The Blue Gum High Forest of the Sydney Basin Bioregion is a wet sclerophyll 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 ''Eucalyptus saligna'', commonly known as the Sydney blue gum or blue gum, is a species of medium-sized to tall tree that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has rough, flaky bark near the base of the trunk, smooth bark above, lance-shaped to c ...

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.

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, volcanic diatremes and exposed shale lenses within the Hawkesbury Sandstone. 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 and Wahroonga. Turiban Reserve in Wahroonga has particularly tall trees. Two of the larger forest remnants are Dalrymple-Hay Nature Reserve 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,

Madeira vine ''Anredera cordifolia'', commonly known as the Madeira-vine or mignonette vine, is a South American species of ornamental plant, ornamental succulent vine of the family Basellaceae. The combination of fleshy leaves and thick aerial tubers makes t ...

, 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 and

camphor laurel ''Camphora officinarum'' is a species of evergreen tree that is commonly known under the names camphor tree, camphorwood or camphor laurel. Description ''Camphora officinarum'' is native to China south of the Yangtze River, Taiwan, southern ...

Fauna

Ring-tail possums, sugar gliders,

brushtail possum The brushtail possums are the members of the genus ''Trichosurus'' in the Phalangeridae, a family of marsupials. They are native to Australia (including Tasmania) and some small nearby islands. Unique among marsupials, they have shifted the hypax ...

s and grey-headed flying foxes 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. Six ...

(''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 (''Platycercus elegans''), currawongs,

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 (''Malurus cyaneus''), powerful owl (''Ninox strenua''), glossy black cockatoo (''

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 bro ...

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

Distribution

Ecological status

Fauna

Flora

See also