Esperance mallee | |
---|---|
Ecology | |
Realm | Australasian |
Biome | Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub |
Borders | |
Geography | |
Area | 102,261 km2 (39,483 sq mi) |
Country | Australia |
States | Western Australia |
Conservation | |
Conservation status | Critical/endangered |
Protected | 21,103 km2 (21%) [1] |
Esperance mallee is an ecoregion on the south coast of Western Australia, a coastal strip where the predominant vegetation consists of short eucalyptus trees and shrubs. [2] [3] [4]
A part of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome, Esperance mallee is an aggregation of the Esperance Plains and Mallee Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) regions. [5]
Mallee is a generic term used to describe a number of eucalyptus trees that have an underground bulb called a lignotuber from which new buds can sprout following a forest fire. Mallee trees and accompanying shrubs are thus adapted to the poor soils, lack of rainfall, and regular fires, something common for the dry coast.
Wildlife of the coast includes the highly venomous common death adder. Mammals include tiny honey possums (which feed on nectar of the kangaroo paw flowers) and the endangered western quoll. Birds include the endangered western whipbird, western ground parrots, red-winged fairywren, Australian white ibis, and the rare southwestern Cape Barren goose on the coast.
Much of the area is used as agricultural land and habitats are threatened by clearance. This is leading to fragmentation, over-irrigation, and wildlife becoming vulnerable to introduced species such as foxes.
A 2017 assessment found that 21,103 km2, or 21%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas. [6] Protected areas include Cape Arid National Park, Fitzgerald River National Park, Frank Hann National Park, and Nuytsland Nature Reserve.
The Great Victoria Desert is a sparsely populated desert ecoregion and interim Australian bioregion in Western Australia and South Australia.
The North Western Ghats montane rain forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of southwestern Indian peninsula. It covers an area of 30,900 square kilometers (11,900 sq mi), extending down the spine of the Western Ghauts range, from southernmost Gujarat through Damaon, Maharashtra, Goa & Karnataka. The montane rain forests are found above 1000 meters elevation, and are surrounded at lower elevations by the North Western Ghats moist deciduous forests.
The Carnarvon xeric shrublands is a deserts and xeric shrublands ecoregion of Western Australia. The ecoregion is coterminous with the Carnarvon Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) bioregion.
The Maputaland coastal forest mosaic is a subtropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion on the Indian Ocean coast of Southern Africa. It covers an area of 29,961 square kilometres (11,568 sq mi) in southern Mozambique, Eswatini, and the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa. Mozambique's capital Maputo lies within the ecoregion.
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Warren, also known as Karri Forest Region and the Jarrah-Karri forest and shrublands ecoregion, is a biogeographic region in southern Western Australia. Located in the southwest corner of Western Australia between Cape Naturaliste and Albany, it is bordered to the north and east by the Jarrah Forest region. Its defining characteristic is an extensive tall forest of Eucalyptus diversicolor (karri). This occurs on dissected, hilly ground, with a moderately wet climate. Karri is a valuable timber and much of the karri forest has been logged over, but less than a third has been cleared for agriculture. Recognised as a region under the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA), and as a terrestrial ecoregion by the World Wide Fund for Nature, it was first defined by Ludwig Diels in 1906.
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The Eyre Yorke Block, also known as the Eyre and Yorke mallee, is an interim Australian (IBRA) bioregion and a World Wildlife Fund ecoregion covering part of the Eyre Peninsula and all of Yorke Peninsula as well as land to its immediate east in South Australia.
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The Naracoorte woodlands is an ecoregion in southern Australia. It covers the Naracoorte coastal plain in southeastern South Australia and southwestern Victoria. It is coterminous with the Naracoorte Coastal Plain IBRA region. Only 10% of the ecoregion's area still has its original vegetation; most has been converted to agriculture and pasture.
The Southwest Australia savanna is an ecoregion in Western Australia.
The Central Ranges xeric scrub is a deserts and xeric shrublands ecoregion of Australia.
The Great Sandy-Tanami desert is a ecoregion of Western Australia extending into the Northern Territory. It is designated as a World Wildlife Fund region.
The Irrawaddy dry forests is a tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregion in central Myanmar. The ecoregion occupies portions of the Irrawaddy, Sittaung, and Salween river basins, in areas with less than 800 mm of annual rainfall.
The Cape York Peninsula tropical savanna is a tropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands ecoregion in northern Australia. It occupies the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, mainland Australia's northernmost point. It is coterminous with the Cape York Peninsula, an interim Australian bioregion.
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