User:Kitasky123/sandbox

Climate Eastern Western Geology Eastern Western Vegetation Eastern Western =East and West of Tasmania: Changes in climate, geology and vegetation=

The structure and composition of vegetation types changes from the East to the West of Tasmania. These changes correspond with the changes in climate and geology in these areas. This is integrated into something known as Tyler's Line, it defines the two distinct halves of the state.

Climate
Tasmania is known for its cool and wet climate, however this changes from the east to the west of the state. Tasmania has a maritime climate that is influenced by the Roaring Forties, a strong band that circles the globe from Antarctica.

Eastern
Eastern Tasmania is warm and dry, with little rainfall. The rain shadow effect means that the water precipitates out before reaching the eastern side of Tasmania due to the mountains. This leads to the southeast having an average rainfall of just 625mm.

Western
Western Tasmania is wetter than that in the east, with the south west having an average rainfall of 2400mm. The westerly system, brought on by the ‘Roaring Forties’ brings the rain to the west, with precipitation coming from the moist air.

Eastern
The east of Tasmania is known for the intrusions of the igneous rock of Jurassic Dolerite. This rock weathers easily and produce soils that are more fertile and rich in clay. The dolerite has intruded over Permian mudstone and Triassic sandstones.

Western
The geology is mainly pre-Carboniferous sediments. Western Tasmania is dominated by quartzite rock. This creates lower nutrient soils because it is slow to weather. It also produces shallower and acidic soils.

Vegetation
The vegetation of Tasmania is highly diverse due to the climatic and geologic differences between the east and west of the state. Tasmania has a high number of endemic species.

Eastern
Eastern Tasmania is dominated by dry Eucalypt forests. The highest amount of diversity of Eucalypts can be found in the south east of the state. Dry eucalypt forest, also known as sclerophyll forests, are comprised of eucalypts that are over 8m tall. The main dominant species of eucalypt recognised in these forests are Eucalyptus amygdalina and'' Eucalyptus tenuiramis.  Other species found in these forest are Acacia (wattles), Allocasuarina (sheoak) and Exocarpus cuppresiformis'' (native cherry). These forests are adapted to low nutrient soils, high fire frequency and droughts. The understory has species with hard leaves which gives them their drought tolerance.

Western
The vegetation is a matrix of rain and eucalypt forests, scrub, woodland and heath and sedgelands. Rainforest is a highly dominant vegetation in the western part of the state and occurs up to 1200m. The rainforest is defined by the genera of Nothofagus, Athrosperma and others. Tasmanian rainforests have a lower tree diversity than those in other areas. Wet Eucalypt (sclerophyll) forests can also be found in western areas due to the high levels of rainfall and low fire frequency. The eucalypt species that define these forests are oblique and ''delegatensis. They also have Eucalyptus regnans. ''The tall eucalypts mean that little light is available at ground level. The understory species have soft, broad leaves. If left without the disturbance of fire for long enough, the rainforest species will overtake the sclerophyll species.