The Naracoorte Woodlands span the Naracoorte coastal plain of southeastern South Australia and southwestern Victoria, a low-lying landscape of coastal dunes, wetlands, and brackish and freshwater lakes. Open sclerophyll forests and woodlands dominate, with heaths on sandy soils, tussock sedge (Gahnia) in the wettest swamps, and river red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) along seasonally waterlogged ground. The region has a mild Mediterranean climate of cool, wet winters and hot, dry summers, tempered by a strong maritime influence. Much of the ecoregion has been cleared for agriculture, leaving only about a tenth of its original vegetation, and it shelters the striped legless lizard along with the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot, which overwinters in its coastal dunes and saltmarshes. For gardeners, the native flora includes ornamental sclerophyll genera such as Banksia, Hakea, Acacia, Leptospermum, and the grasstree Xanthorrhoea.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 36.9°S, 140.4°E.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
11a-12a
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
11a-12a
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +2.2°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
9,487 sq mi
Conservation tier
Nature Could Recover (Dinerstein NNH 3)
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: