The Coolgardie woodlands is an ecoregion in southern
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...
. The predominant vegetation is woodlands and
mallee scrub
Mallee Woodlands and Shrublands is one of 32 Major Vegetation Groups defined by the Australian Government Department of the Environment and Energy.
Description
" Mallee" refers to the growth habit of a group of (mainly) eucalypt species that g ...
. The ecoregion is a transitional zone between the
Mediterranean-climate forests, woodlands, and shrublands of
Southwest Australia
Southwest Australia is a biogeographic region in Western Australia. It includes the Mediterranean-climate area of southwestern Australia, which is home to a diverse and distinctive flora and fauna.
The region is also known as the Southwest Aus ...
and the deserts and dry scrublands of the Australian interior.
Location and description
The Coolgardie woodlands is part of the
Mediterranean-climate Southwest Australia
Southwest Australia is a biogeographic region in Western Australia. It includes the Mediterranean-climate area of southwestern Australia, which is home to a diverse and distinctive flora and fauna.
The region is also known as the Southwest Aus ...
biogeographic region, whose forests, woodlands, and shrublands are globally noteworthy for their diversity of plant species.
The Coolgardie woodlands ecoregion consists of two
IBRA regions
The Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) is a biogeographic regionalisation of Australia developed by the Australian government's Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population, and Communities. It was devel ...
–
Coolgardie and the smaller
Hampton bioregion
Hampton is an interim Australian bioregion located in southeastern coastal Western Australia, with a small portion (4%) extending into adjacent South Australia. It has an area of . The Hampton bioregion is part of the Coolgardie woodlands eco ...
. Coolgardie bioregion is bounded on the south and west by Mediterranean-climate ecoregions, the coastal
Esperance mallee ecoregion to the south, and the
Southwest Australia savanna ecoregion to the west. The Coolgardie woodlands' northern boundary is the
Mulga-eucalypt line, which marks the boundary between eucalypt-dominated woodlands of Southwest Australia and the drier
Mulga (Acacia-dominated) woodlands of Australia's interior. The
Western Australian mulga shrublands
The Western Australian Mulga shrublands is a deserts and xeric shrublands ecoregion of inland Western Australia. It is one of Australia's two mulga ecoregions, characterized by dry woodlands of mulga trees (''Acacia aneura'' and related species) ...
,
Great Victoria Desert
The Great Victoria Desert is a sparsely populated desert ecoregion and interim Australian bioregion in Western Australia and South Australia.
History
In 1875, British-born Australian explorer Ernest Giles became the first European to cros ...
, and
Nullarbor Plains xeric shrublands ecoregions lie to the north.
The Hampton region is coastal, lying southeast of the Coolgardie region on the shore of the
Great Australian Bight
The Great Australian Bight is a large oceanic bight, or open bay, off the central and western portions of the southern coastline of mainland Australia.
Extent
Two definitions of the extent are in use – one used by the International Hydrog ...
. It is bounded on the north and east by the Nullarbor Plains xeric shrublands.
Flora
The ecoregion is home to several plant communities, including eucalyptus woodlands and shrublands of mallee and acacia.
Woodlands of
Salmon gum (''Eucalyptus salmonophloia'') and
gimlet
Gimlet may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Gimlet Media, a media network that produces journalistic and narrative podcasts
* Gimlet (Transformers), a fictional character
* Captain Lorrington "Gimlet" King, a fictional character in a se ...
(''Eucalyptus salubris'') are common in central Coolgardie, generally on rolling plains and river valleys on red loam soils over red clay. Salmon gums reach 15-20 meters in height, and gimlet a height of 8 to 12 meters. The woodlands are open and irregular, and with an understory of low shrubs (including ''
Maireana sedifolia'' and ''
Atriplex
''Atriplex'' () is a plant genus of about 250 species, known by the common names of saltbush and orache (; also spelled orach). It belongs to the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae ''s.l.''.
The genus is quite variable and ...
'' spp.), herbs, and grasses.
[Elith, Jane and Sjaan Bidwell (2004). ''Identification and Assessment of Nationally Threatened Woodlands. Description of Ecological Communities: Arid Eucalypt Woodlands''. Report to the
Commonwealth Department of the Environment and Heritage, 2004.]
Protected areas
A 2017 assessment found that 16,323 km², or 12%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas – 14,731 km² (11%) of the Coolgardie region and 1,592 km² (15%) of the Hampton region.
[ Supplemental material 2 table S1b.] Protected areas in the Coolgardie region include
Karroun Hill Nature Reserve in the northwestern corner,
Mount Manning Nature Reserve,
Jilbadji Nature Reserve, and
Goldfields Woodlands National Park in western Coolgardie, and
Dundas Nature Reserve which extends south into the Esperance mallee.
Ngadju Indigenous Protected Area was established in 2020, and protects extensive areas of woodland.
The coastal
Nuytsland Nature Reserve
Nuytsland Nature Reserve is a protected area of Western Australia in the south-eastern part of the state, on the south coast.
Geography
Nominally located at 32° 18' S 125° 52' E, it has an area of 6,253.44 km², and takes in over 500&nbs ...
covers the western portion of the Hampton region, and
Nullarbor National Park
Nullarbor National Park is a protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located in the locality of Nullarbor about west of the state capital of Adelaide and about west of Ceduna.
Founded in 1979, its extent was reduced in 2 ...
covers its easternmost portion.
See also
*
Great Western Woodlands
The Great Western Woodlands is located in the southwest of Australia. The woodlands cover almost , a region larger in size than England and Wales. The boundary of the Great Western Woodlands runs from the Nullarbor Plain in the east to the Wes ...
External links
*
References
{{Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA), state=collapsed
Ecoregions of Western Australia
Mallee Woodlands and Shrublands
Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub in Australia
Southwest Australia