Starvation Creek plot

Starvation Creek

 

Overview

The Starvation Creek forest dynamics plot is the first Australian plot in the ForestGEO network. The plot was established in low-elevation, mixed-species eucalypt forest approximately 90 km east of Melbourne. This forest type is the dominant regional forest type and covers over 2 million hectares in Victoria, New South Wales, and Tasmania. Although the forest canopy is dominated exclusively by eucalypt species, the understorey is a rich mix of species that varies spatially in density and diversity. The Starvation Creek plot is notable for the high congeneric diversity of the canopy eucalypts– 13 species co-occur within the plot. This is typical of the forest type, particularly in eastern Victoria and southern New South Wales. The plot also has seven Acacia species and three species each of Cassinia and Pultanaea. The most abundant species in the plot are the understorey trees, Leptospermum continentale and Acacia oxycedrus. The most abundant canopy tree species are Eucalyptus sieberi and Eucalyptus obliqua.

Like almost all of the low-elevation mixed-species forests in southeastern Australia, the Starvation Creek plot has a history of human disturbance. This includes selective logging in the early 1960s and fuel reduction burning as recently as 2021. The plot has a rich bird community with gang-gang and yellow-tailed black cockatoos, lyrebirds, wagtails, whistlers, and thornbills. Terrestrial and arboreal marsupials such as antechinus and gliders also occur within the plot.

Established: 
2021
Joined Network: 
2023
Ecological Zone: 
Temperate continental forest
Number of plot(s):
0
Size: 
16.00ha
Dimensions: 
400 x 400 m; 160,000 sq m.
Latitude: -37.710000000000
Longitude: 145.810000000000
Number of Censuses: 
1

Principal Scientist

Collaborating Institutions