Australian Native Vegetation Assessment 2001
Maria Cofinas, Colin Creighton
National Land and Water Resources Audit, 2001
ISBN 0 642 37128 8
Major vegetation groups and their status in each State & Territory
Australian Capital Territory
Namadgi National Park, ACT
Photo: Murray Fagg
Key features
Dominated by the Brindabella and Booth Ranges and associated foothills, the vegetation of this small Territory is typical of the Australian Alps and South East Highlands bioregions of New South Wales (Figure 22, Table 17).
The largest area of the Australian Capital Territory is covered by the South East Highlands bioregion where clearing has been concentrated and urban infrastructure associated with the centre of Canberra is located.
- Dominant vegetation in the higher altitude and subalpine areas is eucalypt open forests, eucalypt woodlands, eucalypt open woodlands, heath, closed shrublands and tussock grasslands.
- Patches of eucalypt tall open forests, low closed forests, callitris and eucalypt woodlands, and tussock grasslands occur at lower altitudes.
| Major vegetation group | Present | Pre-European |
|---|---|---|
| Eucalypt open forests | 937 | 984 |
| Eucalypt open woodlands | 270 | 270 |
| Eucalypt woodlands | 223 | 725 |
| Tussock grasslands | 91 | 207 |
| Eucalypt low open forests | 49 | 123 |
| Mangroves, tidal mudflats, samphires and bare areas, claypans, sand, rock, salt lakes, lagoons, lakes | 18 | 18 |
| Heath | 9 | 9 |
| Other shrublands | 8 | 8 |
| Callitris forests and woodlands | 5 | 5 |
| Eucalypt tall open forests | 4 | 4 |
| Casuarina forests and woodlands | 3 | 3 |
| Other grasslands, herblands, sedgelands and rushlands | 2 | 2 |
| Note: * in order of greatest to smallest area. | ||
Vegetation change
In the Australian Capital Territory, 31% or 0.07 million hectares of native vegetation has been removed. The northern part of the Australian Capital Territory has been cleared for urban development, grazing, minor cropping and pine plantations.
Major vegetation groups most affected are the eucalypt woodlands of the foothills of the Brindabella Ranges and the natural temperate grasslands and eucalypt grassy woodlands of the adjoining tablelands. The Brindabella and Booth Ranges cover a large proportion of the Australian Capital Territory and Namadgi National Park conserves a large area of these mountains. Three water impoundments have been constructed on the Cotter River to supply domestic water to Canberra.
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