Open Access

Claire Moxham, Steve Sinclair, Gidja Walker, Imelda Douglas

• We use historical information and extensive contemporary surveys to describe the pre-European vegetation of the Nepean Peninsula, an extensive area of calcareous sand dunes at the tip of the Mornington Peninsula, south of Melbourne, Victoria (38º19’S 144º43’E). We conclude that much of the area was once covered by open, grassy woodlands, variously dominated by Allocasuarina verticillata (Drooping Sheoak), Banksia integrifolia subsp. integrifolia (Coast Banksia), Acacia species (Wattles), and Melaleuca lanceolata subsp. lanceolata (Moonah), along with a range of other species. Some areas supported shrublands, woodlands, forests, grasslands and wetlands. This area was markedly distinct from most other nearby areas, and has ecological affinities with areas in western Victoria. Over 200 years of ‘European’ land use have left this landscape remarkably different today – even in places where native vegetation persists. We review and discuss the environmental factors that have influenced the pattern and structure of the vegetation.