The Western Australian Mulga shrublands is a

deserts and xeric shrublands Deserts and xeric shrublands are a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Deserts and xeric (ancient Greek xērós, “dry") shrublands form the largest terrestrial biome, covering 19% of Earth's land surface area. Ecoregions in this h ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

of inland

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 ...

. It is one of Australia's two mulga ecoregions, characterized by dry woodlands of mulga trees (''

Acacia aneura ''Acacia aneura'', commonly known as mulga or true mulga, is a shrub or small tree native to arid outback areas of Australia. It is the dominant tree in the habitat to which it gives its name ( mulga) that occurs across much of inland Australi ...

'' and related species) interspersed with areas of grassland and scrub.

Location and description

This is a hot, dry area with little rainfall. The region consists of the

Gascoyne The Gascoyne region is one of the nine administrative regions of Western Australia. It is located in the northwest of Western Australia, and consists of the local government areas of Carnarvon, Exmouth, Shark Bay and Upper Gascoyne. The Ga ...

and Murchison

bioregion A bioregion is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a biogeographic realm, but larger than an ecoregion or an ecosystem, in the World Wide Fund for Nature classification scheme. There is also an attempt to use the ...

s of the

Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia 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 deve ...

(IBRA).IBRA Version 6.1
data

Flora and fauna

The predominant vegetation is mulga trees, a type of

acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus nam ...

adapted to the hot, dry climate by means of long tap roots. In some areas the mulga trees are surrounded by '' Eriachne'' grassland. Wildlife of the region includes birds such as emus,

Australian bustard The Australian bustard (''Ardeotis australis'') is a large ground dwelling bird which is common in grassland, woodland and open agricultural country across northern Australia and southern New Guinea. It stands at about high, and its wingspan is ...

s and

honeyeater The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family, Meliphagidae, of small to medium-sized birds. The family includes the Australian chats, myzomelas, friarbirds, wattlebirds, miners and melidectes. They are most common in Australia and New G ...

s. Most of the area is uninhabited but there is some mining activity and some sheep grazing, both of which cause damage to native habitats.

Protected areas

4.53% of the ecoregion is in protected areas. Protected areas in the ecoregion include: * Barlee Range Nature Reserve *

Birriliburu Indigenous Protected Area The Birriliburu Indigenous Protected Area, also known as Birriliburu IPA, is an Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) covering an area of in the Western Desert region of Western Australia, was declared in 2013. Text may have been copied from this ...

* Bullock Holes Timber Reserve * Collier Range National Park * De La Poer Range Nature Reserve *

Goongarrie National Park Goongarrie National Park is a national park in Western Australia, east of Perth and about north of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, Kalgoorlie. The park was part of Goongarrie Station (Australian agriculture), Station that was purchased by the G ...

* Matuwa and Kurrara-Kurrara Indigenous Protected Area *

Mount Augustus National Park Mount Augustus National Park is located 852 km north of Perth, 490 km by road east of Carnarvon and 390 km northwest of Meekatharra, in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. Mount Augustus itself, the feature around which th ...

Queen Victoria Spring Nature Reserve Queen Victoria Spring Nature Reserve is a protected area managed by the Department of Parks and Wildlife and is located approximately east of Kalgoorlie in the Great Victoria Desert in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia. The ...

* Toolonga Nature Reserve * Unnamed WA46847 Nature Reserve * Wanjarri Nature Reserve

External links

References

{{Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) Deserts and xeric shrublands Ecoregions of Western Australia