Palmgrove National Park

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Palmgrove National Park
Queensland

Black-breasted Button-quail male inskip.JPG

The park is an important site for black-breasted buttonquails
Australia Queensland location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Palmgrove National Park
Nearest town or city Moura
Coordinates 24°55′35″S149°24′56″E / 24.92639°S 149.41556°E / -24.92639; 149.41556 Coordinates: 24°55′35″S149°24′56″E / 24.92639°S 149.41556°E / -24.92639; 149.41556
Established 1991
Area 256 km2 (98.8 sq mi)
Managing authorities Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service
See also Protected areas of Queensland

Palmgrove is a national park in south-central Queensland, Australia. It lies about 185 km north-north-east of Roma and 458 km north-west of Brisbane. It is listed as a National Park (Scientific) under the Nature Conservation Act 1992, so giving it the highest level of protection possible under the Act. It was established in order to protect species and ecosystems of exceptional scientific value. [1] It is located within the Dawson River catchment area. [2]

Queensland North-east state of Australia

Queensland is the second-largest and third-most populous state in the Commonwealth of Australia. Situated in the north-east of the country, it is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean. To its north is the Torres Strait, with Papua New Guinea located less than 200 km across it from the mainland. The state is the world's sixth-largest sub-national entity, with an area of 1,852,642 square kilometres (715,309 sq mi).

Australia Country in Oceania

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the largest country in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country by total area. The neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north; the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east. The population of 25 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard. Australia's capital is Canberra, and its largest city is Sydney. The country's other major metropolitan areas are Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.

Roma, Queensland Town in Queensland, Australia

Roma is a town, locality and the administrative centre in the Maranoa Region, Queensland, Australia. The town was incorporated in 1867 and is named after Lady Diamantina Bowen, the wife of Sir George Bowen, the Governor of Queensland at the time. At the 2016 census, Roma had a population of 6,848..

Contents

Description

Palmgrove lies in moderately dry, dissected sandstone country. The vegetation includes a variety of eucalypt woodland and forest communities as well as vine and Acacia thickets. The area is rugged and isolated; access is difficult and the park is not open to the general public. [1]

Sandstone A clastic sedimentary rock composed mostly of sand-sized particles

Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized mineral particles or rock fragments.

Eucalypt is a descriptive name for woody plants with capsule fruiting bodies belonging to seven closely related genera found across Australasia: Eucalyptus, Corymbia, Angophora, Stockwellia, Allosyncarpia, Eucalyptopsis and Arillastrum.

Woodland low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade

A woodland or wood is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of primary or secondary succession. Higher density areas of trees with a largely closed canopy that provides extensive and nearly continuous shade are referred to as forests.

Flora and fauna

Threatened ecosystems present in the park include: [1]

<i>Acacia harpophylla</i> species of plant

Acacia harpophylla, commonly known as brigalow, brigalow spearwood or orkor is an endemic tree of Australia. It is found in central and coastal Queensland to northern New South Wales. It can reach up to 25 metres tall and forms extensive open-forest communities on clay soils.

<i>Eucalyptus cambageana</i> species of plant

Eucalyptus cambageana, commonly known as the Dawson River blackbutt, Dawson gum or Coowarra box, is a species of tree that is endemic in Queensland, Australia. It is a medium-sized tree with hard, rough bark on the lower trunk, smooth white to cream-coloured bark above, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, white flowers and cup-shaped to funnel-shaped fruit.

<i>Casuarina cristata</i> species of plant

Casuarina cristata is an Australian tree of the sheoak family Casuarinaceae known as belah. It is native to a band across inland eastern Australia.

Northern quolls have been recorded in the park. [1]

Northern quoll species of mammal

The northern quoll, also known as the northern native cat, the North Australian native cat, the satanellus or the njanmak, is a carnivorous marsupial native to Australia.

Important Bird Area

The park has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because it supports an isolated, and the westernmost, population (over 10 pairs) of black-breasted buttonquails, listed as vulnerable. The rare and threatened ecosystems contained in the park are buttonquail habitat. [3] Glossy black cockatoos, also considered to be vulnerable, are present. [1]

BirdLife International is a global partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats, and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources. It is the world's largest partnership of conservation organisations, with over 120 partner organisations.

Important Bird Area area recognized as being globally important habitat for the conservation of birds populations

An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations.

Black-breasted buttonquail species of bird

The black-breasted buttonquail is a rare buttonquail endemic to eastern Australia, where it is usually found in rainforest. Like other buttonquails, it is unrelated to the true quails. The black-breasted buttonquail is a plump quail-shaped bird of predominantly marbled black, rufous and pale brown, marked prominently with white spots and stripes, and white eyes. Like other buttonquails, the female is larger and more distinctively coloured than the male. Measuring up to 20 cm (8 in), it has a black face and chin, sprinkled with fine white markings. The smaller male measures up to 18 cm (7.5 in) and lacks the black markings. The black-breasted buttonquail is rated as near threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)'s Red List of Endangered species.

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 BirdLife International. (2011). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Palmgrove. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 13/09/2011.
  2. "Palmgrove National Park (Scientific) — facts and maps, WetlandInfo". Department of Environment and Heritage Protection. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  3. "IBA: Palmgrove". Birdata. Birds Australia. Retrieved 2011-09-13.