Wimmera Mallee Woodlands

Wimmera mallee woodlands occur in the Wimmera parts of the region in association with the broad alluvial flats of the Wimmera River and Yarrambiack Creek floodplains. Generally this vegetation develops on fertile Quaternary sands and silts in areas receiving less than 400 mm rainfall per annum. Structurally, Wimmera Mallee Woodland is a mosaic of Mallee, Big Mallee and Cypress-pine, Box and Buloke Woodlands and occasional small areas of grasslands. The overstorey is usually dominated by Mallee-form trees such as Bull Mallee Eucalyptus behriana, Red Mallee E. calycogona, Oil Mallee E. oleosa and Dumosa Mallee E. dumosa, other eucalypts including Yellow Gum E. leucoxylon and Black Box E. largiflorens and trees such as Buloke Allocasuarina luehmannii and Slender Cypress-pine Callitris gracilis. The understorey includes Wattles Acacia spp., Sugarwood Myoporum platycarpum, Pink Velvet-bush Lasiopetalum behrii, Ruby Saltbush Enchylaena tomentosa and other saltbushes Maireana spp. and Atriplex spp. The ground layer is predominantly grassy and includes Wallaby-grasses Austrodanthonia spp., Spear-grasses Austrostipa spp. and Windmill Grass Chloris truncata and a range of perennial and annual herbs. This vegetation has been cleared over large areas of its former range for conversion to agriculture, particularly cropping. Most present-day examples are confined to narrow roadside reserves and on the fringes of larger public land blocks. Very few larger examples occur in conservation reserves and most areas are under threat from weed invasions. Better information is required on the range, extent and quality of EVCs that make up this vegetation type in the region. EVCs: Shallow Sands Woodland Savannah Woodland Savannah Mallee Plains Grassland Alluvial Plains Shrubland Big Mallee Chenopod Mallee Red Swale Mallee Black Box Chenopod-Woodland Black Box Wetland Back to Vegetation Resources

Buloke Allocasuarina luehmannii Photograph is the property of Viridans Biological Databases (external link) Bull Mallee Eucalyptus behriana Photograph is the property of Viridans Biological Databases (external link) Mallee Eucalyptus dumosa Photograph is the property of Viridans Biological Databases (external link) Mallee Eucalyptus dumosa Photograph is the property of Viridans Biological Databases (external link)

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