The Southeast Australia temperate savanna

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 a large area of grassland dotted with

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 e ...

trees running north–south across central

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 ...

. In Australia, the region is known as, or corresponds to, the Grey Box Grassy Woodlands and Derived Native Grasslands of South-Eastern Australia, which are described as "temperate eucalypt woodlands with a grassy understorey".

Location and description

It is a dry area of low hills and valleys of which the southern section is the wheat-growing plain known as the

Riverina The Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation ...

and the northern section is low hills and plains mostly used for grazing sheep running north to the plains of the Darling River basin and the New South Wales–

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_ ...

border. Rivers of the savanna include the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest r ...

and the Murrumbidgee in the south and the

Darling River The Darling River (Paakantyi: ''Baaka'' or ''Barka'') is the third-longest river in Australia, measuring from its source in northern New South Wales to its conflu ence with the Murray River at Wentworth, New South Wales. Including its long ...

in the north. Rainfall is low and irregular, from 300 to 500 mm per year becoming less further westward, and that is where the vegetation grades to

Shrub–steppe Shrub-steppe is a type of low-rainfall natural grassland. While arid, shrub-steppes have sufficient moisture to support a cover of perennial grasses or shrubs, a feature which distinguishes them from deserts. The primary ecological processes his ...

. Most of the region features a

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of sem ...

, though small areas in the east of the zone have a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

. The ecoregion as defined by WWF includes the

Darling Riverine Plains The Darling Riverine Plains is an interim Australian bioregion located in southern Queensland and northern New South Wales. It has an area of . South Eastern Queensland bioregion is part of the Southeast Australia temperate savanna ecoregion. ...

Cobar Peneplain Cobar Peneplain, an interim Australian bioregion, is located in New South Wales,IBRA Versio ...

, and

IBRA region The Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) is a biogeography, biogeographic regionalisation of Australia developed by the Australian government's Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities ( ...

s, along with the southern portion of the

Brigalow Belt South 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 ...

in New South Wales.

Plants

The dry climate sustains hardy shrubs and grasses scattered with small patches of the bimble box, grey box and

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 ...

eucalyptus trees that once covered most of this part of Australia. The Riverina area nearer the coast contains

red river gum ''Eucalyptus camaldulensis'', commonly known as the river red gum, is a tree that is endemic to Australia. It has smooth white or cream-coloured bark, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven or nine, white flowers an ...

(''Eucalyptus camaldulensis'') and

black box In science, computing, and engineering, a black box is a system which can be viewed in terms of its inputs and outputs (or transfer characteristics), without any knowledge of its internal workings. Its implementation is "opaque" (black). The te ...

(''Eucalyptus largiflorens''). The effect of massive numbers of sheep on the grassland was dramatic and was noted by settlers in the grassland regions. The original soil of the grasslands was soft and absorbed rain readily, but heavy continuous stock grazing drove a degradation sequence that shifted the botanical composition of native grasslands from an ecosystem regulated by large, perennial tussock grasses such as ''

Themeda triandra } ''Themeda triandra'' is a species of perennial tussock-forming grass widespread in Africa, Australia, Asia and the Pacific. In Australia it is commonly known as kangaroo grass and in East Africa and South Africa it is known as red grass and re ...

'' (Kangaroo Grass) to one containing abundant disturbance tolerant native grasses such as ''Rytidosperma'' spp.

Fauna

These grasslands are the western limit for much of the wildlife that lives here as further west is desert. Wildlife of the savanna includes mammals such as the mouse-like

kultarr The kultarr (''Antechinomys laniger'') (also called the "jerboa-marsupial" or marsupial jerboa) is a small insectivorous nocturnal marsupial inhabiting the arid interior of Australia. Preferred habitat includes stony deserts, shrubland, woodland ...

marsupial (''Antechinomys laniger''),

tiger quoll The tiger quoll (''Dasyurus maculatus''), also known as the spotted-tail quoll, the spotted quoll, the spotted-tail dasyure, native cat or the tiger cat, is a carnivorous marsupial of the quoll genus '' Dasyurus'' native to Australia. With male ...

(''Dasyurus maculatus''), and

brush-tailed rock-wallaby The brush-tailed rock-wallaby or small-eared rock-wallaby (''Petrogale penicillata'') is a kind of wallaby, one of several rock-wallabies in the genus '' Petrogale''. It inhabits rock piles and cliff lines along the Great Dividing Range from ab ...

(''Petrogale penicillata''). The

western barred bandicoot The Western barred bandicoot (''Perameles bougainville''), also known as the Marl, is a small species of bandicoot; now extinct across most of its former range, the western barred bandicoot only survives on offshore islands and in fenced sanctuar ...

(''Perameles bougainville fasciata'') and bridled nail-tail wallaby that once lived here are now presumed extinct in New South Wales. Birds include the endangered

bush stone-curlew The bush stone-curlew or bush thick-knee, also known as the Iben bird (''Burhinus grallarius'', obsolete name ''Burhinus magnirostris'') is a large, ground-dwelling bird endemic to Australia. Its favoured habitat is open plains and woodlands, whe ...

(''Burhinus grallarius''), superb parrot (''Polytelis swainsonii''),

red goshawk The red goshawk (''Erythrotriorchis radiatus'') is probably the rarest Australian bird of prey. It is found mainly in the savanna woodlands of northern Australia, particularly near watercourses. It takes a broad range of live prey, mostly birds. ...

(''Erythrotriorchis radiatus''),

malleefowl The malleefowl (''Leipoa ocellata'') is a stocky ground-dwelling Australian bird about the size of a domestic chicken (to which it is distantly related). It is notable for the large nesting mounds constructed by the males and lack of parental ca ...

(''Leipoa ocellata'') and

plains-wanderer The plains-wanderer (''Pedionomus torquatus'') is a bird, the only representative of family Pedionomidae and genus ''Pedionomus''. It is endemic to Australia. The majority of the remaining population is found in the Riverina region of New So ...

(''Pedionomus torquatus''), and reptiles include an endangered skink ''

Anomalopus mackayi ''Anomalopus mackayi'', commonly known as the five-clawed worm skink, long-legged worm skink, and MacKay's burrowing skink, is a species of smooth-scaled burrowing skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to eastern Austra ...

''. The Riverina grasslands are home to birds such as the

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 ...

, and wintering populations of

swift parrot The swift parrot (''Lathamus discolor'') is a species of broad-tailed parrot, found only in southeastern Australia. The species breeds in Tasmania during the summer and migrates north to south eastern mainland Australia from Griffith- Warialda ...

(''Lathamus discolor'').

Threats and preservation

Active preservation of habitats is required because much of the savanna has been converted to pasture or wheatland. This is particularly so in the Riverina where most has been cleared for wheat planting, a process that is ongoing, while the grasslands are vulnerable to

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 ...

, and rivers including the Murray and Murrumbidgee are depleted by being water sources for large irrigation projects. As land is cleared it becomes habitat for invasive species such as

noisy miner The noisy miner (''Manorina melanocephala'') is a bird in the honeyeater family, Meliphagidae, and is endemic to eastern and southeastern Australia. This miner is a grey bird, with a black head, orange-yellow beak and feet, a distinctive yellow ...

bird (''Manorina melanophrys'') and

Australian raven The Australian raven (''Corvus coronoides'') is a passerine bird in the genus '' Corvus'' native to much of southern and northeastern Australia. Measuring in length, it has all-black plumage, beak and mouth, as well as strong grey-black legs an ...

(''Corvus coronoides'').

Protected areas

A 2017 assessment identified 15,778 km² of protected areas, excluding the Brigalow Belt south portion of the ecoregion. Protected areas in the Brigalow Belt portion of the ecoregion include the parks and reserves in the

Pilliga forest The Pilliga Forest, sometimes known as the Pilliga Scrub, constitute over 5,000 km2 of semi-arid woodland in temperate north-central New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest such continuous remnant in the state. The forest is loc ...

and the steep volcanic outcrops of

Warrumbungle National Park Warrumbungle National Park is a heritage listed national park located in the Orana region of New South Wales, Australia. The national park is located approximately northwest of Sydney and contained within . The park attracts approximately vi ...

. Other protected areas include

Barmah National Park The Barmah National Park, formerly Barmah State Park, is a national park located in the Hume region of the Australian state of Victoria. The park is located adjacent to the Murray River near the town of Barmah, approximately north of Melbou ...

Gundabooka National Park The Gundabooka National Park is a protected national park in the north-west region of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The national park is located approximately northwest of Sydney. The nearest town is , to the north. The national pa ...

, Murrumbidgee Valley National Park, Oolambeyan National Park, and Willandra National Park. There are small areas of parkland elsewhere and plans to create more, but there are no large areas of original savanna under protection.

External links

References

{{Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA), state=collapsed Biogeography of New South Wales Ecoregions of Australia Grasslands of Australia Plains of Australia Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands