The Australian Alps montane grasslands is a montane grassland

Montane grasslands and shrublands

Montane grasslands and shrublands is a biome defined by the World Wildlife Fund. The biome includes high altitude grasslands and shrublands around the world....

 ecoregion

Ecoregion

An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...

 of south-eastern Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, restricted to the montane

Montane

In biogeography, montane is the highland area located below the subalpine zone. Montane regions generally have cooler temperatures and often have higher rainfall than the adjacent lowland regions, and are frequently home to distinct communities of plants and animals.The term "montane" means "of the...

 regions above 1300 metres (the upper altitudinal limit of Eucalyptus pauciflora).

Location and description

The Australian Alps

Australian Alps

The Australian Alps are the highest mountain ranges of mainland Australia. They are located in southeastern Australia and straddle the Australian Capital Territory, south-eastern New South Wales and eastern Victoria...

 occupy less than 0.3% of the Australian landmass and run for 600 km from the Brindabella Ranges

Brindabella Ranges

The Brindabella Range is a mountain range located on the border between New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. The ranges rise to the west of Canberra, the capital city of Australia, and include the Namadgi National Park in the A.C.T. and Bimberi Nature Reserve and...

 near Canberra

Canberra

Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...

 along the borders of the Australian Capital Territory

Australian Capital Territory

The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...

, New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

 and Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

 almost as far as Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

. The highest point is Mount Kosciuszko

Mount Kosciuszko

Mount Kosciuszko is a mountain located in the Snowy Mountains in Kosciuszko National Park. With a height of 2,228 metres above sea level, it is the highest mountain in Australia...

 (2,228m) in the Snowy Mountains

Snowy Mountains

The Snowy Mountains, known informally as "The Snowies", are the highest Australian mountain range and contain the Australian mainland's highest mountain, Mount Kosciuszko, which reaches 2,228 metres AHD, approximately 7310 feet....

. On the Australian mainland these are the south-eastern section of the country's Great Dividing Range

Great Dividing Range

The Great Dividing Range, or the Eastern Highlands, is Australia's most substantial mountain range and the third longest in the world. The range stretches more than 3,500 km from Dauan Island off the northeastern tip of Queensland, running the entire length of the eastern coastline through...

 while there are also significant elements of montane grassland in Tasmania

Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

. These mountain areas are notable in Australia, which is mostly flat and dry, and the Alps receive almost a quarter of the country's rainfall and are the water source for almost half of the population. Winters are dark, cold and windy with snow on the ground, with Mount Kosciuszko for example only having 10 frost-free days per year.

On the mainland, the Australian Alps montane grasslands are surrounded at lower elevations by the Southeast Australia temperate forests ecoregion.

Flora

The montane grasslands are a mixed habitat of grassland, heath

Heath (habitat)

A heath or heathland is a dwarf-shrub habitat found on mainly low quality acidic soils, characterised by open, low growing woody vegetation, often dominated by plants of the Ericaceae. There are some clear differences between heath and moorland...

 and bog that is home to a rich collection of Alpine and other plants adpated to the cold climate, snow and harsh dry winters. The ecoregion can be sub-categorised in to montane

Montane

In biogeography, montane is the highland area located below the subalpine zone. Montane regions generally have cooler temperatures and often have higher rainfall than the adjacent lowland regions, and are frequently home to distinct communities of plants and animals.The term "montane" means "of the...

 (between 1,100 m and 1,400 m), subalpine

Subalpine

The subalpine zone is the biotic zone immediately below tree line around the world. Species that occur in this zone depend on the location of the zone on the Earth, for example, Snow Gum in Australia, or Subalpine Larch, Mountain Hemlock and Subalpine Fir in western North America.Trees in the...

 (between 1,400 m and 1,850 m), and alpine

Alpine tundra

Alpine tundra is a natural region that does not contain trees because it is at high altitude. Alpine tundra is distinguished from arctic tundra, because alpine soils are generally better drained than arctic soils...

 (normally above 1,850 m) bands. At lower elevations a number of different types of eucalyptus tree including mountain ash

Eucalyptus regnans

Eucalyptus regnans, known variously by the common names Mountain Ash, Victorian Ash, Swamp Gum, Tasmanian Oak or Stringy Gum, is a species of Eucalyptus native to southeastern Australia, in Tasmania and Victoria...

 (Eucalyptus regnans) grow on the rich soils of the mountain valleys while the trees of the subalpine elevations are snow gum

Eucalyptus pauciflora

The Snow Gum is a small tree or large shrub native to eastern Australia.-Habitat:It is usually found in the subalpine habitats of eastern Australia. Snow Gums also grow in lowland habitats where they can reach heights of up to 20 metres. Lowland Snow Gum is sometimes known as White Sallee, Cabbage...

 (Eucalyptus pauciflora) and black sallee (Eucalyptus stellulatea) with a ground cover of heath shrubs. The tree line is between 1600 and 1800m and above that the alpine flora

Alpine tundra

Alpine tundra is a natural region that does not contain trees because it is at high altitude. Alpine tundra is distinguished from arctic tundra, because alpine soils are generally better drained than arctic soils...

 consists predominantly of species of Poa

Poa

Poa is a genus of about 500 species of grasses, native to the temperate regions of both hemispheres. Common names include meadow-grass , bluegrass , tussock , and speargrass. "Poa" is Greek for fodder...

 (snow grass), usually associated with closed and open shrublands of orites

Orites

The genus Orites consists of 9 species, 7 endemic to Australia and 2 in South America; 1 each in the Chilean Andes and 1 in Bolivia.Species include:...

, Grevillea

Grevillea

Grevillea is a diverse genus of about 360 species of evergreen flowering plants in the protea family Proteaceae, native to Australia, New Guinea, New Caledonia, and Sulawesi. It was named in honour of Charles Francis Greville. The species range from prostrate shrubs less than 0.5 m tall to trees...

, Prostanthera

Prostanthera

Prostanthera, commonly known as Mintbush, is a genus of plants of the family Lamiaceae. There are about 90 species within the genus, all of which are endemic to Australia. The word is derived from the Greek, which refers to an appendage...

, and Hovea

Hovea

Hovea is a genus of perennial shrubs which are native to Australia. Species from this genus are occasionally cultivated as ornamental plants.Species include:...

. At the highest alpine elevations, these mosaics may give way to a fjeldmark or, in zones where snow lies into the summer months, to a snow patch community. Sphagnum

Sphagnum

Sphagnum is a genus of between 151 and 350 species of mosses commonly called peat moss, due to its prevalence in peat bogs and mires. A distinction is made between sphagnum moss, the live moss growing on top of a peat bog on one hand, and sphagnum peat moss or sphagnum peat on the other, the...

 bog

Bog

A bog, quagmire or mire is a wetland that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses or, in Arctic climates, lichens....

 communities of Sphagnum cristatum and Empodisma minus

Empodisma minus

Empodisma minus, commonly known as the spreading rope rush, is a herbaceous plant or grass in the family, Restionaceae....

(spreading rope-rush) occur in stream beds or other low-lying areas.

The occurrence of grasslands represents an ecological climax condition, the culmination of a cycle of colonisation of bare ground by woody shrubs which provide protection for seedlings of grass species. The shrubs senesce after 40 to 50 years, leaving a closed canopy

Canopy (forest)

In biology, the canopy is the aboveground portion of a plant community or crop, formed by plant crowns.For forests, canopy also refers to the upper layer or habitat zone, formed by mature tree crowns and including other biological organisms .Sometimes the term canopy is used to refer to the extent...

.

Fauna

Although this is a hard environment there is much endemic wildlife in the Alps including the chameleon-like Alpine thermocolor grasshopper, Mountain Pygmy Possum

Mountain Pygmy Possum

The Mountain Pygmy Possum is a small, mouse-sized nocturnal marsupial of Australia found in dense alpine rock screes and boulder fields, mainly southern Victoria and around Mount Kosciuszko in Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales at elevations from 1300 to 2230 m...

 (Burramys parvus) and the corroboree frog

Corroboree frog

The Corroboree frogs are two species of small, ground dwelling frogs, native to Southern Tablelands of Australia. The two species are the Southern Corroboree Frog and the Northern Corroboree Frog .-Taxonomy:'Corroboree' is an Indigenous Australian word for a gathering or meeting where...

 (Pseudophryne corroboree). One particularly restricted range species is the Baw Baw Frog

Baw Baw Frog

The Baw Baw frog is a critically endangered species of Australian frog as categorised on the IUCN redlist and listed under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act .- Description :...

 (Philoria frosti) which only lives on the Baw Baw Plateau

Baw Baw National Park

Baw Baw is a national park in Victoria, Australia, 111 km east of Melbourne. It contains the Baw-Baw Plateau and Mount Baw Baw, a small ski resort, including nearby town, technically outside the national park....

 in Victoria. The larger mammals of the lower elevations include Red-necked Wallaby

Red-necked Wallaby

The Red-necked Wallaby is a medium-sized marsupial macropod, common in the more temperate and fertile parts of eastern Australia, including Tasmania.- Description :...

 (Macropus rufogriseus), Swamp Wallaby

Swamp Wallaby

The Swamp Wallaby is a small macropod marsupial of eastern Australia. This wallaby is also commonly known as the Black Wallaby, with other names including Black-tailed Wallaby, Fern Wallaby, Black Pademelon, Stinker , and Black Stinker...

 (Wallabia bicolor), Common Wombat

Common Wombat

The common wombat , also known as the coarse-haired wombat or bare-nosed wombat, is a marsupial, one of three species of wombats and the only one in the genus Vombatus. The common wombat grows to an average of long and a weight of .- Taxonomy :The common wombat was first described by George Shaw...

 (Vombatus ursinus), Tiger Quoll

Tiger Quoll

The tiger quoll , also known as the spotted-tail quoll, the spotted quoll, the spotted-tailed dasyure or the tiger cat, is a carnivorous marsupial of the quoll genus Dasyurus native to Australia...

 (Dasyurus maculatus), Short-beaked Echidna

Short-beaked Echidna

The short-beaked echidna , also known as the spiny anteater because of its diet of ants and termites, is one of four living species of echidna and the only member of the genus Tachyglossus...

 (Tachyglossus aculeatus) and platypus

Platypus

The platypus is a semi-aquatic mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. Together with the four species of echidna, it is one of the five extant species of monotremes, the only mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young...

 (Ornithorhynchus anatinus).

Threats and preservation

This is an ecoregion generally thought to have experienced long periods of minimal disturbance prior to European settlement. Since the nineteenth century, grazing and an increased incidence of fire resulted in a reduction in range condition, and extensive damage to bog communities, from which plant communities have been slow to recover. However the Alps have long been protected as national parkland in order to preserve the water sources and most of the region is now contained in large contiguous National Parks. These include Brindabella

Brindabella National Park

Brindabella National Park is a national park in New South Wales, Australia, 267 km southwest of Sydney in the Brindabella Ranges.On 7 November 2008 The Park was added to the Australian National Heritage List as one of eleven areas constituting the Australian Alps National Parks and...

 and Namadgi National Park

Namadgi National Park

Namadgi National Park is located in the southwestern part of the Australian Capital Territory, bordering Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales. It lies approximately 40 km southwest of Canberra, and makes up approximately 46% of the ACT's land area....

 and Bimberi

Bimberi Nature Reserve

The Bimberi Nature Reserve is a reserve that comprises part of the Brindabella Ranges about 30 kilometres south-west of Canberra. It lies between Namadgi and Kosciuszko National Parks...

 and Scabby Range Nature Reserves near Canberra, Kosciuszko

Kosciuszko National Park

Kosciuszko National Park covers 690,000 hectares and contains mainland Australia's highest peak, Mount Kosciuszko for which it is named, and Cabramurra the highest town in Australia...

 in New South Wales, and Alpine

Alpine National Park

The Alpine National Park is a national park in Victoria , northeast of Melbourne. It covers much of the higher areas of the Great Dividing Range in Victoria, including Victoria's highest point, Mount Bogong and the associated subalpine woodland and grassland of the Bogong High Plains...

 and Snowy River National Park

Snowy River National Park

Snowy River is a national park in Victoria , 323 km east of Melbourne.Much of the park is classified as wilderness area, where vehicles are unable to visit. The park provides one of the last natural habitats at the Little River Gorge for the endangered brush-tailed rock wallaby...

s and the Avon Wilderness Park

Avon Wilderness Park

Avon Wilderness Park is a completely undeveloped area of land in the southern part of Victoria's Alps, contiguous with the southern border of the Alpine National Park. It was declared in 1987 and protects of mountain ash and sub-alpine woodlands. Although there are no walking or vehicle tracks...

in Victoria. This parkland which does suffer litter, trampling of wildlife and other damage associated with tourism including the clearance of parkland to create ski resorts.