The Coolgardie woodlands occupy southern Western Australia, sitting as a broad transition zone between the Mediterranean-climate forests, woodlands and shrublands of Australia's southwest coast and the dry interior, and taking in both the Coolgardie and the coastal Hampton biogeographic regions. The country is dominated by eucalypt woodlands and mallee scrub, with characteristic trees including salmon gum (Eucalyptus salmonophloia), gimlet (E. salubris), York gum (E. loxophleba) and the locally endemic Coolgardie gum (E. torquata), over an understorey of saltbush such as Maireana and Atriplex. The climate is genuinely transitional, drying inland from the comparatively mild, winter-wet Mediterranean southwest toward the arid heart of the continent. This is one of the largest relatively intact temperate woodlands left anywhere on Earth, and its flora is remarkably rich, holding about 30 percent of Australia's eucalypt species and roughly 20 percent of the continent's plants, alongside wildlife such as the ground-nesting malleefowl. For gardeners in warm, dry-summer climates, the salmon gum, gimlet and York gum native here are hardy ornamental eucalypts well suited to low-rainfall plantings.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 31.4°S, 121.4°E.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
11a-12b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
11a-12b
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +2.4°F by mid-century. SSP3-7.0 (current trajectory) · CHELSA v2.1 bio06 sampled across 10 of 10 points within this ecoregion's bounding box.
At a glance
Dominant biome
Mediterranean Forests, Woodlands & Scrub
Realm
Australasia
Approximate area
49,891 sq mi
Conservation tier
Nature Could Reach Half Protected (Dinerstein NNH 2)
About the mediterranean forests, woodlands & scrub biome
Regions of hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters supporting drought-adapted shrublands — chaparral, maquis, fynbos — and open woodlands. Fire is a natural shaping force, and these climates hold extraordinary plant diversity and endemism.
Catalog plants suited to this ecoregion
Computed from each plant's stated USDA zone range against this ecoregion's CHELSA-derived current zone range, with the CHELSA mid-century warming delta applied for the projection. Plants whose stated range falls outside both the current and projected zone end up dropped; the rest land in one of the three buckets below.
Climate-resilient picks · 52
These plants fit this ecoregion today AND remain in range under the mid-century SSP3-7.0 projection. Lead with these for a planting that holds up as the climate shifts.
No curated collection's plants all fit this ecoregion's zone range. We surface a collection only when every member would grow here — partial fits get filtered out rather than mislead. As the catalog and the curated set both grow, this section will fill in.
Related ecoregions
Other mediterranean forests, woodlands & scrub ecoregions to explore: