Big Eucalypts of Canberra & Southern Tablelands

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Overview of the Big Eucalypts project

This is a collection of the largest individuals of different Eucalypt tree species (Eucalyptus, Corymbia & Angophora) in Canberra & the Southern Tablelands. The collection complements exisitng big and giant Eucalypt collections on citizen science platforms in other parts of the country. For example, the National Register of Big Trees https://www.nationalregisterofbigtrees.com.au/pages/home-page and Dr Dean Nicolle's reference collection of giant Eucalypts in Tasmania, for example https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/observations/192037411

Why are big Eucalypts important? They support a diverse range of other species. Big Eucalypts often contain multiple tree hollows for hollow dependent fauna. More than 300 species of Australian native animals use tree hollows for shelter and breeding, including iconic birds such as black cockatoos. Big Eucalypts are major carbon stores both in wood volume and root biomass.

Examples of big Eucalypts in the ACT:

The tallest tree in the ACT with a height of 65.6m. It is a mountain gum (Eucalyptus dalrympleana subsp. dalrympleana) in a remote part of Northern Namadgi National Park https://canberra.naturemapr.org/sightings/4584452
The tallest tree in the urban area of the ACT is a flooded gum planted at the Australian National Botanic Gardens, with a height of 44.09m https://canberra.naturemapr.org/sightings/4584937
There is a very big old yellow box (400 to 500 years old) with a trunk girth of 5.85 m at Gurubung Dhaura park, Yarralumla. The age estimate for this yellow box is based on a study that showed that yellow box trees with a 4m trunk girth are around 300 years old (Dr Michael Mulvaney pers. com.) https://canberra.naturemapr.org/sightings/4575827

How big is ‘Big’?

The threshold trunk girth and/or height for a big Eucalypt varies with the species. So the best approach to decide whether you have found a big individual is to compare it to those of the same species in this collection, or in the national register of big trees: https://www.nationalregisterofbigtrees.com.au/pages/home-page

How to contribute

The collection relies on trunk circumference, i.e. trunk girth, because measurement of height requires specialised equipment (clinometer, laser range finder, or LiDAR).

Ensure that trunk girth is measured 1.4m above the ground to avoid the effect of the buttress on the measurement.

If height has been measured then record the height in the notes or comments along with the measurement method.

To add your big Eucalypt sighting to this project select the star icon at the top right of the sighting and select the Big Eucalypts of Canberra & Southern Tablelands collection name.

Add a sighting