The Box Eucalypt Woodland (BoxEW) transect is centred around key high-quality remnants of grassy box woodlands, from Yellow Box to Red Gum woodlands on the New South Wales Southern and Central Tablelands, through White Box woodlands on the NSW Central West Slopes, to Grey and Poplar Box woodlands on the NSW Central West Plains. It was established to facilitate restoration and climate adaptation of biodiversity and ecological processes in these wheatbelt ecological communities and has contributed to decisions regarding listing of threatened Ecological Communities at National and State levels.
The BoxEW captures a rainfall gradient of 400 mm in an east-west direction across box gum woodlands in central NSW, and incorporates major shifts at the family level in woodland plant composition. Along each part of the gradient, woodland remnants with minimal livestock grazing history form the core set of sites, and are variously contrasted with sites modified by livestock grazing to elucidate interactions with land use and climate.
General location |
Central New South Wales |
Research infrastructure themes |
effects of interactions between landuse and climate on floristic composition landuse effects on soil biophysical and chemical properties effects of climate gradient on within-species variation in plant traits and genomic adaptation |
Year Established |
1996 |
Transect Length |
386 km |
No. of plots |
19 relocatable sites with floristic data, more than 60 other relocatable and non-relocatable sites |
Rainfall Gradient (mean annual) |
from 800 mm – 400 mm |
Data type |
Whole site floristic data, soil chemical and biophysical data (partial), key species ecophysiological trait and genomic data (underway). |
Temporal revisit |
Opportunistic |
TERN Facilities |
nil |
Dr Suzanne Prober