The Mulga Lands are an interim Australian bioregion of eastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

consisting of dry sandy plains with low mulga woodlands and shrublands that are dominated by ''

Acacia aneura ''Acacia aneura'', commonly known as mulga or true mulga, is a shrub or small tree native to arid outback areas of Australia. It is the dominant tree in the habitat to which it gives its name ( mulga) that occurs across much of inland Australia. ...

'' (mulga). The Eastern Australia mulga shrublands

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 l ...

is coterminous with the Mulga Lands bioregion.

Location and description

Located in inland

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and

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 , established_ ...

these are flat plains with some low hills. and infertile sandy soil with a cover of grasses and shrubs with mulga and

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as euca ...

trees. The region contains areas of wetland, most of them only seasonally flooded, these include Lake Wyara and

Lake Numalla Lake Numalla is located in the Mulga Lands bioregion of Western Queensland, Australia. The area has a very dry climate, with unpredictable low rainfall (450 mm-650mm per year). Lake Numalla is freshwater while nearby Lake Wyara is saline. Thes ...

, the Currawinya Lakes, Lake Bindegolly and others on the Warrego and the

Paroo River The Paroo River, a series of waterholes, connected in wet weather as a running stream of the Darling catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the South West region of Queensland and Far West region of New South Wales, Austr ...

s, the latter of which in particular remains relatively unmanaged and in its natural state. The area has a very dry climate, with unpredictable low rainfall (450mm-650mm per year). The plains are drained in three directions: the eastern side by the Wallam, Nebine and

Mungallala Creek Mungallala is a rural town and locality in the Maranoa Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Mungallala had a population of 136 people. Geography The town is in South West Queensland, west of the state capital Brisbane and ...

s (tributaries of the

Culgoa River The Culgoa River is a river that is part of the Darling catchment within the Murray–Darling basin and is located in South West Queensland. Course and features The river is a continuation of the western branch of the Balonne River in southe ...

), and the Warrego and Paroo rivers into the Murray-Darling basin; the southwest by the

Bulloo River The Bulloo River is an isolated drainage system in western Queensland, central Australia. Its floodplain, which extends into northern New South Wales, is an important area for waterbirds when inundated. It comprises most of the Bulloo-Banc ...

into wetlands near the

Simpson Desert The Simpson Desert is a large area of dry, red sandy plain and dunes in the Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland in central Australia. It is the fourth-largest Deserts of Australia, Australian desert, with an area of . The desert ...

; and finally the northern side by the

Barcoo River The Barcoo River in western Queensland, Australia rises on the northern slopes of the Warrego Range, flows in a south-westerly direction and unites with the Thomson River to form Cooper Creek. The first European to see the river was Thomas M ...

towards

Lake Eyre Lake Eyre ( ), officially known as Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre, is an endorheic lake in east-central Far North South Australia, some north of Adelaide. The shallow lake is the depocentre of the vast endorheic Lake Eyre basin, and contains the ...

. The

Great Artesian Basin The Great Artesian Basin (GAB), located in Australia, is the largest and deepest artesian basin in the world, stretching over , with measured water temperatures ranging from . The basin provides the only source of fresh water through much of ...

lies below these plains and more rich patches of wildlife are found around mound springs stemming from the basin. The Mulga Lands are defined by their plant life and poor soil and as such are distinct from neighbouring

s, the

Brigalow Belt The Brigalow Belt is a wide band of acacia-wooded grassland that runs between tropical rainforest of the coast and the semi-arid interior of Queensland, Australia. The Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) divides the Bri ...

to the east and the

Mitchell Grass Downs The Mitchell Grass Downs is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands ecoregion in northeastern Australia. It is a mostly treeless grassland, characterised by Mitchell grasses (''Astrebla'' spp.). Location and descrip ...

to the north, both of which have better soil and richer plant life. The

Southeast Australia temperate savanna The Southeast Australia temperate savanna ecoregion is a large area of grassland dotted with eucalyptus trees running north–south across central New South Wales, Australia. In Australia, the region is known as, or corresponds to, the Grey Box ...

ecoregion lies to the south and southeast. The drier

and Tirari-Sturt stony desert ecoregions lie to the west. The mulga lands are sparsely populated and mostly used for grazing sheep and cattle.

Flora

Mulga trees are a type of

acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...

which have adapted to efficiently collect the sparse rainfall, are the distinctive habitat of this ecoregion while the ground cover consists of shrubs and grasses. However the mulga lands are not uniform and there are micro-climates and patches of other kinds of habitat, especially areas of eucalyptus woodland in the better-watered parts that have more wildlife than the mulga acacia plains themselves. Eucalyptus trees found here include bimble box,

coolibah ''Eucalyptus coolabah'', commonly known as coolibah or coolabah, is a species of tree found in eastern inland Australia. It has rough bark on part or all of the trunk, smooth powdery cream to pink bark above, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves ...

, and silver-leaved ironbark. To the east of the Warrego River in Queensland the mulga lands merge into a heath of sand dunes. Throughout the mulga lands plant life quickly flourishes after rainfall and habitats revive and change.

Fauna

Currawinya National Park Currawinya is a national park near Hungerford in South West Queensland, Australia, 828 km west of Brisbane. Part of the mulga lands bioregion this is an area of dry sandy plain with small trees and shrubs. The Paroo River passes through the ...

is part of the project to revive Australia's population of the bilby, which in the park is protected from

dingo The dingo (''Canis familiaris'', ''Canis familiaris dingo'', ''Canis dingo'', or ''Canis lupus dingo'') is an ancient (Basal (phylogenetics), basal) lineage of dog found in Australia (continent), Australia. Its taxonomic classification is de ...

s and cats. This part of Australia is generally dry and when flooded Lakes Wyara and Numalla are important habitats for birds, being home to 250,000 birds of 40 species including the

rainbow bee-eater The rainbow bee-eater (''Merops ornatus'') is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family Meropidae. Taxonomy The rainbow bee-eater is the only species of Meropidae found in Australia and is monotypic. Its closest relative is most likely the ...

Australasian shoveller The Australasian shoveler (''Spatula rhynchotis'') is a species of dabbling duck in the genus ''Spatula''. It ranges from 46 to 53 cm. It lives in heavily vegetated swamps. In Australia it is protected under the National Parks and Wildli ...

freckled duck The freckled duck (''Stictonetta naevosa)'' is a waterfowl species endemic to Australia. The freckled duck has also been referred to as the monkey duck or oatmeal duck. These birds are usually present in mainland Australia, but disperse to coas ...

musk duck The musk duck (''Biziura lobata'') is a highly aquatic, stiff-tailed duck native to southern Australia. It is the only living member of the genus '' Biziura''. An extinct relative, the New Zealand musk duck or de Lautour's duck (''B. delauto ...

black swan The black swan (''Cygnus atratus'') is a large waterbird, a species of swan which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia. Within Australia, the black swan is nomadic, with erratic migration patterns dependent upon c ...

silver gull The silver gull (''Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae'') is the most common gull of Australia. It has been found throughout the continent, but particularly at or near coastal areas. It is smaller than the Pacific gull (''Larus pacificus''), which ...

Australian pelican The Australian pelican (''Pelecanus conspicillatus'') is a large waterbird in the family Pelecanidae, widespread on the inland and coastal waters of Australia and New Guinea, also in Fiji, parts of Indonesia and as a vagrant in New Zealand. It ...

great egret The great egret (''Ardea alba''), also known as the common egret, large egret, or (in the Old World) great white egret or great white heron is a large, widely distributed egret. The four subspecies are found in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and ...

, and

glossy ibis The glossy ibis (''Plegadis falcinellus'') is a water bird in the order Pelecaniformes and the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae. The scientific name derives from Ancient Greek ''plegados'' and Latin, ''falcis'', both meaning "sickle" a ...

Conservation and threats

80% of the original plant cover is intact, especially in the drier inland west, as some areas of eucalyptus woodland have been cleared in the eastern side of the area. There are no endangered habitats in the mulga lands. However, most of the area is used for grazing sheep and cattle, so there is always a danger of

overgrazing Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, game reserves, or nature res ...

while mulga leaves are used as livestock fodder and other trees are removed to create more grassland and to allow access to water sources. The mound springs are particularly affected by this. There are some areas of National Park, the largest of which is Currawinya, whose wetlands are especially important as bird habitats. Others include Hell Hole Gorge, Lake Bindegolly, Mariala, Thrushton, part of Welford, Idalia and the

Culgoa Floodplain National Park The Culgoa Floodplain National Park is a protected national park that is located in the South West region of Queensland in eastern Australia. The national park is situated at the western extent of in the Shire of Balonne and in the east of ...

References

{{Australasia grasslands navbox Ecoregions of Queensland Ecoregions of New South Wales IBRA regions Plains of Australia South West Queensland Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands Deserts and xeric shrublands