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The Carpentaria tropical savanna is a
tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands is a terrestrial biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The biome is dominated by grass and/or shrubs located in semi-arid to semi-humid climate regions of subtropical and t ...
ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...
in northern
Australia 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. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
.


Geography

The ecoregion lies in northwestern
Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...
and northeastern
Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...
, south of the
Gulf of Carpentaria The Gulf of Carpentaria (, ) is a large, shallow sea enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the eastern Arafura Sea (the body of water that lies between Australia and New Guinea). The northern boundary i ...
. It includes much of Queensland's
Gulf Country The Gulf Country is the region of woodland and savanna grassland surrounding the Gulf of Carpentaria in north western Queensland and eastern Northern Territory on the north coast of Australia. The region is also called the Gulf Savannah. It ...
, and a portion of the
Barkly Tableland The Barkly Tableland is a rolling plain of grassland in Australia. It runs from the eastern part of the Northern Territory into western Queensland. It is one of the five regions in the Northern Territory and covers , 21% of the Northern Terr ...
in the
Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...
. The ecoregion includes the
Wellesley Islands The Wellesley Islands, also known as the North Wellesley Islands, is a group of islands off the coast of Far North Queensland, Australia, in the Gulf of Carpentaria. It is a locality within the Shire of Mornington local government area. The t ...
and Pellew Islands in the gulf. The
Roper Roper is a craftsman who makes ropes; a ropemaker. It may also refer to: Places * Roper, North Carolina, USA * Roper River, Northern Territory, Australia People * Roper (surname) Other *''Roper v. Simmons'', a decision of the United States S ...
,
Limmen Bight Limmen Bight is a bight, or large, open bay, located in the Northern Territory of Australia at the western end of the Gulf of Carpentaria about east of the town of Katherine. It is part of the traditional lands and waters of the Marra peo ...
, McArthur, Calvert,
Nicholson Nicholson may refer to: People *Nicholson (name), a surname, and a list of people with the name Places Australia * Nicholson, Victoria * Nicholson, Queensland * Nicholson County, New South Wales * Nicholson River (disambiguation) * Nicholson ...
,
Leichhardt Leichhardt may refer to: * Division of Leichhardt, electoral District for the Australian House of Representatives * Leichhardt Highway, a highway of Queensland, Australia * Leichhardt Way, an Australian road route * Leichhardt, New South Wales, inn ...
, Flinders, Norman,
Gilbert Gilbert may refer to: People and fictional characters *Gilbert (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Gilbert (surname), including a list of people Places Australia * Gilbert River (Queensland) * Gilbert River (South A ...
, Staaten, and
Mitchell Mitchell may refer to: People *Mitchell (surname) *Mitchell (given name) Places Australia * Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate * Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst * Mitchell, Northern Territ ...
rivers drain into the Gulf of Carpentaria. Most have freshwater and brackish wetlands in near the gulf. It is bounded on the northeast by the Cape York Peninsula tropical savanna, on the east by the Einasleigh Uplands savanna, on the south by the Mitchell Grass Downs, on the west by the Victoria Plains tropical savanna and Kimberley tropical savanna, and on the northwest by the
Arnhem Land tropical savanna The Arnhem Land tropical savanna is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands ecoregion in Australia's Northern Territory. Geography The ecoregion occupies the peninsula of Arnhem Land and its offshore islands, includin ...
.


IBRA regions

The ecoregion includes three IBRA regions – Gulf Coastal, Gulf Fall and Uplands, and
Gulf Plains The Gulf Plains, an interim Australian bioregion (IBRA), is located in the Northern Territory and Queensland, comprising . It is one of 89 such bioregions defined in Australia, with 419 subregions as of IBRA version 7, compared with the 85 bi ...
.


Climate

The ecoregion has a
tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of ...
. Rainfall is strongly seasonal. The monsoon winds bring rainfall during the Southern Hemisphere summer from November to March, followed by a dry season during the rest of the year. Average annual rainfall generally decreases from north to south. It is highest (1000 mm to 1200 mm) in the northwestern portion of the ecoregion in the Northern Territory, and over 900 mm in the northeastern part of the ecoregion east of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Rainfall is approximately 750 mm along the southern coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria, and decreases to less than 500 mm further south. Temperatures are generally warm year-round, with a wider range between maximum and minimum monthly temperatures as one moves further from the coast.


Flora

The vegetation of the ecoregion includes grasslands, savanna, open woodlands, and small patches of forest. The Gulf Coastal region, which encompasses the coastal plains along the western Gulf of Carpentaria in Northern Territory, is covered mostly in woodlands of Darwin stringybark (''Eucalyptus tetrodonta'') with an understory of grasses, chiefly curly spinifex (''Triodia pungens''). The Gulf Fall and Uplands, which lies west and south of the gulf coastal plain, is mostly woodland and savanna of Darwin box (''Eucalyptus tectifica'') and long-fruited bloodwood (''Corymbia polycarpa''). curly spinfex is the most common grass, with areas of tall ''
Sorghum ''Sorghum'' () is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for animals. One species is grown for grain, while many other ...
'' grasses, like those typical of Arnhem Land's savannas, in more humid areas of the uplands. The Gulf Plains, which lie south and southeast of the Gulf, are mostly open grasslands of bluegrass (''Dichanthium'' spp.). In the southwestern Gulf Plains, along the northern edge of the Mount Isa Inlier, there is a narrow belt of Eucalyptus and
Melaleuca ''Melaleuca'' () is a genus of nearly 300 species of plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, commonly known as paperbarks, honey-myrtles or tea-trees (although the last name is also applied to species of ''Leptospermum''). They range in size f ...
woodlands, with a grassy understory dominated by ''
Chrysopogon fallax ''Chrysopogon'' is a genus of tropical and subtropical plants in the grass family. They are widespread across Eurasia, Africa, Australia, southeastern North America, and various islands. Species Source: Formerly included Source: Resear ...
''. In the southeastern Gulf Plains close to the
Einasleigh Uplands The Einasleigh Uplands is an interim Australian bioregion, with vegetation consisting of savanna and woodland located on a large plateau in inland Queensland, Australia. It corresponds to the Einasleigh Uplands savanna ecoregion, as identified ...
, there are Eucalyptus woodlands, and low woodlands of
Melaleuca ''Melaleuca'' () is a genus of nearly 300 species of plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, commonly known as paperbarks, honey-myrtles or tea-trees (although the last name is also applied to species of ''Leptospermum''). They range in size f ...
with the grasses ''
Aristida ''Aristida'' is a very nearly cosmopolitan genus of plants in the grass family. ''Aristida'' is distinguished by having three awns (bristles) on each lemma of each floret. The genus includes about 300 species found worldwide, often in arid warm ...
'' spp. and ''Chrysopogon fallax''. On the higher plateau remnants in the southeast, there are woodlands of
narrow-leaved ironbark ''Eucalyptus crebra'', commonly known as the narrow-leaved ironbark, narrow-leaved red ironbark or simply ironbark, and as muggago in the indigenous Dharawal language, is a species of small to medium-sized tree endemic to eastern Australia. It ...
(''Eucalyptus crebra'') and bloodwood (''Corymbia'' spp.), interspersed with stands of lancewood (''Acacia shirleyi''). The ecoregion's rivers form freshwater and saltwater wetlands as they approach the gulf. There are extensive
mangroves A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in sever ...
along the coast.


Fauna

The
Carpentarian rock rat The Carpentarian rock rat (''Zyzomys palatalis'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found only in Australia. Taxonomy The description of the species was published by Darrell Kitchener in 1989, emerging from a revision of the g ...
(''Zyzomys palatalis'') is endemic to the ecoregion, and found only in patches of ravine forest and vine thickets on sandstone outcrops in
Wollogorang Station Wollogorang Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station straddling the border the Northern Territory and Queensland. Location The property is situated approximately north west of Doomadgee and west of Burketown. The home ...
. The station is located close to the gulf in the Northern Territory near the border with Queensland.Bowman, D. M. J. S., G. K. Brown, M. F. Braby, J. R. Brown, L. G. Cook, M. D. Crisp, F. Ford, S. Haberle, J. Hughes, Y. Isagi, L. Joseph, J. McBride, G. Nelson and P. Y. Ladiges (2010). "Biogeography of the Australian monsoon tropics". ''Journal of Biogeography'', February 2010. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2699.2009.02210.


Protected areas

A 2017 assessment found that 24,914 km², or 7%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas. Protected areas in the ecoregion include Limmen National Park, Rutland Plains Nature Refuge,
Staaten River National Park The Staaten River National Park is a national park in Queensland, Australia, 1,640 km northwest of Brisbane. It receives its name from the Staaten River which flows through the park. Environment The park encompasses an extensive section of ...
, Thuwathu-Bujimulla Indigenous Protected Area, Nijinda Durlga Indigenous Protected Area, Pungalina-Seven Emu Sanctuary,
Wongalara Sanctuary Wongalara Sanctuary is a nature reserve in the Top End of the Northern Territory of Australia. Location It is a pastoral lease on the southern border of Arnhem Land, and is south-east of Kakadu National Park. The sanctuary shares a boundary wi ...
, the southern portion of South-East Arnhem Land Indigenous Protected Area, and the northern portion of
Boodjamulla National Park Boodjamulla National Park, formerly known as Lawn Hill National Park, is a national park in the Shire of Burke, Queensland, Australia. The Riversleigh World Heritage Area is a World Heritage Site within the park. The park lies on the traditiona ...
.UNEP-WCMC (2020). Protected Area Profile for Australia from the World Database of Protected Areas, September 2020. Available at: www.protectedplanet.net


External links

*


References

{{Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) Ecoregions of Queensland Ecoregions of the Northern Territory Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands