The Houtman Abrolhos is a chain of 122 islands and associated coral reefs, in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Australia, about 80 km (50 mi) west of Geraldton, Western Australia. It is the southernmost true coral reef in the Indian Ocean, and one of the highest latitude reef systems in the world. It is one of the world's most important seabird breeding sites, and is the centre of Western Australia's largest single-species fishery, the western rock lobster fishery. It has a small seasonal population of fishermen, and a limited number of tourists are permitted for day trips, but most of the land area is off limits as conservation habitat. It is well known as the site of numerous shipwrecks, the most famous being the Dutch ships Batavia, which was wrecked in 1629, and Zeewijk, wrecked in 1727.
Bromus is a large genus of grasses, classified in its own tribe Bromeae. They are commonly known as bromes, brome grasses, cheat grasses or chess grasses. Estimates in the scientific literature of the number of species have ranged from 100 to 400, but plant taxonomists currently recognize around 160–170 species.
The rock parrot is a species of grass parrot native to Australia. Described by John Gould in 1841, it is a small parrot 22 to 24 cm long and weighing 50–60 g with predominantly olive-brown upperparts and more yellowish underparts. Its head is olive with light blue forecheeks and lores, and a dark blue frontal band line across the crown with lighter blue above and below. The sexes are similar in appearance, although the female tends to have a duller frontal band and less blue on the face. Two subspecies are recognised.
The Wallabi Group is the northernmost group of islands in the Houtman Abrolhos off the western coast of Western Australia. it is 58 kilometres from the Australian mainland, and about 9 kilometres from the Easter Group.
The Easter Group is the central of three groups of islands that make up the Houtman Abrolhos island chain. The group measures about 20 kilometres by 12 kilometres, and consists of a number of islands including
North Island is the northernmost island in the Houtman Abrolhos, a coral reef archipelago in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Mid West Western Australia. Located about 14 km (9 mi) from the nearest island group, it is one of the largest islands in the Houtman Abrolhos, and one of the few to support dune systems. It has relatively diverse flora dominated by chenopod shrubs and fauna that includes the introduced tammar wallaby, around seven species of reptile, and about 15 resident bird species.
The Abrolhos painted buttonquail is a subspecies of the painted buttonquail endemic to the Houtman Abrolhos. It is common on North Island, and also occurs on other islands of the Wallabi Group, namely East Wallabi, West Wallabi, Seagull and Pigeon Islands.
This is a list of the terrestrial flora of the Houtman Abrolhos. Only vascular plants are listed — there have been some collections of mosses, liverworts and lichens from the Houtman Abrolhos, but no information has been published on these non-vascular groups.
Wallabi Limestone is the name given to the dense calcretised, limestone platform that underlies the Wallabi Group of the Houtman Abrolhos, an archipelago off the coast of Western Australia. This platform, which arises abruptly from a flat shelf, is about 40 metres thick, and is of marine biogenic origin, having originated as a coral reef. It reached its maximum size during the Eemian Stage, when sea levels were higher than at present. The subsequent fall in sea level resulted in the reef becoming emergent in places, thus forming the basement of the group's "central platform" islands, namely West Wallabi Island, East Wallabi Island and North Island.
Pigeon Island Anchorage is a passage through a reef that runs along the northwest wide of Pigeon Island in the Wallabi Group of the Houtman Abrolhos, an archipelago off the coast of Western Australia. Pigeon Island is seasonally populated by a great many Western Rock Lobster fishers, and Pigeon Island Anchorage represents the only safe approach to the island. It is thus heavily used as both a navigational passage and as an anchorage.
Shag Rock is a small rocky island in the Wallabi Group of the Houtman Abrolhos.
Austrostipa crinita is a species of grass that grows in coastal parts of midwest Western Australia.
East Wallabi Island is an island in the Wallabi Group of the Houtman Abrolhos, located in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of mainland Australia.
West Wallabi Island is an island in the Wallabi Group of the Houtman Abrolhos, in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of mainland Australia.
Pelsaert Island is one of the islands of the Pelsaert Group, which is the southernmost of the three groups of islands that make up the Houtman Abrolhos island chain in Western Australia.
Beacon Island, also known as Batavia's graveyard, is an island on the eastern side of the Wallabi Group at the northern end of the Houtman Abrolhos, in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Western Australia.
