The Blue Gum High Forest of the Sydney Basin Bioregion is a 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 ...

forest found in the northern parts of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, New South Wales,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It has been classified as critically endangered, under the New South Wales government's ''Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995''. The principal canopy trees in this forest community are Sydney blue gum and blackbutt which are usually seen between 20 and 40 metres tall. 180 species of indigenous plants have been identified at

Dalrymple-Hay Nature Reserve The Dalrymple-Hay Nature Reserve is a protected nature reserve that is located in the northerns suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The reserve is situated in the suburb of St Ives, from the Sydney central business district. The r ...

Distribution

The Blue Gum High Forest is restricted to the northern parts of

, on soils based on

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...

with an annual rainfall over 1100 mm (43 in). Much of it grew on the ridge tops, roughly following the present day Pacific Highway from around Crows Nest up to Hornsby. Also it was recorded on soils based on the

Mittagong Formation The Mittagong Formation is a sedimentary rock unit in the Sydney Basin in eastern Australia. Formation Laid down in the Triassic Period, it may be seen as an interval of interbedded fine-grained sandstone and shale between the Ashfield Shale (a ...

, volcanic

diatreme A diatreme, sometimes known as a maar-diatreme volcano, is a volcanic pipe formed by a gaseous explosion. When magma rises up through a crack in Earth's crust and makes contact with a shallow body of groundwater, rapid expansion of heated wate ...

s and exposed shale lenses within the

Hawkesbury Sandstone Sydney sandstone is the common name for Sydney Basin Hawkesbury Sandstone, one variety of which is historically known as Yellowblock, and also as "yellow gold" a sedimentary rock named after the Hawkesbury River north of Sydney, where this ...

. Blue Gum High Forest grades into Turpentine-Ironbark Forest in drier areas of lower rainfall. Remnants are found as far west as

West Pennant Hills West Pennant Hills is a suburb in the Hills District of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. West Pennant Hills is located 20 km north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government areas of The Hills Shire and Horn ...

and

Eastwood Eastwood may refer to: Places ;in Australia *Eastwood, New South Wales **Eastwood railway station **Electoral district of Eastwood *Eastwood, South Australia ;in Canada * Eastwood, Ontario *Eastwood, Edmonton, Alberta, a neighborhood ;in the Ph ...

, though most of the few remaining areas are in suburbs such as

Pymble Pymble is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Pymble is north of the Sydney Central Business District in the local government area of Ku-ring-gai Council. West Pymble is a separate suburb ...

Turramurra Turramurra is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Ku-ring-gai Council. It shares the postc ...

and

Wahroonga Wahroonga is a suburb in the North Shore (Sydney)#Upper North Shore, Upper North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, 18 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia ...

. Turiban Reserve in Wahroonga has particularly tall trees. Two of the larger forest remnants are

and

Sheldon Forest Sheldon Forest is a pocket of urban bushland located north-west of Sydney, Australia in a narrow valley between Turramurra and Pymble. Sheldon Forest is of high conservation status because it contains some of the last remnants of the endan ...

. Around one percent of the original forest remains, and the current remnants amount to an area of 136 hectares (336 acres).

Ecological status

Due to fragmentation and the surrounding urban area, the forest remnants are constantly under threat from invasive plant species. Bush regeneration programs have been put in place for many years. Significant species include

Wandering Jew The Wandering Jew is a mythical immortal man whose legend began to spread in Europe in the 13th century. In the original legend, a Jew who taunted Jesus on the way to the Crucifixion was then cursed to walk the Earth until the Second Coming. Th ...

, Madeira vine, passionfruit vine,

Chinese privet ''Ligustrum sinense'' (Chinese privet; syn. ''L. villosum''; in Mandarin: 杻; pinyin: chǒu) is a species of privet native to China, Taiwan and Vietnam,Flora of China''Ligustrum sinense''/ref> and naturalized in Réunion, the Andaman Islands, ...

ochna ''Ochna''Linnaeus C (1753) ''Sp. Pl.'' 1: 513. is a genus comprising 86 species of evergreen trees, shrubs and shrublets belonging to the flowering plant family ''Ochnaceae''. These species are native to tropical woodlands of Africa, the Mascare ...

and camphor laurel.

Fauna

Ring-tail possums,

sugar glider The sugar glider (''Petaurus breviceps'') is a small, omnivorous, arboreal, and nocturnal gliding possum belonging to the marsupial infraclass. The common name refers to its predilection for sugary foods such as sap and nectar and its abili ...

s, brushtail possums and

grey-headed flying fox The grey-headed flying fox (''Pteropus poliocephalus'') is a megabat native to Australia. The species shares mainland Australia with three other members of the genus ''Pteropus'': the little red '' P. scapulatus'', spectacled '' P. conspicill ...

es are common. There are occasional sightings of

wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and so ...

.National Parks & Wildlife Service, info from a Field Officer Birds include

rainbow lorikeet The rainbow lorikeet (''Trichoglossus moluccanus'') is a species of parrot found in Australia. It is common along the eastern seaboard, from northern Queensland to South Australia. Its habitat is rainforest, coastal bush and woodland areas. S ...

(''Trichoglossus moluccanus''),

Australian king parrot The Australian king parrot (''Alisterus scapularis'') is a species of parrot endemic to eastern Australia ranging from Cooktown in Queensland to Port Campbell in Victoria. Found in humid and heavily forested upland regions of the eastern portion ...

(''Alisterus scapularis''),

crimson rosella The crimson rosella (''Platycercus elegans'') is a parrot native to eastern and south eastern Australia which has been introduced to New Zealand and Norfolk Island. It is commonly found in, but not restricted to, mountain forests and gardens. The ...

(''Platycercus elegans''),

currawong Currawongs are three species of medium-sized passerine birds belonging to the genus ''Strepera'' in the family Artamidae native to Australia. These are the grey currawong (''Strepera versicolor''), pied currawong (''S. graculina''), and black ...

variegated fairywren The variegated fairywren (''Malurus lamberti'') is a fairywren that lives in eastern Australia. In a species that exhibits sexual dimorphism, the brightly coloured breeding male has chestnut shoulders and azure crown and ear coverts, while non ...

(''Malurus lamberti''),

black-faced cuckoo-shrike The black-faced cuckooshrike (''Coracina novaehollandiae'') is a common omnivorous passerine bird native to Australia and southern New Guinea. It has a protected status in Australia, under the National Parks and Wildlife Act, 1974. They are wid ...

(''Coracina novaehollandiae''),

superb fairywren The superb fairywren (''Malurus cyaneus'') is a passerine bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae, and is common and familiar across south-eastern Australia. It is a sedentary and territorial species, also exhibiting a high degree of se ...

(''Malurus cyaneus''),

powerful owl The powerful owl (''Ninox strenua''), a species of owl native to south-eastern and eastern Australia, is the largest owl on the continent. It is found in coastal areas and in the Great Dividing Range, rarely more than inland. The IUCNRed List ...

(''Ninox strenua''),

glossy black cockatoo The glossy black cockatoo (''Calyptorhynchus lathami''), is the smallest member of the subfamily Calyptorhynchinae found in eastern Australia. Adult glossy black cockatoos may reach in length. They are sexually dimorphic. Males are blackish br ...

(''

Calyptorhynchus lathami The glossy black cockatoo (''Calyptorhynchus lathami''), is the smallest member of the subfamily Calyptorhynchinae found in eastern Australia. Adult glossy black cockatoos may reach in length. They are sexually dimorphic. Males are blackish br ...

'') and silvereyes. The yellow-bellied sheathtail-bat ( ''Saccolaimus flaviventri''s) is present though seldom seen. Sheldon Forest Australia

Flora

References

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

Distribution

Ecological status

Fauna

Flora

See also

References