Shale Hills Woodland
Overview
Shale Hills Woodland, along with Shale Plains Woodland, make up the Cumberland Plain Woodland Community. Shale Hills Woodland is the less common of the two forms in the Blacktown area. It occurs mainly on hills and slopes on the southern half of the Cumberland Plain. Originally there was over 122000 hectares of Cumberland Plain Woodland across Western Sydney, but only 8% of this remains. It is listed as an endanged ecological community under the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995.
There are very few stands of this community left in an undisturbed condition.
This section has quite a thin and disturbed ground layer and understory.
Dominant Plant Species
Click on the buttons next to the photo to view the dominant plant species for this community.
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Canopy Species |
| Understory Species | |
| Ground Species | |
Surrounding Vegitation 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 in to Shale-Gravel Transition Forest. In areas where there is more sand in the soil, it grades into Shale-Sandstone Transition Forest.
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. The issues facing the remaining stands of this community include: