Desert Uplands
Desert Uplands Queensland | |||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The interim Australian bioregions, with Desert Uplands in red | |||||||||||||||
Area | 69,410.95 km2 (26,799.7 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
|
The Desert Uplands is an interim Australian bioregion located in north and central western Queensland which straddles the Great Dividing Range between Blackall and Pentland.[1]
Geography
The bioregion contains Lake Galilee, Lake Dunn and Lake Buchanan. The climate is semi-arid with highly variable rainfall. Much of the area is used for cattle grazing and is part of the Great Artesian Basin, lying within both the Galilee and Eromanga Basins. The Brigalow Belt North and Brigalow Belt South are to the east of the bioregion, and the Einasleigh Uplands are located to the north.[2]
Waterways
The main rivers in the bioregion are Belyando, Cape, Campaspe, Barcoo and Alice River and Aramac and Torrens Creeks.[1] Wetlands at shallow salt lakes Lake Galilee and Lake Buchanan are listed on the Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia.
Subregions
The Desert Uplands bioregion has four subregions:[3]
- Prairie-Torrens Creeks Alluvials (DEU01) – 1,580,384 hectares (3,905,210 acres)
- Alice Tableland (DEU02) – 2,866,760 hectares (7,083,900 acres)
- Cape-Campaspe Plains (DEU03) – 1,007,026 hectares (2,488,420 acres)
- Jericho (DEU04) – 1,486,926 hectares (3,674,270 acres)
Flora
Spinifex grass is common. More than 80 weeds have been identified in the bioregion.[4]
In 2003, it was estimated that 13 million trees per year were being destroyed in the Desert Uplands.[5] This placed the percentage of land cleared at 6.8%, the third highest for any Queensland bioregion.
Settlements
The two main settlements in the area are at Barcaldine and Aramac.
Protected areas
Protected areas in the Desert Uplands bioregion include:[6]
- Cudmore National Park
- Forest Den National Park
- Great Basalt Wall National Park
- Moorrinya National Park
- White Mountains National Park
- Cudmore Resources Reserve
- White Mountains Resources Reserve
- Bellview Nature Refuge
- Bimblebox Nature Refuge
- Bygana West Nature Refuge
- Doongmabulla Mound Springs Nature Refuge
- Edgbaston Nature Refuge
- Strathtay Nature Refuge
- Toomba Nature Refuge
- Ulcanbah Nature Refuge
See also
References
- ^ a b "Rangelands - Overview". Australian Natural Resource Atlas. Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Archived from the original on 28 September 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
- ^ Stanton, J. P. (James Peter); Morgan, M. G; University of New England. School of Natural Resources (1977), The rapid selection and appraisal of key and endangered sites : the Queensland case study, the University of New England School of Natural Resources, pp. 1–10, retrieved 11 February 2022
- ^ "Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA7) regions and codes". Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Commonwealth of Australia. 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
- ^ "Weed Identification". Australian Weeds Committee. Archived from the original on 10 April 2011. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
- ^ Lindenmayer, David B.; Mark A. Burgman (2005). Practical Conservation Biology. Csiro Publishing. p. 237. ISBN 0643090894. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
- ^ Department of Environment and Science, Queensland (2013) Desert Uplands (DEU) bioregion — facts and maps, WetlandInfo website, accessed 28 May 2022. Available at: https://wetlandinfo.des.qld.gov.au/wetlands/facts-maps/bioregion-desert-uplands-deu/
- v
- t
- e
- Arnhem Coast
- Arnhem Plateau
- Australian Alps
- Avon Wheatbelt
- Ben Lomond
- Brigalow Belt North
- Brigalow Belt South
- Broken Hill Complex
- Burt Plain
- Cape York Peninsula
- Carnarvon
- Central Arnhem
- Central Kimberley
- Central Mackay Coast
- Central Ranges
- Channel Country
- Cobar Peneplain
- Coolgardie
- Coral Sea
- Cumberland Plain
- Daly Basin
- Dampierland
- Darling Riverine Plains
- Darwin Coastal
- Davenport Murchison Ranges
- Desert Uplands
- Einasleigh Uplands
- Esperance Plains
- Eyre Yorke Block
- Finke
- Flinders Lofty Block
- Furneaux
- Gascoyne
- Gawler
- Geraldton Sandplains
- Gibson Desert
- Great Sandy Desert
- Great Victoria Desert
- Gulf Coastal
- Gulf Fall and Uplands
- Gulf Plains
- Hampton
- Indian Tropical Islands
- Jarrah Forest
- Kanmantoo
- King
- Little Sandy Desert
- MacDonnell Ranges
- Mallee
- Mitchell Grass Downs
- Mount Isa Inlier
- Mulga Lands
- Murchison
- Murray Darling Depression
- Nandewar
- Naracoorte Coastal Plain
- New England Tablelands
- Northern Kimberley
- New South Wales North Coast
- New South Wales South Western Slopes
- Nullarbor Plain
- Ord Victoria Plain
- Pacific Subtropical Islands
- Pine Creek
- Pilbara
- Riverina
- Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields
- South East Coastal Plain
- South East Corner
- South Eastern Highlands
- South Eastern Queensland
- Southern Volcanic Plain
- Stony Plains
- Sturt Plateau
- Subantarctic Islands
- Swan Coastal Plain
- Sydney Basin
- Tanami
- Tasmanian Central Highlands
- Tasmanian Northern Midlands
- Tasmanian Northern Slopes
- Tasmanian South East
- Tasmanian Southern Ranges
- Tasmanian West
- Tiwi Cobourg
- Victoria Bonaparte
- Victorian Midlands
- Warren
- Wet Tropics
- Yalgoo