Scotia Sanctuary is a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

in the south-western plains of

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 ...

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 ...

, adjacent to the border with

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. It is located in the Murray Mallee subregion of the Murray-Darling Depression Bioregion, south of the city of

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...

. It is owned and managed by the

Australian Wildlife Conservancy The Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) is an Australian independent, nonprofit organisation, working to conserve threatened wildlife and ecosystems in Australia. This is principally achieved through the acquisition of extensive areas of land ...

(AWC).

History

Scotia comprises two former grazing properties, Tararra and Ennisvale, which were purchased by Earth Sanctuaries Limited in 1994, and eventually acquired by AWC in 2002.Scotia: History
/ref>

Landscape and climate

Scotia is characterised by a low-relief landscape of plains with parallel sand dunes and open

calcareous Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines. In zoology ''Calcareous'' is used as an adje ...

swale Swale or Swales may refer to: Topography * Swale (landform), a low tract of land ** Bioswale, landform designed to remove silt and pollution ** Swales, found in the formation of Hummocky cross-stratification Geography * River Swale, in North ...

s. Surface water is limited by the sandy soils and there are no watercourses.Scotia: General
/ref> The climate is one of cool winters and hot summers in an arid region, with irregular rainfall averaging an annual .Scotia: Climate
/ref>

Ecosystems

Scotia's habitats include various

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 ...

open

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It m ...

( mallee) communities and

sheoak The Casuarinaceae are a family of dicotyledonous flowering plants placed in the order Fagales, consisting of four genera and 91 species of trees and shrubs native to eastern Africa, Australia, Southeast Asia, Malesia, Papuasia, and the Pacific ...

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

s, .Scotia: Ecosystems
/ref>

Fauna

The Scotia Endangered Mammal Recovery Project is a program of reintroduction of mammals that have become extinct regionally, in order to establish viable, self-sustaining populations. Species successfully reintroduced so far include:

numbat The numbat (''Myrmecobius fasciatus''), also known as the noombat or walpurti, is an insectivorous marsupial. It is diurnal and its diet consists almost exclusively of termites. The species was once widespread across southern Australia, but ...

greater bilby The greater bilby (''Macrotis lagotis''), often referred to simply as the bilby since the lesser bilby (''Macrotis leucura'') became extinct in the 1950s, is an Australian species of nocturnal omnivorous animal in the order Peramelemorphia. Oth ...

, burrowing bettong, brush-tailed bettong and

bridled nailtail wallaby The bridled nail-tail wallaby (''Onychogalea fraenata''), also known as the bridled nail-tailed wallaby, bridled nailtail wallaby, bridled wallaby, merrin, and flashjack, is a vulnerable species of macropod. It is a small wallaby found in three ...

, while an attempted reintroduction of the

greater stick-nest rat The greater stick-nest rat, also known as the house-building rat and wopilkara (''Leporillus conditor'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. They are about the size of a small rabbit and construct large nests of interwoven sticks. Onc ...

failed. Threatened bird species present on Scotia include malleefowl,

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

and

scarlet-chested parrot The scarlet-chested parrot (''Neophema splendida''), known alternately as scarlet-breasted parrot, orange-throated parrot or splendid parrot, is a parrot endemic to central South Australia and inland southern Western Australia. The species is sex ...

striated grasswren The striated grasswren (''Amytornis striatus'') is a small, cryptically coloured ground-dwelling species of wren-like bird in the family Maluridae, endemic to Australia. It occupies a large discontinuous range across arid and semi-arid areas of w ...

and black-eared miner.Scotia: Wildlife
/ref> The reserve forms part of the 12,200 km²

Riverland Mallee Important Bird Area The Riverland Mallee Important Bird Area comprises a tract of mallee habitat and riverine woodland extending from near Waikerie in the Riverland region in eastern South Australia north-eastwards into south-western New South Wales. Descript ...

, identified as such by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

for its importance in the conservation of mallee birds and their habitats.

References

External links

Australian Wildlife Conservancy
{{AWC Reserves Nature reserves in New South Wales Australian Wildlife Conservancy reserves 1994 establishments in Australia Important Bird Areas of New South Wales Mallee Woodlands and Shrublands