Dry Eucalypt Forests
Dry eucalypt forests are referred to as dry sclerophyll forests.
They are prevalent throughout eastern and some of central Tasmania.
Like wet eucalypt forests, dry forests are dominated by eucalypt species and depend on regular disturbance such as fire to regenerate.
Dry eucalypt forests are far less dense than wet eucalypt forests and, as a result of greater access to sunlight, they have a far greater floristic diversity (of the 29 species of eucalypt present in Tasmania, 25 species occur in dry forests).
The widely spaced trees are often of varying ages since some trees usually survive the more frequent and less intense fire patterns present in drier environments, and the understorey (of bracken, hard-leaved shrubs or grasses) is sparse.
Dry forests often grow on areas of lower soil fertility than wet forests or rainforests. Both the trees and understorey species of dry eucalypt forests have adapted to lack of water and low soil nutrients - although fertile soils will favour the valuable ash group of eucalypts and provide far better growth of all species.