbed area is the Wallumatta Nature Reserve on the corner of Twin and Cressy roads North Ryde, which is owned and managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. Progressively smaller remnants can be found in Stewart Park, Marsfield (at the intersection of Epping and Vimiera roads), in the grounds of Macquarie University, and at Meadowbank Park, Meadowbank. Another known remnant of significance surviving in Australia is the Newington Forest near Sydney Olympic Park at Homebush.{{cite web While Queen Elizabeth II Park contains a mixture of Sydney Turpentine–Ironbark Forest and non-indigenous species, there is other Sydney Turpentine–Ironbark Forest bushland in the City of Canada Bay area, located on the Department of Health estate surrounding Concord Hospital at Concord West. Located to the south of the main hospital, a relatively intact area of Sydney Turpentine–Ironbark Forest species may be found in the Dame Eadith Walker Reserve at the Yaralla Estate (private grounds of the Dame Edith Walker Hospital).{{cite web |access-date = 2007-07-02 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070829062523/http://www.canadabay.nsw.gov.au/environment_and_health/natural_environment/remnant_bushland.html |archive-date = 2007-08-29

Outside these few remaining areas, scattered fragments of Sydney Turpentine–Ironbark Forest have been identified in the local government areas of Ashfield, Auburn, Canterbury, Concord, Drummoyne, Leichhardt, Marrickville, Bankstown, Ryde (Darvall Park and Brush Farm Park),{{cite web |access-date = 2007-07-01 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070905083539/http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/npws.nsf/Content/Sydney+turpentine+ironbark+forest+endangered+ecological+community+listing |archive-date = 2007-09-05 |access-date = 2007-07-01 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070905083539/http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/npws.nsf/Content/Sydney+turpentine+ironbark+forest+endangered+ecological+community+listing |archive-date = 2007-09-05

Ryde City Council is aware of the near-extinction of this indigenous forest environment, and requires that if any tree becomes unsafe and requires removal, that a replacement must be chosen from the list of tree species indigenous to the particular area. The council's website also encourages local residents in appropriate areas to choose trees, shrubs and ground covers indigenous to the Sydney Turpentine–Ironbark Forest.{{cite web |access-date = 2007-07-01 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070827020104/http://www.ryde.nsw.gov.au/environment/ironbark.htm |archive-date = 2007-08-27

File:Eucalyptus paniculata Glebe.JPG|veteran Ironbark at Glebe, inner Sydney File:Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest, Yaralla Estate, Concord West NSW 1.JPG|Sydney Turpentine–Ironbark Forest, Concord West, NSW. File:Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest, Yaralla Estate, Concord West, NSW, 2.JPG| File:Wallumatta 02.jpg|Tree canopy at Wallumatta Nature Reserve, North Ryde

References

References

1. [https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/-/media/OEH/Corporate-Site/Documents/Animals-and-plants/Scientific-Committee/Determinations/2019/sydney-turpentine-ironbark-forest-final-determination-CEEC.pdf NSW Threatened Species Scientific Committee. 31 May 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
2. ''[http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/tsca1995323/ Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995]'' (NSW Act of Parliament, online edition).
3. ''[http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/epabca1999588/index.html Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999]'' (Commonwealth of Australia Act of Parliament, online edition).
4. [https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/nature/RecoveringCumberlandPlain.pdf Recovering bushland on the Cumberland Plain] Department of Environment and Conservation (NSW). (2005). Recovering Bushland on the Cumberland Plain: Best practice guidelines for the management and restoration of bushland. Department of Environment and Conservation (NSW), Sydney. Retrieved 12 September 2022.