Climate and Vegetation
The plains surrounding the Porongurup Range have an annual rainfall of around 800 mm (32 inches) per year to the south and around 600 mm (24 inches) on the northern side. Most of this rain falls between April and October: although light showers are common in the summer months, the average rainfall between November and March totals only around 110 mm (4.5 inches) in the southern plains and less than 75 mm (3 inches) to the north. Summer temperatures on the plains average a very warm 26 °C (79 °F) in the daytime and decline to around 18 °C (64 °F) at night. In winter, although it can be rainy, temperatures average a very pleasant 16 °C (60 °F) during the day and a cool 8 °C (46 °F) in the morning.
Although no rain gauge has ever been placed on any Porongurup peak, by analogy with the Otway Ranges in Victoria, it would be expected that the Porongurup summits would probably be the wettest place in Western Australia, with annual rainfalls conjectured to average around 1,600 mm (64 inches), with as much as 250 to 275 mm (10 to 11 inches) per month between May and August probable. Temperatures on the peaks are around 3 °C (5 °F) lower than on the plains, and snow has occasionally fallen on the ranges (heavily in October 1992 and June 1956).
This high rainfall explains the survival of karri forests quite a distance from their main stronghold between Manjimup and Walpole. The karri forests are one of the major attractions of the Porongurups and occur chiefly on the upper slopes of the range on deep red soils known as "karri loam". On lateritic soils downslope, the predominant type of vegetation is a maxied forst of jarrah and marri, whilst on the highly exposed and frequently waterlogged summits, an open mossy herbland prevails.
Though not nearly as rich biologically as the more northerly Stirling Range, there exist ten endemic species of plant in the Porongurup Range, the best known being the mountain villarsia (Villarsia caltbifolia).
Read more about this topic: Porongurup National Park
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