Temperate eucalypt woodlands are the characteristic vegetation in flat to gently hilly landscapes of the intermediate rainfall zones of southern Australia. They comprise well-spaced trees with their crowns generally not touching, with forb-rich, grassy understoreys in fertile, mesic areas and shrubby understoreys in drier areas or on poorer soils. Key processes driving temperate woodland structure, floristic composition and patterns of variability before European colonisation included gradients in aridity and rainfall seasonality, interactions with woodland fauna, soil heterogeneity, and complex disturbance regimes resulting from interactions among fire, marsupial grazing and soil turnover by fossorial mammals. At least two distinct historical fire regimes are recognised: relatively frequent, low intensity fire in the more productive grassy woodlands (possibly once promoted by frequent Aboriginal burning), and infrequent, intense, stand-replacing fires in woodlands dominated by obligate-seeding eucalypts.Due to widespread exploitation for agriculture and other land uses, temperate eucalypt woodlands are today among the most fragmented and degraded vegetation types in Australia. Widespread clearing, livestock grazing, cultivation, fertilisation, exotic species introductions and altered fire regimes have led to exotic invasions, tree dieback, decline of woodland plants and animals, and altered ecosystem and landscape processes. This degradation also limits resilience to climate change, which is projected to cause substantial changes in plant species composition and shifts in woodland distributions. Nevertheless, significant progress has been made in recent decades to understand woodland ecology, establish conservation policy and management options, and restore woodland landscapes. Future promise lies in working with Aboriginal people to further restore temperate woodland biodiversity.