Research

The Brown Stringybark woodland appears in south eastern Australia including in the Fleurieu peninsula of South Australia. The tree storey is dominated by Eucalyptus Baxteri, commonly known as Brown Stringybark.

Finding the woodlands in your area of the Fleurieu

DEW had developed NatureMaps, an online mapping tool for identifying the Pre-European vegetation plant communities throughout South Australia. Each of the woodlands were defined by NatureMap vegetation codes. In the case of the Brown Stringybark woodlands, there were two keys: WM1801PE and ML0404PE. These were actually two distinct types of Brown Stringybark woodlands. These factsheets remain available online within the DEW web site and also at the Green Adelaide web site.

In 2025, the Landscape Board, Hills and Fleurieu, published two factsheets for each of the vegetation codes:

• Brown Stringybark (Eucalyptus baxteri) (Low) Woodland/ Open Forest (WM1801PE)
• Brown Stringybark (Eucalyptus baxteri) + Pink Gum (Eucalyptus fasciculosa) + Cup Gum (Eucalyptus cosmophylla) Low Woodland (ML0404PE)

Each factsheet distinguishes clearly the plants in these distinct communities. They are a great deal more detailed; each providing information about:

• Community distribution in the Fleurieu in map format (See maps)
• Soil type, rainfall, and notes on revegetation
• A plant list separated into plant type: trees, shrubs, mat plants, sedges and tussocks, twiner/scramblers, and herbs
• Details for each plant including: whether plants can be purchased in a plant nursery, propagation methods, seed treatment, and seed propagation treatments, and level of difficulty for seed propagation, and how the plants are pollinated.

Pre-European Distribution of Brown Stringybark woodlands

The distribution of both woodlands before European settlement in the graphics below (marked in green) shows the extent of each woodland. The location of the woodlands correspond in general to Permian sand deposits left behind millions of years ago.  

Pre-European Plant communities in Mount compass area

In the Fleurieu peninsula of South Australia, both forms of the Brown Stringybark woodland existed in the Mount Compass area. The images below were produced using NatureMaps, a free online tool provided by the Department of Environment and Water of the Government of South Australia.

Brown Stringybark low woodland (WM1801PE)

The following images show where the the Brown Stringybark low woodland occurred.

Brown Stringybark + Pink Gum + Cup Gum Low Woodland/ Open Forest (ML0404PE)

European Settlement

As European settlement encroached, firstly by draining swamps for growing vegetables, then clearing the lands with more fertile soils such as valley floors. The Brown Stringybark woodlands which occupied the highlands were avoided as being wastelands. The white Permian sands were particularly infertile, lacking nutrients for European agriculture. 

After much trial and error, between the 1920s and 1940s, both by farmers and agricultural advisors, the residents of the area learnt how to utilise these soils and make them productive pastures for some of the most productive dairy cattle in South Australia.

Anne Riddle, 1988, Chasing rainbows in the rain: A history of Mt. Compass, Nangkita, Tooperang and Yundi, Mt. Compass War Memorial Community Centre, Mount Compass. p. 10

Thus, the Brown Stringybark woodlands yielded to dairy and meat production. The application of fertiliser and irrigation maintained production throughout the year. Pine plantations replaced woodlands as a source of timber and wind breaks. Pine trees do well in well-drained acidic soils. 

Distribution today

The Stringybark low woodland (WM1801PE) is a fraction of its original pre-European distribution, approximately 7.8% remaining.

Of the approximately 23,000 hectares (ha) mapped as being present prior to European settlement, approximately 1,800 ha have been mapped in the Department of Environment and Water’s extant mapping layer (Data SA 2025).

Croft, S, Croft, T 2025, Vegetation Community Profile: Brown Stringybark (Eucalyptus baxteri) (Low) Woodland/ Open Forest (WM1801PE).

The Stringybark + Pink Gum + Cup Gum (ML0404PE) low woodland has fared better.

Of the 3000 ha (75%) has been mapped in the Department of Environment and Water’s extant mapping layer (Data SA 2025).

Croft, S, Croft, T 2025, Vegetation Community Profile: Brown Stringybark (Eucalyptus baxteri) + Pink Gum (Eucalyptus fasciculosa) + Cup Gum (Eucalyptus cosmophylla) Low Woodland/ Open Forest (ML0404PE)

This equates to 2,250 ha.

To preserve these woodland ecosystems, the Department of Environment and Water has set aside conservation parks. According to NatureMaps, much of Spring Mount conservation park and some of Gum Tree conservation park are covered with Stringybark low woodland (WM1801PE). Cox Scrub conservation park is Stringybark + Pink Gum + Cup Gum (ML0404PE) low woodland. This is confirmed in the 2nd edition of Native Eucalypts of South Australia, author Dean Nicolle.

Threat of habitat loss

The Landscape Board, Hills and Fleurieu (Landscape HF) is actively pursuing revegetation of areas to support the wildlife unique to Stringybark woodlands. Many of understorey plants can be grown from seed or seedlings or purchased from a Native nursery for private and public spaces. LIfestyle blocks and farms can plant canopy trees and understorey to support birds, bees and other native wildlife associated with Brown Stringybark woodlands. 

Related