Great Victoria Desert
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The Great Victoria Desert is a sparsely populated desert
ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...
and interim Australian bioregion in
Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
and
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
.


History

In 1875, British-born Australian explorer Ernest Giles became the first European to cross the desert. He named the desert after the then-reigning monarch,
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
. In 1891, David Lindsey's expedition travelled across this area from north to south. Frank Hann was looking for gold in this area between 1903 and 1908. Len Beadell explored the area in the 1960s.


Location and description

The Great Victoria is the largest desert in Australia, and consists of many small sandhills,
grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...
plains, areas with a closely packed surface of pebbles (called
desert pavement A desert pavement, also called reg (in western Sahara), serir (in eastern Sahara), gibber (in Australia), or saï (in central Asia) is a desert surface covered with closely packed, interlocking angular or rounded rock fragments of pebble and ...
or gibber plains), and
salt lake A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per liter). I ...
s. It is over wide (from west to east) and covers an area of from the
Eastern Goldfields The Eastern Goldfields is part of the Western Australian Goldfields in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, covering the present and former gold-mining area east of Perth. Extent and name origin The region encompasses the to ...
region of Western Australia to the Gawler Ranges in
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
. 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) ...
ecoregion lies to the west, the
Little Sandy Desert The Little Sandy Desert (LSD) is a desert region in the state of Western Australia, lying to the east of the Pilbara and north of the Gascoyne regions. It is part of the Western Desert cultural bloc, Western Desert cultural region, and was dec ...
to the northwest, the
Gibson Desert The Gibson Desert is a large desert in Western Australia, largely in an almost pristine state. It is about in size, making it the fifth largest desert in Australia, after the Great Victoria, Great Sandy, Tanami and Simpson deserts. The ...
and the Central Ranges xeric shrublands to the north, the Tirari-Sturt stony desert to the east, and the
Nullarbor Plain The Nullarbor Plain ( ; Latin: feminine of 'no' and 'tree') is part of the area of flat, almost treeless, arid or semi-arid country of southern Australia, located on the Great Australian Bight coast with the Great Victoria Desert to its no ...
to the south separates it from the
Southern Ocean The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the world ocean, generally taken to be south of 60th parallel south, 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is the seco ...
. Average annual
rain Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...
fall is low and irregular, ranging from per year. Thunderstorms are relatively common in the Great Victoria Desert, with an average of 15–20 thunderstorms yearly. Summer daytime temperatures range from , while in winter, this falls to . The Great Victoria desert is a
World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the ...
ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...
and an
Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia The Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) is a biogeography, biogeographic regionalisation of Australia developed by the Australian government's Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities ( ...
region of the same name.IBRA Version 7
data


Habitation

The majority of people living in the region are
Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...
from different groups, including the Kogara, the Mirning and the Pitjantjatjara. Aboriginal populations have been increasing in this region. Young Indigenous adults from the Great Victoria Desert region work in the Wilurarra Creative programs to maintain and develop their culture.Wilurarra Creative 2011
Despite its isolated location, the Great Victoria is bisected by very rough tracks, including the Connie Sue Highway and the Anne Beadell Highway. Human activity has included some mining and
nuclear weapons testing Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the performance of nuclear weapons and the effects of Nuclear explosion, their explosion. Nuclear testing is a sensitive political issue. Governments have often performed tests to si ...
.


Flora

Only the hardiest of plants can survive in much of this environment. Between the sand ridges, the areas of wooded steppe consist of '' Eucalyptus gongylocarpa'', '' Eucalyptus youngiana'', and ''
Acacia aneura ''Acacia aneura'', commonly known as mulga, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to inland Australia. It is a variable shrub or small tree with flat, narrowly linear to elliptic phyllodes, cylindrical spike ...
'' (mulga) shrubs scattered over areas of resilient spinifex grasses, particularly '' Triodia basedowii''.


Fauna

The wildlife that adapted to these harsh conditions include a few large birds or mammals such as
emu The emu (; ''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is a species of flightless bird endemism, endemic to Australia, where it is the Tallest extant birds, tallest native bird. It is the only extant taxon, extant member of the genus ''Dromaius'' and the ...
s and
red kangaroo The red kangaroo (''Osphranter rufus'') is the largest of all kangaroos, the largest terrestrial mammal native to Australia, and the Largest mammals#Marsupials (Marsupialia), largest extant marsupial. It is found across mainland Australia, exce ...
s. However, the desert does sustain many types of lizards, including the vulnerable great desert skink (''Egernia kintorei''), the
Central Ranges taipan The Central Ranges taipan, or Western Desert taipan (''Oxyuranus temporalis''), is a species of extremely venomous taipan that was described in 2007 by Australian researchers Paul Doughty, Brad Maryan, Stephen Donnellan, and Mark Hutchinson. Tai ...
(discovered in 2007), and a number of small marsupials, including the endangered sandhill dunnart ''(Sminthopsis psammophila)'' and the crest-tailed mulgara ''(Dasycercus cristicauda)''. One way to survive here is to burrow into the sands, as a number of the desert's animals, including the
southern marsupial mole The southern marsupial mole (''Notoryctes typhlops''), also known as the itjaritjari () or itjari-itjari, is a Mole (animal), mole-like marsupial found in the western central deserts of Australia. It is extremely adapted to a Fossorial, burrowing ...
''(Notoryctes typhlops)'', and the water-holding frog do. Birds include the
chestnut-breasted whiteface The chestnut-breasted whiteface (''Aphelocephala pectoralis'') is a species of bird in the family Acanthizidae. It is endemic to Australia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss. Referenc ...
(''Aphelocephala pectoralis'') found on the eastern edge of the desert and the malleefowl of Mamungari Conservation Park. Predators of the desert include the
dingo The dingo (either included in the species ''Canis familiaris'', or considered one of the following independent taxa: ''Canis familiaris dingo'', ''Canis dingo'', or ''Canis lupus dingo'') is an ancient (basal (phylogenetics), basal) lineage ...
(as the desert is north of the Dingo Fence) and two large monitor lizards, the perentie ''(Varanus giganteus)'' and the sand goanna ''(Varanus gouldii)''.


Conservation and threats

As this area has had very limited use for agriculture, many habitats remain largely undisturbed. 31% of the desert is in protected areas, including Mamungari Conservation Park (formerly known as Unnamed Conservation Park) in South Australia, a large area of pristine arid zone wilderness, which possesses cultural significance and is one of the 14 World
Biosphere Reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...
sAustralia's Biosphere Reserves
Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Populations and Communities. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
in Australia. Habitat is also preserved in the large Aboriginal
local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...
of Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara in South Australia and in the Great Victoria Desert Nature Reserve of Western Australia. Protected areas include:"Great Victoria Desert". DOPA Explorer. Accessed 8 May 2022
/ref> * Antara-Sandy Bore Indigenous Protected Area * Apara-Makiri-Punti Indigenous Protected Area * De La Poer Range Nature Reserve * Gawler Ranges National Park * Gawler Ranges Conservation Park * Great Victoria Desert Nature Reserve * Kalka-Pipalyatjara Indigenous Protected Area * Lake Gairdner National Park * Mamungari Conservation Park * Mount Willoughby Indigenous Protected Area * Neale Junction Nature Reserve * Ngaanyatjarra Indigenous Protected Area * Nullarbor Regional Reserve * Plumridge Lakes Nature Reserve * Pureba Conservation Park * Queen Victoria Spring Nature Reserve * Tallaringa Conservation Park * Walalkara Indigenous Protected Area * Watarru Indigenous Protected Area * Yellabinna Regional Reserve * Yellabinna Wilderness Protection Area * Yeo Lake Nature Reserve * Yumbarra Conservation Park The nuclear weapons trials carried out by the United Kingdom at Maralinga and Emu Field in the 1950s and early 1960s have left areas contaminated with
plutonium-239 Plutonium-239 ( or Pu-239) is an isotope of plutonium. Plutonium-239 is the primary fissile isotope used for the production of nuclear weapons, although uranium-235 is also used for that purpose. Plutonium-239 is also one of the three main iso ...
and other radioactive material.


See also

*
Deserts of Australia Deserts cover about , or 18%, of the Australian mainland, but about 35% of the Australian continent receives so little rain, it is practically desert. Collectively known as the Great Australian desert, they are primarily distributed throughout ...
*
List of deserts by area This is a list of the largest deserts in the world by area. It includes all deserts above . See also * Desert * Desertification * List of deserts, List of deserts by continent * Polar desert * Tundra * United Nations Convention to Combat D ...
* Tallaringa Conservation Park


References


Further reading

* * * * * {{Coord, 29.15, S, 129.26, E, source:dewiki_region:AU_scale:7000000_type:landmark, format=dms, display=title Deserts and xeric shrublands Deserts of Western Australia Deserts of South Australia Ecoregions of South Australia Ecoregions of Western Australia Ergs Goldfields–Esperance IBRA regions