53-519: The Blue Mountains National Park is a protected national park that is located in the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales , in eastern Australia . The 267,954-hectare (662,130-acre) national park is situated approximately 80 kilometres (50 mi) west of the Sydney CBD, and the park boundary is quite irregular as it is broken up by roads, urban areas and areas of private property . Despite
106-516: A land lease from the U.S. government , while Mackinac National Park was handed down to become the first of the Michigan state parks . As with national parks, facilities at state parks are often leased to concessionaires to operate. Breaks Interstate Park is operated under an interstate compact by Virginia state parks , although it is also one of the Kentucky state parks , straddling both sides of
159-572: A few exceptions such as Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in California, and Wood-Tikchik State Park in Alaska, the largest state park in the United States . In addition to preserving natural landscapes and providing recreational opportunities, many state parks also serve as important educational resources . They often offer guided tours, interpretive programs, and exhibits that help visitors learn about
212-540: A high carbon : nitrogen ratio make the leaves and branches of scleromorphic species long-lived in the litter, and can lead to a large build-up of litter in woodlands. The toxic compounds of many species, notably Eucalyptus species, are volatile and flammable and the presence of large amounts of flammable litter, coupled with an herbaceous understorey, encourages fire. All the Australian sclerophyllous communities are liable to be burnt with varying frequencies and many of
265-465: A lower CO 2 uptake than malacophyllous or laurophyllous leaves. These lower transpiration rates may reduce the uptake of toxic ions and better provide for C-carboxylation under nutrient-poor conditions, particularly low availability of mineral nitrogen and phosphate. Sclerophyllous plants are found in tropical heath forests, which grown on nutrient-poor sandy soils in humid regions in the Rio Orinoco and
318-704: A more summer-dominant rainfall, whereby falling under the humid subtropical climate zone ( Cfa / Cwa ). Furthermore, other areas with sclerophyll flora would grade to the oceanic climate ( Cfb ); particularly the eastern parts of the Eastern Cape province in South Africa, and Tasmania , Victoria and southern New South Wales in Australia. Sclerophyll plants are also found in areas with nutrient-poor and acidic soils, and soils with heavy concentrations of aluminum and other metals. Sclerophyll leaves transpire less and have
371-549: A much smaller area of the continent, being restricted to relatively high rainfall locations. They have a eucalyptus overstory (10 to 30 metres) with the understory also being hard-leaved. Dry sclerophyll forests are the most common forest type on the continent, and although it may seem barren dry sclerophyll forest is highly diverse. For example, a study of sclerophyll vegetation in Seal Creek, Victoria , found 138 species. Even less extensive are wet sclerophyll forests. They have
424-669: A political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, or recreational potential. There are state parks under the administration of the government of each U.S. state , some of the Mexican states , and in Brazil . The term is also used in the Australian states of Victoria and New South Wales . The equivalent term used in Canada, Argentina, South Africa, and Belgium,
477-683: A restaurant) for lodging at some parks. These typically use "Resort" in the name, such as "_____ Resort State Park" in West Virginia state parks and "_____ State Resort Park" in neighboring Kentucky state parks , which has 17 such resort parks, the most of any state. Other states use the Resort name inconsistently (like DeGray Lake Resort State Park , the only one out of three resorts in Arkansas state parks ), or have only one such park ( South Carolina state parks ' Hickory Knob State Resort Park ), or do not use
530-634: A rich variety of fauna, including a third of Australia's bird species, and numerous mammals, reptiles and frogs. Notable endangered and endemic species include the Regent Honeyeater , Broad-headed snake and the Blue Mountains water skink . The Blue Mountains National Park is the most visited National Park in NSW with more than half of domestic visitors originating from Sydney and one of the easiest locations to spot wild kangaroos in Sydney. The majority of tourists to
583-428: A taller eucalyptus overstory than dry sclerophyll forests, 30 metres (98 ft) or more (typically mountain ash , alpine ash , rose gum , karri , messmate stringybark , or manna gum , and a soft-leaved, fairly dense understory ( tree ferns are common). They require ample rainfall—at least 1000 mm (40 inches). Sclerophyllous plants are all part of a specific environment and are anything but newcomers. By
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#1732852497573636-492: A very high biodiversity , are under great pressure from the population. This is especially true for the Mediterranean region since ancient times. Through overexploitation (logging, grazing, agricultural use) and frequent fires caused by people, the original forest vegetation is converted. In extreme cases, the hard-leaf vegetation disappears completely and is replaced by open rock heaths . Some sclerophyll areas are closer to
689-413: Is provincial park . Similar systems of local government maintained parks exist in other countries, but the terminology varies. State parks are thus similar to national parks , but under state rather than federal administration. Similarly, local government entities below state level may maintain parks, e.g., regional parks or county parks . In general, state parks are smaller than national parks, with
742-553: Is also home to the world's steepest railway, the Katoomba Scenic Railway . The national park is renowned for the Three Sisters rock formation. Both north and south of Blackheath, the cliffs are the most spectacular as the rock faces are several hundreds metres tall. Visitor numbers have increased to 5.2 million in 2016 from 3.6 million in 2008. The Blue Labyrinth is a forested eroded plateau directly south of
795-453: Is limited to the coastal western sides of the continents, but nonetheless can typical in any regions of a continent with scarce annual precipitation or frequent seasonal droughts and poor soils that are heavily leached. The sclerophyll zone often merges into temperate deciduous forests towards the poles, on the coasts also into temperate rainforests and towards the equator in hot semi-deserts or deserts. The Mediterranean areas, which have
848-499: Is particularly noticeable in the eucalypt and Melaleuca species which possess oil glands within their leaves that produce a pungent volatile oil that makes them unpalatable to most browsers. These traits make the majority of woody plants in these woodlands largely unpalatable to domestic livestock. It is therefore important from a grazing perspective that these woodlands support a more or less continuous layer of herbaceous ground cover dominated by grasses. Sclerophyll forests cover
901-713: The Cerrado biogeographic region of Bolivia , Paraguay and Brazil , and in the Mediterranean biomes that cover the Mediterranean Basin , California , Chile , and the Cape Province of South Africa . In the Mediterranean basin , holm oak , cork oak and olives are typical hardwood trees. In addition, there are several species of pine under the trees in the vegetation zone. The shrub layer contains numerous herbs such as rosemary , thyme and lavender . In relation to
954-548: The Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration . Sclerophyll Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaves , short internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is parallel or oblique to direct sunlight. The word comes from the Greek sklēros (hard) and phyllon (leaf). The term
1007-670: The Great Western Highway , stretching from Wentworth Falls to Glenbrook , stretching from Kings Tableland in the west to Warragamba Dam and the Nepean River in the east, and the Burragorang Valley to the south. The national park extends south as far as the Wollondilly River , west of Mittagong, New South Wales . This area was greatly affected by the construction of Warragamba Dam from 1948 to 1960. This required
1060-722: The NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service . In September 1959 the Blue Mountains National Park was gazetted covering 63,000 hectares (160,000 acres). In 2000 it was included as part of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. In 1999, 37 walking tracks were added to the State Heritage Register, extending from Glenbrook and the Nepean River in the east; to Mount Tomah in the north; to Wolgan Valley and Newnes in
1113-537: The Palearctic flora region include the holm oak ( Quercus ilex ), myrtle ( Myrtus communis ), strawberry tree ( Arbutus unedo ), wild olive ( Olea europaea ), laurel ( Laurus nobilis ), mock privet ( Phillyrea latifolia ), the Italian buckthorn ( Rhamnus alaternus ), etc. The sclerophyll regions are located in the outer subtropics bordering the temperate zone (also known as the warm-temperate zone). Accordingly,
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#17328524975731166-735: The UNESCO World Heritage –listed Greater Blue Mountains Area . The Greater Blue Mountains was one of 15 World Heritage places included in the National Heritage List on 21 May 2007. The Blue Mountains National Park is the most central of the eight protected areas within the World Heritage Site and it forms part of the Great Dividing Range . The park is also listed on the Australian Heritage Register and
1219-469: The Blue Mountains are part of the greater Sydney Basin. The Sydney Basin consists of layers of sedimentary rocks laid down over the past 300 million years. The Blue Mountains and Great Dividing Range were formed about 50 million years ago, when the area was uplifted. More recently, volcanic flows covered large areas of the mountains in basalt. These have largely worn away, leaving only occasional outcrops on
1272-546: The Blue Mountains see the national park from one of the many lookouts between Wentworth Falls and Blackheath , and many of these never actually set foot in the park. Activities for the visitor include short walks to lookouts above cliffs and waterfalls, overnight and longer walks to more remote areas of the park and more extreme sports such as canyoning , abseiling , rock climbing and mountain biking . A number of Blue Mountains sightseeing and adventure tour companies can assist visitors in safely experiencing these activities. It
1325-450: The Mediterranean area since the Neolithic , which permanently changed the face of the landscape. In the sclerophyll regions near the coast, permanent crops such as olive and wine cultivation established themselves; However, the landscape forms that characterize the degenerate shrubbery and shrub heaths Macchie and Garigue are predominantly a result of grazing (especially with goats). In
1378-653: The Rio Negro basins of northern South America on quartz sand, in the kerangas forests of Borneo and on the Malay Peninsula, in coastal sandy areas along the Gulf of Guinea in Gabon, Cameroon, and Côte d'Ivoire, and in eastern Australia. Since water drains rapidly through these soils, sclerophylly also protects plants against drought stress during dry periods. Sclerophylly's advantages in nutrient-poor conditions may be another factor in
1431-425: The annual average temperatures are relatively high at 12–24 °C (54–75 °F); An average of over 18 °C (64 °F) is reached for at least four months, eight to twelve months it is over 10 °C (50 °F) and no month is below 5 °C (41 °F) on average. Frost and snow occur only occasionally and the growing season lasts longer than 150 days and is in the winter half-year. The lower limit of
1484-731: The country's state parks. The NASPD further counts over 43,000 miles (69,000 km) of trail, 217,367 campsites, and 8,277 cabins and lodges across U.S. state parks. The largest state park system in the United States is Alaska State Parks , with over 100 sites encompassing 3.3 million acres. Many states include designations beyond "state park" in their state parks systems. Other designations might be state recreation areas , state beaches, and state nature reserves . Some state park systems include long-distance trails and historic sites . To encourage tourism in rural areas, several states have simple lodges, inns, hotels, or motels (usually with
1537-492: The course of the last millennia, the original vegetation in almost all areas of this vegetation zone has been greatly changed by the influence of humans. Where the plants have not been replaced by vineyards and olive groves , the maquis was the predominant form of vegetation on the Mediterranean. The maquis has been degraded in many places to the low shrub heather, the garigue . Many plant species that are rich in aromatic oils belong to both vegetation societies. The diversity of
1590-474: The designation at all (such as the lodges of Georgia state parks ). The term "lodge" may also refer to a hiking lodge , essentially a large cabin for hikers rather than a large facility with private rooms and a restaurant. Other lodging may include yurts and tipis . Not all parks owned by a state are necessarily part of its state-park system, such as Stone Mountain Park near Atlanta. Some Texas state parks are
1643-425: The dominant overstorey acacia species and a majority of the understorey acacias have a scleromorphic adaptation in which the leaves have been reduced to phyllodes consisting entirely of the petiole . Many plants of the sclerophyllous woodlands and shrublands also produce leaves unpalatable to herbivores by the inclusion of toxic and indigestible compounds which assure survival of these long-lived leaves. This trait
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1696-741: The equator than the Mediterranean zone—for example, the interior of Madagascar , the dry half of New Caledonia , the lower edge areas of the Madrean pine-oak woodlands of the Mexican highlands between 800 and 1800/2000 m or around 2000 m high plateaus of the Asir Mountains on the western edge of the Arabian Peninsula . While the winter rain areas of America, South Africa and Australia , with an unusually large variety of food crops , were ideal gathering areas for hunter gatherers until European colonization , agriculture and cattle breeding spread in
1749-671: The flooding of the Burragorang Valley, which created Lake Burragorang and in the process cut the southern part of the Blue Mountains off from areas to the east, for example Camden , Picton and Bargo . Properties and homesteads in the southern part of the mountains were forced to close down, leaving many derelict homes and ruins. These included Bran Jan House and Kowmung House on Scotts Main Range, as well as Twin Peaks , south of Yerranderie . An exclusion zone of approximately three kilometres
1802-533: The high peaks. The park contains a small range of eucalypt species across a variety of habitats including wet and dry Sclerophyll , Mallee , swamps, wetlands and grasslands. Some species are of significance to our understanding of plant evolution including the Wollemi Pine , of which fewer than 100 trees are known. Notable plant families include Myrtaceae , Fabaceae and Proteaceae including 114 endemic and 177 threatened species. This range of habitats supports
1855-480: The highly developed sclerenchyma from the plant, which is responsible for the hardness or stiffness of the leaves. This structure of the leaves inhibits transpiration and thus prevents major water losses during the dry season. Most of the plant species in the sclerophyll zone are not only insensitive to summer drought, they have also used various strategies to adapt to frequent wildfires , heavy rainfall and nutrient deficiencies. The type of sclerophyllic trees in
1908-484: The local flora , fauna , geology , and cultural history of the area. These programs are designed not only to enhance the visitor experience but also to promote conservation awareness and encourage responsible enjoyment of natural resources. There are 6,792 state park units in the United States, according to the National Association of State Park Directors (NASPD). There are some 813 million annual visits to
1961-536: The moderate annual precipitation is 300 mm (12 in) ( semi-arid climate ) and the upper limit 900–1,000 mm (35–39 in). Generally, the summers are dry and hot with a dry season of a maximum of seven months, but at least two to three months. The winters are rainy and cool. However, not all regions with sclerophyll vegetation feature the classic Mediterranean climate ; parts of eastern Italy, eastern Australia and eastern South Africa, which feature sclerophyll woodlands, tend to have uniform rainfall or even
2014-406: The name mountains , the area is an uplifted plateau , dissected by a number of larger rivers. The highest point in the park is Mount Werong at 1,215 metres (3,986 ft) above sea level ; while the low point is on the Nepean River at 20 metres (66 ft) above sea level as it leaves the park. The national park is one of the eight protected areas that, in 2000, was inscribed to form part of
2067-598: The northwest; to Jenolan Caves and Oberon in the west; and in the south, numerous walks leading down the plateau from Katoomba , Leura and Wentworth Falls . The Blue Mountains National Park lies on the eastern side of the Great Dividing Range. The plateau slopes gently down from west to east from a height of around 1,100 metres (3,600 ft) above sea level near Mount Victoria to less than 200 metres (660 ft) above sea level around Glenbrook. There are four major rivers that have most of their catchment inside
2120-654: The original sclerophyll vegetation in the world is high to extremely high (3000–5000 species per ha). Most areas of the Australian continent able to support woody plants are occupied by sclerophyll communities as forests , savannas , or heathlands . Common plants include the Proteaceae ( grevilleas , banksias and hakeas ), tea-trees , acacias , boronias , and eucalypts . The most common sclerophyll communities in Australia are savannas dominated by grasses with an overstorey of eucalypts and acacias. Acacia (particularly mulga ) shrublands also cover extensive areas. All
2173-589: The overall complex of Blue Mountains regional walking tracks is listed on the State Heritage Register . The genesis of the national park was a proposal by early conservationist Myles Dunphy for a Greater Blue Mountains National Park in 1932. This included large areas of what are today the Blue Mountains National Park, and the Wollemi , Kanangra-Boyd , Nattai , Gardens of Stone , and Thirlmere Lakes , along with other smaller nature reserves ; all managed by
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2226-640: The park: the Wollangambe River in the north, the Grose River in the centre, and the Coxs and Wollondilly rivers in the south. The latter two flow into Lake Burragorang , which is located just outside the park and is the site of Warragamba Dam , the major source of drinking water for Sydney. A small section of the Nepean River passes through the park. All of the major rivers flow from west to east. Structurally,
2279-599: The potential natural vegetation, around 2% of the Earth's land surface is covered by sclerophyll woodlands, and a total of 10% of all plant species on Earth live there. Sclerophyll woody plants are characterized by their relatively small, stiff, leathery and long-lasting leaves. The sclerophyll vegetation is the result of an adaptation of the flora to the summer dry period of a Mediterranean-type climate . Plant species with this type of adaptation tend to be evergreen with great longevity, slow growth and with no loss of leaves during
2332-402: The prevalence of sclerophyllous plants in nutrient-poor areas in drier-climate regions, like much of Australia and the Cerrado of Brazil. The zone of the sclerophyll vegetation lies in the border area between the subtropics and the temperate zone , approximately between the 30th and 40th degree of latitude (in the northern hemisphere also up to the 45th degree of latitude). Their presence
2385-469: The state line. Other multi-state parks are legally two separate parks with the same name and more informal cooperation between them. The title of oldest state park in the United States is claimed by Niagara Falls State Park in New York , established in 1885. Several public parks previously or currently maintained at the state level pre-date it. Indian Springs State Park has been operated continuously by
2438-454: The state of Georgia as a public park since 1825, although it did not gain the title "State Park" until 1931. In 1864 Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove were ceded by the federal government to California until Yosemite National Park was proclaimed in 1890. In 1878 Wisconsin set aside a vast swath of its northern forests as "The State Park" but, needing money, sold most of it to lumber companies within 20 years. Mackinac National Park
2491-531: The time of European settlement, sclerophyll forest accounted for the vast bulk of the forested areas. Most of the wooded parts of present-day Australia have become sclerophyll dominated as a result of the extreme age of the continent combined with Aboriginal fire use. Deep weathering of the crust over many millions of years leached chemicals out of the rock, leaving Australian soils deficient in nutrients, particularly phosphorus . Such nutrient deficient soils support non-sclerophyllous plant communities elsewhere in
2544-488: The unfavorable season. As a result, the thickets that make up these ecosystems are of the persistent evergreen type, in addition to the predominance of plants, even herbaceous ones, with "hard" leaves, which are covered by a thick leathery layer called the cuticle , that prevents water loss during the dry season. The aerial and underground structures of these plants are modified to make up for water shortages that may affect their survival. The name sclerophyll derives from
2597-553: The woody plants of these woodlands have developed adaptations to survive and minimise the effects of fire. Sclerophyllous plants generally resist dry conditions well, making them successful in areas of seasonally variable rainfall. In Australia, however, they evolved in response to the low level of phosphorus in the soil—indeed, many native Australian plants cannot tolerate higher levels of phosphorus and will die if fertilised incorrectly. The leaves are hard due to lignin , which prevents wilting and allows plants to grow, even when there
2650-449: The world and did so over most of Australia prior to European arrival. However such deficient soils cannot support the nutrient losses associated with frequent fires and are rapidly replaced with sclerophyllous species under traditional Aboriginal burning regimens. With the cessation of traditional burning non-sclerophyllous species have re-colonized sclerophyll habitat in many parts of Australia. The presence of toxic compounds combined with
2703-405: Was coined by A.F.W. Schimper in 1898 (translated in 1903), originally as a synonym of xeromorph , but the two words were later differentiated. Sclerophyllous plants occur in many parts of the world, but are most typical of areas with low rainfall or seasonal droughts, such as Australia, Africa, and western North and South America. They are prominent throughout Australia , parts of Argentina ,
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#17328524975732756-451: Was created around Lake Burragorang to protect Sydney's water supply, but a through-track was allowed from Yerranderie to Balloon Pass, then further east, for the benefit of bushwalkers. This pass was later incorporated into the long-distance Katoomba to Mittagong Trail . Notes Citations State park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as
2809-468: Was established in 1875 as the second U.S. national park before being converted to a state park in 1895. The first state park with the designation of "state park" was Itasca State Park in Minnesota , established in 1891. Many state park systems date to the 1930s, when around 800 state parks (and several national ones) across the country were developed with assistance from federal job-creation programs like
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