# Karri forest
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{{Short description|Tall open forest type}}
{{for|the Karri Forest Region|Warren (biogeographic region)}}
thumb|right|Karri forest
[[Image:Eucalyptus diversicolor distribution.png|thumb|right|Distribution of karri forest within the [Warren](/source/Warren_(biogeographic_region)) biogeographic region]]
'''Karri forest''' is a tall open [forest](/source/forest) type dominated by ''[Eucalyptus diversicolor](/source/Eucalyptus_diversicolor)'' (karri), one of the tallest [hardwood](/source/hardwood)s in the world.[{{cite book | first = Per | last = Christensen | year = 1992 | title = The Karri Forest | publisher = [Department of Conservation and Land Management](/source/Department_of_Conservation_and_Land_Management)}}]
Karri forest occurs only in the south-west corner of the [Southwest Botanical Province](/source/Southwest_Botanical_Province) of [Western Australia](/source/Western_Australia), in the [Warren](/source/Warren_(biogeographic_region)) biogeographic region.[Marchant, N. G. (2000) ''Karri forest in microcosm : [William Bay National Park](/source/William_Bay_National_Park).'' Landscope (Como, W.A), Spring 2000, p. 42-47] The Warren region is also known as the Karri Forest Region, but this is a misnomer, as only about half of the region is vegetated with karri forest.
From the 1880s onward, karri forest supported timber and firewood industries when access to the forest was improved by a network of the [state's railway lines](/source/timber_railway_lines_of_Western_Australia). Small settlements such as [Karridale](/source/Karridale%2C_Western_Australia), [Deanmill](/source/Deanmill%2C_Western_Australia) and [Pemberton](/source/Pemberton%2C_Western_Australia) were established around timber mills, and have since become centres for regional tourism.
Some of the remaining areas of karri forest were initially protected in reserves such as [Brockman National Park](/source/Brockman_National_Park), [Warren National Park](/source/Warren_National_Park), [Beedelup National Park](/source/Greater_Beedelup_National_Park), and [Gloucester National Park](/source/Gloucester_National_Park). Following campaigning by environmentalists and others the WA government ended the logging of 2 million hectares of native forests, including Karri, in 2024.[{{Cite web |last=Hardinge |first=Alice |last2=Beckerling |first2=Jess |date=2024-01-16 |title=Campaigns to End Logging in Australia (Commons Conversations Podcasts) |url=https://commonslibrary.org/campaigns-to-end-logging-in-australia-commons-conversations-podcasts/ |access-date=2024-02-29 |website=The Commons Social Change Library |language=en-AU}}]
==Ecology of the karri forest==
Karri forest is found on loamy soils, but may include wetlands, river edges, heathland and rocky outcrops.[{{cite journal | last = Burrows | first = N.D. | title = Linking fire ecology and fire management in south-west Australian forest landscapes | journal = Forest Ecology and Management | volume = 255 | issue = 7| pages = 2394–2406 | url = http://www.tams.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/132303/Burrows_2008_Linking_fire_ecology_and_fire_management.pdf | doi = 10.1016/j.foreco.2008.01.009| access-date = 14 July 2012| year = 2008 }}] [Leaf litter](/source/Leaf_litter) (i.e. twigs, leaves and branches which fall from trees to the ground) plays a substantial role in nutrient recycling and has been measured at 9.45 tonnes per hectare in mature forest.[{{cite journal | last = O'Connell | first = A.M. |author2=P.M.A Menagé | title = Litter fall and nutrient cycling in karri (''Eucalyptus diversicolor'' F. Muell.) forest in relation to stand age | journal = Austral Ecology | volume = 7 | issue =1 | pages = 49–62 | date = 28 July 2006 | doi = 10.1111/j.1442-9993.1982.tb01299.x }}] Leaf litter fall and [nutrient cycling](/source/nutrient_cycling) of calcium, potassium and magnesium in mature forest is the highest reported for any eucalypt forest.[ Understorey leaf material contributes between 30 and 70% of the nutrients by weight, and is particularly important in the cycling of major plant nutrients nitrogen and sulfur, and micro-nutrients copper and zinc.]