Sydney Sandstone Ridgetop Woodland facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sydney Sandstone Ridgetop Woodland
Yellow-top mallee ash growing at Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park.
Ecology
Realm	Australasia
Biome	Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands, Mediterranean forests
Borders	Eastern Australian temperate forests
Geography
Country	Australia
Elevation	300–600 metres (980–1,970 ft)
Coordinates	33°37′5.45″S 151°15′30.82″E / 33.6181806°S 151.2585611°E / -33.6181806; 151.2585611
Geology	Sandstone, shale
Climate type	Humid subtropical climate (Cfa)
Soil types	Clay, sand (podsol), loam

The Sydney Sandstone Ridgetop Woodland is one of six main indigenous forest communities of Sydney, Australia found predominantly on ridgetops and slopes of the Hornsby Plateau, Woronora Plateau and the lower Blue Mountains area. It is an area of high biodiversity, existing on poor sandstone soils, with regular wildfires, and moderate rainfall.

Geography

The Ridgetop Woodland is a low eucalypt forest having a diverse sclerophyll shrub layer, mallees and open groundcover of sedges that sit on the Triassic Hawkesbury sandstone plateaux, which encircle the Sydney Basin. The community is found in areas 600m above sea level where the average annual rainfall ranges from 850mm to 1650mm. Around one-quarter of this community has been cleared for urban development, though many areas still remain in conservation reserves.

Flora