Southern Highlands Shale Forest and Woodland

Southern Highlands Shale Forest and Woodland
Southern Highlands Shale Forest and Woodland
	Sutton Forest
Ecology
Realm	Australasia
Biome	Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands; Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forests;
Borders	List Cumberland Plain Woodland; Southern Tablelands Temperate Grassland; Blue Mountains and Southern Highlands Basalt Forests; Shale Sandstone Transition Forest; Lowland Grassy Woodland; Illawarra-Shoalhaven subtropical rainforest;
Geography
Area	60 km2 (23 sq mi)
Country	Australia
Elevation	600–800 metres (2,000–2,600 ft)
Coordinates	34°30′S 150°35′E / 34.5°S 150.58°E
Geology	Sedimentary rock
Climate type	Oceanic climate (Cfb)
Soil types	Clay

The Southern Highlands Shale Forest and Woodland is a mixed grassy woodland and sclerophyll-temperate forest community situated within the Southern Highlands region of New South Wales, Australia. An ecotone featuring clay soils derived from Wianamatta Group, it is listed as an endangered ecological community by the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 as less than 5% of the original extent remains today.^[1] Three varieties of the Shale Woodland exist: ‘typical’, ‘tall wet’ and ‘short dry’.^[2]

^ Southern Highlands Shale Forest and Woodland in the Sydney Basin Bioregion Department of the Environment (2022). Southern Highlands Shale Forest and Woodland in the Sydney Basin Bioregion in Community and Species Profile and Threats Database, Department of the Environment, Canberra. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
^ The Southern Highlands Shale Forest and Woodland of the Sydney Basin Bioregion: A Nationally Significant Ecological Community Department of the Environment and Energy. Retrieved 8 September 2022. Text was copied from this source, which is available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.