Jarrah forest

Jarrah Forest is an interim Australian bioregion located in Western Australia. The Jarrah Forest comprises reserves across the south-west corner of WA and is managed for uses including recreation. There are many small areas of parkland while larger protected areas include the Dryandra Woodland, Lane-Poole Reserve, and the Perup Forest Ecology Centre. Also managed for land uses such as water, timber and mineral production, recreation and conservation, the forest is recognised globally as a significant hotspot of plant biodiversity and endemism.

The bioregion stands on the 300-metre-high (980 ft) Yilgarn block inland plateau and includes wooded valleys such as those of Western Australia's Murray River and the Helena River. On the west coast further south the jarrah forest region also covers the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge. At the southern end of the plateau is the Whicher Range and inland is the lower Blackwood Plateau. The eastern interior of the region includes the peaks of the Stirling Range, now preserved within Stirling Range National Park.

The name of the forest refers to the region's dominant ecosystem: jarrah forest; that is, a tall, open forest in which the dominant overstory tree is the jarrah. (Eucalyptus marginata). Soils in the jarrah forest are fertile, but often salt laden. The area has a warm Mediterranean climate, with more annual rainfall (1,300 millimetres (51 in)) on the scarp than inland or to the north-east (700 millimetres (28 in)).

Jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) is considered one of the best general purpose hardwoods in the world. The British started logging jarrah forest in south-west Western Australia in the 1840s to produce timber for use in construction, transport and power, and to protect water supplies. Logging was largely unregulated until the release of the Forests Act of 1918. The following 50 years saw forest management expand to include water quality and yield, soil management, rehabilitation of mined forest, recreation and nature conservation. Today jarrah is harvested for high quality furniture and flooring.

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