The Sydney Turpentine–Ironbark Forest (STIF) is a wet sclerophyll forest community of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, that is typically found in the Inner West and Northern region of Sydney. It is also among the three of these plant communities which have been classified as Endangered, under the New South Wales government's Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995, with only around 0.5% of its original pre-settlement range remaining. As of 26 August 2005, the Australian Government reclassified Sydney Turpentine–Ironbark Forest as a "Critically Endangered Ecological Community", under the Commonwealth's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. The original extent of the forest was 26,516 ha, but now only 1,182 ha (or 4.5% of original extent) remains. It is a transitional biome between Cumberland Plain Woodland in the drier areas and Blue Gum High Forest on neighboring higher rainfall ridges.
Characteristics Sydney Turpentine–Ironbark Forest contains trees which are around 20–30 metres tall, with ground cover composed of flowering shrubs and native grasses. This type of forest prefers a fertile clay soil derived from shale, with undulating hills and moderate rainfall. Its range does not extend to drier Cumberland Plain Woodland, or high-rainfall ridges (where it meets with Blue Gum High Forest, also endangered), or areas with less fertile, sandy soil. The main canopy trees in this forest community are turpentine (Syncarpia glomulifera, can grow over 30 metres high), and a number of different species of Ironbark, which vary depending on local environmental conditions. Grey ironbark (Eucalyptus paniculata), narrow-leaved ironbark (Eucalyptus crebra), red ironbark or broad-leaved ironbark (Eucalyptus fibrosa), and grey gum (Eucalyptus punctata) are commonly found species in the Cumberland Plain area. On the shale caps of the Hornsby plateau, grey ironbark and mountain mahogany (Eucalyptus notabilis) have been noted as being found in association with turpentine. At the upper end of its rainfall/elevation range, turpentine–ironbark forest may intermingle with Blue Gum High Forest and be dominated by blue gum (Eucalyptus saligna), mountain grey gum (Eucalyptus cypellocarpa), round-leaved gum (Eucalyptus deanei) or grey gum. Understorey plants include wattles such as Parramatta green wattle (Acacia parramattensis) and Sydney golden wattle (Acacia longifolia), the common hop bush (Dodonaea triquetra), as well as native grasses, herbs and flowers such as kangaroo grass (Themeda australis) and Australian bluebell (Wahlenbergia gracilis). Plant species growing in Sydney Turpentine–Ironbark Forest typically number upwards of 70, although fewer species are found in the smaller surviving pockets, and some may not be visible above ground, awaiting climatic conditions favourable for seed germination.
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