Boorganna Nature Reserve
Encyclopedia
Boorganna Nature Reserve is located north west of Taree
Taree, New South Wales
Taree is a city on the Mid North Coast, New South Wales, Australia. Taree and nearby Cundletown were settled in 1831 by William Wynter. Since then Taree has grown to a population of around 20,000 people and is the centre of a significant agricultural district. It is 16 km from the sea coast,...
on the Comboyne Plateau in 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...
, 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...
. Managed by the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service. It features various forest types, including stands of sub tropical rainforest. The large Rosewood
Dysoxylum fraserianum
Dysoxylum fraserianum is a large tree species native to NSW and Queensland, Australia....
, Yellow Carabeen and Small leaf fig are particularly noteworthy.
Facilities
A picnic area next to the forest provides chairs and tables for visitors. Walking trails, a lookout to Rawson Falls and an information board is also provided. Picnics provide a pleasant view of the nearby area. A variety of small birds appear from the edge of the forest.History
The 396 hectare reserve is the second oldest nature reserve in New South WalesNew 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...
, founded in 1904. It is a remnant of the former extensive rainforest on the Comboyne Plateau. The plateau was cleared between 1900 and 1925. Australian Red Cedar
Toona ciliata
Australian Red Cedar , Toona ciliata is a forest tree in the family Meliaceae which grows throughout southern Asia from Afghanistan to Papua New Guinea and Australia. In Australia its natural habitat is now extensively cleared subtropical rainforests of New South Wales and Queensland...
was logged in the area in the nineteenth century. The exploration, knowledge, uses and history of this area by Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
is not well known in the present day.
Geology and Climate
The annual average rainfall at nearby Comboyne is a high 1818 mm. The climate is sub tropical, though at an elevation of up to 700 metres, it is much cooler than at the coast nearby. Soils are derived from tertiary basaltBasalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
, which provide a deep red loam. Below the basalt are less fertile sedimentary rocks.
The western area of the reserve has partly eroded, forming areas of cliffs, rocks and shallow soils. Deep gullies, isolated hills and sharp edged rocky ridges occur here. Rocks include pebbly mudstone
Mudstone
Mudstone is a fine grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Grain size is up to 0.0625 mm with individual grains too small to be distinguished without a microscope. With increased pressure over time the platey clay minerals may become aligned, with the...
, conglomerate siltstone
Siltstone
Siltstone is a sedimentary rock which has a grain size in the silt range, finer than sandstone and coarser than claystones.- Description :As its name implies, it is primarily composed of silt sized particles, defined as grains 1/16 - 1/256 mm or 4 to 8 on the Krumbein phi scale...
and shale
Shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. The ratio of clay to other minerals is variable. Shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminae or parallel layering...
. Serpentinite
Serpentinite
Serpentinite is a rock composed of one or more serpentine group minerals. Minerals in this group are formed by serpentinization, a hydration and metamorphic transformation of ultramafic rock from the Earth's mantle...
outcrops can also be seen.
Fauna
Animals are seldom seen in the rainforest, being nocturnal. However, many species live in the reserve. Such as a bats, wallabiesWallaby
A wallaby is any of about thirty species of macropod . It is an informal designation generally used for any macropod that is smaller than a kangaroo or wallaroo that has not been given some other name.-Overview:...
, possum
Possum
A possum is any of about 70 small to medium-sized arboreal marsupial species native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi .Possums are quadrupedal diprotodont marsupials with long tails...
s, gliders, spotted quoll, 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...
, bandicoots, pademelon
Pademelon
Pademelons are small marsupials of the genus Thylogale. They are usually found in forests. Pademelons are the smallest of the macropods...
s, bush rats, snakes, lizards and antechinus
Antechinus
Antechinus is a genus of dasyurid marsupial that is indigenous to Australia and New Guinea. The majority of Antechinus species occur in Australia and only two species have been described in New Guinea...
.
Bird life is varied and extensive with around a hundred species recorded. Many rainforest pigeons frequent the reserve such as the Rose Crowned Fruit Dove and Wompoo Fruit Dove. As well as other seldom seen species such as the Noisy Pitta
Noisy Pitta
The Noisy Pitta, Pitta versicolor, is a species of bird in the Pittidae family. It is found in Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea.It eats earthworms, insects and snails....
, Green Catbird
Green Catbird
The Green Catbird, Ailuroedus crassirostris is a species of bowerbird found on subtropical forests along the east coast of Australia, from southeastern Queensland to southern New South Wales. Its colouring is emerald green, with faint black markings on the face and white streaks on the neck.Green...
, and Figbird
Australasian Figbird
The Australasian Figbird is a conspicuous medium-sized passerine bird native to a wide range of wooded habitats in northern and eastern Australia, southern Papua New Guinea, and the Kai Islands in Indonesia. It was formerly considered a subspecies of S...
.
Invertebrate biology is not so well understood. However, a vast number of insects, arachnids, molluscs, worms and other small creatures live in the rainforest. Leeches are often noticed by bushwalkers after rain. Red Triangle Slug
Red triangle slug
The red triangle slug, scientific name Triboniophorus graeffei, is a species of air-breathing land slug, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Athoracophoridae, the leaf-veined slugs....
s and Blue Planarian live on the forest floor. Tree dwelling snails
Mysticarion porrectus
Mysticarion porrectus, also known as Helicarion porrectus, is a tree-dwelling snail in the family Helicarionidae. It is endemic to Australia. This species occurs in and near rainforests at high altitude in eastern Australia...
may be found here.
Sub Tropical Rainforest
The jungle or sub tropical rainforest features a dark forest with many large trees. Several species grow to great height and a broad trunk diameter, such as Yellow Carabeen, Small leaf fig, Moreton Bay FigMoreton Bay Fig
Ficus macrophylla, commonly known as the Moreton Bay Fig, is a large evergreen banyan tree of the Moraceae family that is a native of most of the eastern coast of Australia, from the Atherton Tableland in the north to the Illawarra in New South Wales, and Lord Howe Island. Its common name is...
, Rosewood
Dysoxylum fraserianum
Dysoxylum fraserianum is a large tree species native to NSW and Queensland, Australia....
, Black Booyong, Giant Stinging Tree, Pigeonberry Ash, Brush Box and Silver Quandong. Other smaller plants of interest include the Walking Stick Palm and the Macleay Laurel
Anopterus macleayanus
Anopterus macleayanus is a species of shrub or small tree in the family Escalloniaceae, native to Queensland and New South Wales in Australia....
.
Boorganna Nature Reserve features several plants at or near their most southern limit of natural distribution. Such as the Sour Cherry
Syzygium corynanthum
Syzygium corynanthum is a common Australian tree, growing from near Taree, New South Wales to tropical Queensland. Common names include Sour Cherry and Killarney Satinash...
, Purple Cherry, White Apple, Turnipwood and the Red Carabeen.
The Antarctic Beech
Nothofagus moorei
Nothofagus moorei, is an important Gondwana relict of the rainforests of the southern hemisphere. It occurs in wet, fire free areas at high altitude in eastern Australia....
was recorded in the Comboyne area but is now considered locally extinct. However, some of its associated species still persist at Boorganna.
Warm Temperate Rainforest
Below the more fertile basalt is a poorer soil type. Warm temperate species are more frequently seen here, such as the CoachwoodCoachwood
Ceratopetalum apetalum, Coachwood, also called Scented Satinwood or Tarwood, is a medium-sized hardwood tree, straight-growing with smooth, fragrant, greyish bark. It is in the family Cunoniaceae...
, Watergum and Sassafras
Doryphora sassafras
Doryphora sassafras, commonly known as Sassafras, Yellow-, Canary- or Golden sassafras, or Golden Deal, is a species of evergreen tree of the family Atherospermataceae native to the subtropical and temperate rainforests of eastern New South Wales and Queensland, Australia...
.
Gully Rainforest
Gully rainforest occurs south of Mumford's Creek, in steep sided narrow gullies. Plant species from the sub tropical and warm temperate rainforest occur here. They include Whalebone Tree, Walking Stick Palms and the Bangalow Palm.Dry Rainforest
Where the soil is shallow, and conditions are exposed to winds and fire is infrequent, dry rainforest occurs. Rainforest tree species in this area include the Grey Myrtle and Shatterwood.Eucalyptus Forest
Eucalyptus forest occurs in areas where fires often occur. In the wetter areas are Sydney Blue Gum, Brush Box, TallowwoodTallowwood
Tallowwood is a native Eucalypt species common in New South Wales and Queensland, Australia. It grows in forests near the coast on moderate to fertile soils in a protected, sunny position. Tallowwood is drought and frost tender....
, and New England Blackbutt. Some of the Tallowwood
Tallowwood
Tallowwood is a native Eucalypt species common in New South Wales and Queensland, Australia. It grows in forests near the coast on moderate to fertile soils in a protected, sunny position. Tallowwood is drought and frost tender....
are particularly tall and impressive in this area. The drier eucalyptus areas feature much smaller trees. Suited to high winds, frequent fires and shallow infertile soils.