The Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub is a remnant

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 ...

scrubland that is found in the eastern suburbs 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 Mounta ...

, New South Wales, Australia. Listed under the ''

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cult ...

'' as and endangered vegetation community and as 'critically endangered' under the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016, it is a type of

heathland A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

that is found mainly in the eastern and southeastern coastal areas of Sydney.Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub of the Sydney Region
Department of the Environment (Australia, 2013–2016). Retrieved 14 September 2022. CC-BY icon

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Geography

It is found on wind-blown ( aeolian) sands in coastal areas such as the Sydney Heads south to the

Kamay Botany Bay National Park The Kamay Botany Bay National Park is a heritage-listed protected national park that is located in the Sydney metropolitan region of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The national park is situated approximately south-east of the Sydn ...

, but has remnants between the

Hawkesbury River The Hawkesbury River, or Hawkesbury-Nepean River, is a river located northwest of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its associated main tributary, the Nepean River, almost encircle the metropolitan region of Sydney. ...

in the north, and

Stanwell Park Stanwell Park is a coastal village and northern suburb of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. It is the northernmost point of the Illawarra coastal strip and lies south of Sydney's Royal National Park. It is situated in a small valley betw ...

, at the southern boundary of

Royal National Park The Royal National Park is a protected national park that is located in Sutherland Shire in the Australian state of New South Wales, just south of Sydney. The national park is about south of the Sydney central business district near the loca ...

in the south. It was once present as an almost uninterrupted band near the coastal perimeter of Sydney, where it covered 5,300 hectares of land between North Head and

Botany Bay Botany Bay ( Dharawal: ''Kamay''), an open oceanic embayment, is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point and the Cook ...

, but now there are very few parts left in Sydney, with only around 5-10% of the original area present. It mainly occurs on senescent and nutrient poor sands either on dunes, sandplains or on headlands. It is now recorded in the local government areas of

Botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

, Randwick, Waverley, and Manly Councils.Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub in the Sydney Basin Bioregion - profile
Office of Environment & Heritage. Retrieved 15 September 2022.

Ecology

It generally features sclerophyllous heath or scrub species, although small residue of woodland and low forest may occur. It is dominated by woody shrub species, such as,

Banksia aemula ''Banksia aemula'', commonly known as the wallum banksia, is a shrub of the family Proteaceae. Found from Bundaberg south to Sydney on the Australian east coast, it is encountered as a shrub or a tree to in coastal heath on deep sandy soil, k ...

Banksia serrata, Leptospermum laevigatum,

Monotoca elliptica ''Monotoca elliptica'', the tree broom heath, is a plant in the family Ericaceae, found in south-eastern Australia. Description Monotoca elliptica is a long-lived species which may grow for more than a hundred years. The plant is often seen a ...

Acacia longifolia ''Acacia longifolia'' is a species of ''Acacia'' native to southeastern Australia, from the extreme southeast of Queensland, eastern New South Wales, eastern and southern Victoria, and southeastern South Australia. Common names for it include lo ...

, and Acacia suaveolens, with stunted eucalypts, such as Corymbia gummifera and

Angophora costata ''Angophora costata'', commonly known as Sydney red gum, rusty gum or smooth-barked apple, is a species of tree that is endemic to eastern Australia. Reaching in height, the species has distinctive smooth bark that is pinkish or orange-brown wh ...

. Understorey species include

Pimelea linifolia ''Pimelea linifolia'', commonly known as slender rice flower is a common, variable shrub widespread throughout eastern Australia. It has narrow leaves arranged in opposite pairs, and usually white flowers arranged in heads of seven or more on th ...

, Persoonia lanceolata, Philotheca salsolifolia,

, Ricinocarpos pinifolius, Styphelia viridis, Xanthorrhoea resinosa, Haemodorum planifolium, Hypolaena fastigiata, Lepidosperma concavum, Lomandra glauca, Xanthosia pilosa,

Bossiaea ''Bossiaea'' is a genus of about 78 species of flowering plants in the pea family Fabaceae and is endemic to Australia. Plants in this genus often have stems and branches modified as cladodes, simple, often much reduced leaves, flowers with the ...

and Lepidosperma concavum.

Fauna

Animals include Cercartetus nanus,

Antechinus stuartii The brown antechinus (''Antechinus stuartii''), also known as Stuart's antechinus and Macleay's marsupial mouse, is a species of small carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. The males die after their first breeding season, and the specie ...

and

Perameles nasuta The long-nosed bandicoot (''Perameles nasuta''), a marsupial, is a species of bandicoot found in eastern Australia, from north Queensland along the east coast to Victoria. Around long, it is sandy- or grey-brown with a long snouty nose. Omnivor ...

References

{{Sydneybushland Endangered ecological communities Geography of Sydney Remnant urban bushland Vegetation of Australia Ecoregions of New South Wales Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands Sclerophyll forests Mallee Woodlands and Shrublands