LibGuides: Explore the Outdoors: Victorian Environments: Dry Forests and Woodlands

Dry Forests and Woodlands Climates

Australian Bureau of Meteorology: Average Rainfall Maps
These maps show the average annual, seasonal and monthly rainfall distribution across Australia.
Australian Bureau of Meteorology: Average Temperature Maps
These temperature maps show the average annual and average monthly distributions of maximum, minimum and mean temperature.
Dry Sclerophyll Forests
Images and information about dry forests from wildlife and nature photographer Steve Parish.

Logging of Victoria's Forests

End of native logging in Victoria ‘a monumental win for forests’, say conservationists
Native forest logging in Victoria will end in December, six years earlier than previously planned, after the state government decided severe bushfires and legal campaigns had made it economically and environmentally unviable.
What should happen to native forests when logging ends? Ask Victoria’s First Peoples
The end of native timber harvesting is an opportunity for Victoria’s First Peoples to tend these forests again.
We can’t just walk away after the logging stops in Victoria’s native forests. Here’s what must happen next
By the end of this year, native forest logging will cease in Victoria. Now begins a long and difficult process to recover vast areas of forest after more than 50 years of clearfelling and other destructive logging practices.

Dry Sclerophll Forest

Dry Sclerophyll Forest (DrySF) is found on a range of clay-loam, sandy-loam and shallow rocky soils of exposed hillsides, mostly between 200 and 1000 m above sea level, with rainfall between 550 and 1000 mm a year. About half of the area once supporting DrySF in Victoria falls on public land while a little over one fifth is represented in conservation parks and reserves. About 45% of all DrySF has been permanently cleared for agriculture or urban development.

[Source]

Dry Forests and Woodlands

Dry Forests and Woodlands
General Information from parks Victoria about dry forest and woodland environments
Viridians: Victorian Ecosystems
Explore this page for Dry Sclerophyll Forests and Woodlands including Pine-Buloke Woodland, Banksia Woodland and Black Box Woodland.
Leadbeater's possum
The endangered Leadbeater's Possum is Victoria’s faunal emblem. The species is found only in Victoria, and lives primarily in the ash forests and sub-alpine woodlands of Victoria's central highlands, with a small lowland population to the east of Melbourne.

Human Interactions with Dry Forests and Woodlands

Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park
Take a trip back in time to the Victorian Goldrush at Castlemaine Diggings Heritage Park. Located at the heart of the central Victorian goldfields on Dja Dja Warrung Country, this is a rare place where you can see authentic traces of days gone by. Explore abandoned mines and settlements among shady Box-Ironbark woodlands.
Grampians National Park
The Grampians draws walkers from around the world. Traditionally known as Gariwerd, this region is home to the largest number of significant and ancient Aboriginal rock art paintings and shelters in southern Australia. A visit to Brambuk – The National Park & Cultural Centre will help you get the most of your trip to these rock shelters.
Warby-Ovens National Park
Located on Yorta-Yorta Country between the Victorian Alps and the Murray Valley, Warby‐Ovens National Park includes some of the State’s most significant bushland. It protects three very different ecosystems.

Only 10 kilometres from Wangaratta, it’s easy to access for a day trip to enjoy walks, picnics, birdwatching, bike rides, or a scenic drive. The views from Ryan's Lookout and Kwat Kwat Lookout are exceptional, especially in winter, with snow-covered peaks in the distance.
Why the west’s forests and woodlands are important
Forest and woodlands on public land in the west of the state (roughly west of the Hume Highway) are fragmented remnants of bush, often surrounded by a sea of cleared farmland. These are important patches of bushland threatened by logging, mining and poor management.