Eastern Australian temperate forests | |
---|---|
Ecology | |
Biome | Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests |
Borders | |
Bird species | 380[1] |
Mammal species | 87[1] |
Geography | |
Area | 222,100 km2 (85,800 sq mi) |
Country | Australia |
States | |
Conservation | |
Habitat loss | 32.821%[1] |
Protected | 16.55%[1] |
The Eastern Australian temperate forests, or the Eastern Australian temperate and subtropical forests,[2] is a broad ecoregion of open forest on uplands (typically on the Great Dividing Range) starting from the east coast of New South Wales in the South Coast to southern Queensland, Australia. Although dry sclerophyll and wet sclerophyll eucalyptus forests predominate within this ecoregion,[3][4] a number of distinguishable rainforest communities are present as well.[5][6]
Many systematic National and State Parks are distributed throughout New South Wales and Queensland, although the representation of habitats varies throughout the ecoregion. In some areas, eucalyptus woodlands and dry forests have been cleared for urban development or to enhance grazing. Before Europeans first arrived to Australia, the Border Ranges had one of the largest rainforests in Australia.[7]