Native Vegetation Group 5 - Lower Slopes or Hills Woodlands
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Lower Slopes or Hills Native Vegetation Map
Higher resolution map of Simplified Native Vegetation Group 5 (PDF - 831 Kb) - includes major roads and towns.Ecological Vegetation Class Descriptions
| 5.1 Lower Slopes or Hills Woodlands - Seasonally inundated and/or shrubby |  |
| 5.2 Lower Slopes or Hills Woodlands – Grassy |  |
| 5.3 Lower Slopes or Hills Woodlands - Herb-rich |  |
Bioregional Conservation Status and EVC benchmarks
5.1 Lower Slopes or Hills Woodlands - Seasonally inundated and/or shrubby
EVC 65 Sedge-rich Woodland
Occurs in shallow depressions in flatter, poorly drained areas. The vegetation is an open woodland, with shrubs and understorey trees uncommon, and sedges predominating in the ground layer. Herbs typical of inundated environments are present, but also grass, herb and geophyte species may also be common.
EVC 80 Spring Soak Woodland
Woodland with an understorey dominated by medium and small herbs and occasional shrubs. Generally occurring on granitic-outwash soils and dependent on the continual availability of a reliable water supply.
EVC 195 Seasonally Inundated Shrubby Woodland
Shrub-dominated eucalypt woodland with an understorey visually dominated by medium shrubs and including a range of sedges and grasses and herbs including a number of annuals. Occurs on moderately fertile, poorly-drained, shallow sand or silty topsoils over heavier clay subsoils that naturally impede drainage. Often associated with recent Quaternary swamp deposits and broad, seasonal drainage lines and outwash flats. Soils are generally inundated or waterlogged in winter and baked hard in summer, which promotes sedges and annual species.
EVC 285 Dry Creekline Woodland
Shrub-dominated eucalypt woodland with a sedge and herb-dominated understorey. Occurs along small, narrow, ephemeral streams flowing north and west from the Grampians towards drier regions in the north. Streams are largely dry in summer and often contain coarse alluvial sand deposits derived from a variety of geologies.
EVC 706 Limestone Rise Woodland
Woodland or open-forest with a prominent shrub layer over graminoid tussocks. Occurs on fertile flats in Quaternary aeolian dune fields with sandy loamy soils and limestone relatively close to the surface, occasionally outcropping.
5.2 Lower Slopes or Hills Woodlands – Grassy
EVC 66 Low Rises Woodland
Eucalypt woodland on elevated plains and low rises with a diverse shrub by understorey and grassy field layer. Occurs in a range of environmental settings that have resulted in well-drained surface soils mantling clay sub-soils.
EVC 175 Grassy Woodland
A variable open eucalypt woodland over a diverse ground layer of grasses and herbs. The shrub component is usually sparse. It occurs on sites with moderate fertility on gentle slopes or undulating hills on a range of geologies.
EVC 644 Cinder Cone Woodland
Eucalypt woodland over a diverse ground layer of grasses and herbs. Associated with tuff (volcanic ash) volcanoes.
EVC 709 Scree-slope Woodland
Eucalypt woodland with an open shrub layer over a grassy ground layer with small sandstone boulders. Occurs on scree slopes a the base of cliffs where soils are generally shallow and the exposed rocky conditions result in relatively dry well-drained conditions. The pre-1750 structure of the EVC is thought to have been either a grassland or a more open woodland.
EVC 894 Scoria Cone Woodland
Eucalypt woodland or non-eucalypt woodland over a grassy to bracken-dominated understorey with a range of herbs. Occurs on the slopes of freely-draining scoria cones and spatter areas of more coarse boulder-forming flow sources. Soils are fertile but often skeletal.
5.3 Lower Slopes or Hills Woodlands
EVC 70 Hillcrest Herb-rich Woodland
Restricted to low rainfall areas and occurs on broad, flat hilltops and ridgelines and upper slopes of undulating rises and rolling hills at low elevations. The flatness of the ridgetops allows for the formation of deeper soils derived from Ordovician sediments and together with clayey sub-soils found in pockets in fractured sedimentary rock, results in better growing conditions than on the surrounding slopes. The overstorey is sparse and consists of low spreading eucalypts. The medium shrub layer is usually absent while the ground layer has a diverse array of grasses and herbs partly due to protection offered by the easterly aspect.
EVC 71 Hills Herb-rich Woodland
A dry, open eucalypt woodland often with a sparse shrub layer. The understorey is dominated by a carpet of herbs and grasses. Soils are generally shallow but fertile, and outcropping rock is not uncommon. This seasonally dry environment is favourable for annual herbs, with the fertile nature of the various geologies also supporting perennial herbs. Landform can vary from relatively flat ground to ridge tops on sedimentary sandstones (along seams of mineral-rich sandstone) to undulating, rounded, granite hill landforms.
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Bioregional Conservation Status and EVC benchmarks
An EVC may have a different conservation status in each bioregion in which it is found. To look up an EVC's Bioregional Conservation Status (BCS), download the spreadsheet on the Simplified Native Vegetation Groups page.
You can also use this spreadsheet to help find the corresponding EVC benchmarks, which are listed by bioregion.
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