Editing Strzelecki Ranges (section)

== Vegetation ==
[[File:Tarra Bulga Natl Park.jpg|left|thumb|300x300px|The Corrigan Suspension Bridge, [[Tarra-Bulga National Park]]]]
The eastern Ranges were originally covered by a mosaic of wet forest, dominated by 90-metre-tall mountain ash (''[[Eucalyptus regnans]]'') and cool temperate rainforest of myrtle beech and tree ferns. Drier mixed forest of messmate (''[[Eucalyptus obliqua]]''), peppermint (''[[Eucalyptus radiata|E. radiata]]'') and mountain grey gum (''[[Eucalyptus cypellocarpa|E. cypellocarpa]]'') were more common in the foothills of the western Strzeleckis.

In 1976, a monument was unveiled by the Hon [[Jim Balfour]] to the "World's Tallest Tree" near [[Thorpdale, Victoria|Thorpdale]], which in 1881 was measured by a surveyor, George Cornthwaite, at 375 feet (114.3 metres) after it had been chopped down.<ref name=":1522">{{Cite book|title=The Dynamic Forest – A History of Forestry and Forest Industries in Victoria|last=Moulds|first=F. R.|publisher=Lynedoch Publications|year=1991|isbn=978-0646062655|location=Richmond, Australia|pages=232pp}}</ref><ref name=":26">{{Cite book|title=Secrets of the Forest: Discovering History in Melbourne's Ash Range|last=Griffiths|first=T.|publisher=Allen & Unwin, St Leonards NSW|year=1992}}</ref> This account was reported in the ''Victorian Field Naturalist'' many years later in July 1918 and is often considered the most reliable record of Victoria's tallest tree.<ref name=":28">{{Cite book|title=Forests of ash : an environmental history|last=Tom Griffiths|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2001|isbn=978-0521812863|location=Port Melbourne, Vic.}}</ref><ref name=":29">{{Cite journal|last=Mace|first=Bernard|date=1996|title=Mueller - Champion of Victoria's Giant trees|url=https://archive.org/details/biostor-120887|journal=Victorian Naturalist|volume=113|issue=4|pages=198–207}}</ref>

As a result of clearing for agriculture in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and of some logging activity, the native vegetation of the overall Strzelecki Ranges bioregion is highly depleted, with only 19% of its original extent remaining, mostly in the east.<ref name=":3" />

Most of the remaining forest is in the eastern ranges, with the [[Tarra-Bulga National Park]], Gunyah Rainforest Reserve, the [[Morwell National Park]], [[Mount Worth State Park]], Mirboo North Regional Park and the [[Holey Plains State Park]] set aside as formal conservation reserves. There are also significant areas of State Forest, including Won Wron and [https://www.ffm.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/26270/FS0053_-_Won_Wron_and_Mullungdung_State_Forests.pdf Mullungdung], as well as other conservation reserves inside the Hancock Victorian Plantations (HVP) estate, such as the "Cores and Links".<ref name=":2" />

Much of the land was degraded, covered with weeds and infested with rabbits after it was abandoned by the early settlers. During the [[reforestation]] and plantation establishment, considerable effort went into controlling weeds like blackberry and ragwort. While not able to fully eradicate these pests, the biodiversity of the eastern Ranges has slowly been restored as tree cover increases and the understorey recovers to smother some of the weeds.<ref name=":0" />