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Shale Plains Woodland
Overview
Shale Plains Woodland, along with Shale Hills Woodland, makes up the Cumberland Plain Woodland vegetation community. Shale Plains Woodland is the more common of the two forms. It occurs mainly in the driest parts of the Sydney basin as it is well adapted to drought and fire. Originally there was over 122,000 hectares of Cumberland Plain Woodland across Western Sydney, but only 7% of this remains. It is listed as a critically endangered ecological community under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995.
Dominant Plant Species
Below is an example of the dominant plant species of this community.
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Canopy Species Grey Box (Eucalyptus moluccana)
Forest Red Gum (Eucalyptus tereticornis)
Spotted Gum (Corymbia maculata)
Thin Leaved Stringybark (Eucalyptus eugenioides) |
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Understory Species Blackthorn (Bursaria spinosa)
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Ground Cover Species Kangaroo Grass (Themeda australis)
Weeping Meadow Grass (Microlaena stipoides var stipoides)
Kidney Weed (Dichondra repens)
Desmodium varians
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Threatened Species
Pink Pimelea (Pimelea spicata)
Pink Pimelea is a small shrub that can reach up to 50cm in height. It is listed as endangered and is regarded as being under serious threat of becoming extinct. | |
Surrounding Communities
Cumberland Plain Woodland (Shale Hills and Shale Plains Woodland) grows on shale soils. In areas where there is more gravel in the soil , it grades into Shale-Gravel Transition Forest. In areas where there is more sand in the soil, it grades into Shale-Sandstone Transition Forest. Some examplease of Shale Plains Woodland can still be found in Duncan Park, Dr Charles McKay Reserve and Doonside Crescent Bushland Reserve.
Major Impacts
The clearing of the woodland for farming and urban development is the major cause for the original reduction in size of this vegetation community. Due to this it now only exists in isolated pockets, making it easier for weeds to invade the community. An increase in soil nutrients in some disturbed sites has also helped the weeds. The natives prefer the typically low nutrient soils of Australia, so excess nutrients give the weeds an advantage.
Other impacts include rubbish dumping and frequent fire. When fires occur less then five years apart a loss in plant species can result in the community. Most species in this community have developed strategies such as regenerating from underground tubers or producing a very large amount of seed to survive fires. However, they require time between fires for the new plants to reach maturity and produce more seed to regenerate the seed bank. When fires occur more frequently then every five years, there is not enough time for some plants to do this. As a result, once all the seeds already in the soil have been used up, the species is lost to the area.
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