The Yathong Nature Reserve is a

protected Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...

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 ...

that is also a nationally and internationally recognized

biosphere The biosphere (from Greek βίος ''bíos'' "life" and σφαῖρα ''sphaira'' "sphere"), also known as the ecosphere (from Greek οἶκος ''oîkos'' "environment" and σφαῖρα), is the worldwide sum of all ecosystems. It can also be ...

situated in the central-western region 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 ...

, in 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 ...

. The reserve was listed by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

in 1977 as a Biosphere Reserve under the

Man and the Biosphere Programme Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) is an intergovernmental scientific program, launched in 1971 by UNESCO, that aims to establish a scientific basis for the improvement of relationships between people and their environments. MAB's work engag ...

(MAB). The reserve is significant for its biodiversity in both native plant and animal species. Cultural heritage and historical grazing activities add to the significance of this site as a conservation area. The reserve is the most extensive in New South Wales and shares a border with the Nombinnie Nature Reserve in the south-eastern corner, and is part of the

Central NSW Mallee Important Bird Area The Central NSW Mallee Important Bird Area is an irregularly shaped 2500 km2 tract of land in western New South Wales, Australia. It lies near the small town of Mount Hope and comprises the nature reserves of Yathong, Nombinnie and Roun ...

. The reserve is situated south of the central-west town of

Cobar Cobar is a town in central western New South Wales, Australia whose economy is based mainly upon base metals and gold mining. The town is by road northwest of the state capital, Sydney. It is at the crossroads of the Kidman Way and Barrier Hig ...

and west from

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Geography and climate

The topography and landscape of the Yathong Nature Reserve is typical of central New South Wales in its predominance of semi-arid characteristics. The reserve is positioned within two

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

(IBRA)

bioregion A bioregion is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a biogeographic realm, but larger than an ecoregion or an ecosystem, in the World Wide Fund for Nature classification scheme. There is also an attempt to use the ...

s of the

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

and the

Murray Darling Depression The Murray Darling Depression , also known as the Murray-Darling woodlands and mallee, is a 19,717,651 HA biogeographic region and an ecoregion in southeastern Australia consisting of a wooded plain through which flow two of Australia's biggest r ...

. The geography exhibits a mix of flat, undulating plains, ridges and ranges. The dominating ridge system is the Merrimerriwa Range, which is a prominent feature in the landscape that extends south throughout the south-east corner of the reserve. These regions are dominated by soil types that range from thin sandy/stony on the ridges to thicker colluvial, red and earthy types that exhibit texture contrast profiles. The reserve is subject to the dominating semi-arid climate of the region. Hot and dry climatic patterns give rise to hot summers and mild winters with steady rainfall averages throughout the year.

Ecological character

Regional biospheres share uneven borders both within and in close proximity to the reserve, which greatly influences the reserve's ecological character and structure. These geographic and landscape properties provide a variety of habitats and ecosystems in which plant and animal species thrive. Sub-tropical, arid and semi-arid landscapes and subtle climatic components are an influencing factor for the rich plant communities. This is also the case for the animal population, which also exhibits a richness and diversity. The major vegetation groups include semi-arid woodlands, arid shrub-lands and grassy woodlands. Animal communities are composed of mixed mammals, birds and reptiles; some of which are listed as endangered or rare both regionally and nationally.

Flora

There are a range of plant species that make up the significant mixed floral communities across the reserve. Current records show a total of 460 species within the reserve of which 12 have protection status in New South Wales. Two species, curly-bark wattle ('' Acacia curranii'') and wingless fissure-weed ('' Osteocarpum pentapterum''), have vulnerable and extinct listing respectively. The vegetation communities can be split based on dominating geographic assemblages within the reserve. Roughly 50% of the vegetation is of mallee vegetation types, which include green mallee (''

Eucalyptus viridis ''Eucalyptus viridis'', commonly known as the green mallee, is a species of mallee or small tree that is endemic to south-eastern, continental Australia. It has rough fibrous or flaky bark on the lower trunk, smooth bark above, linear to narrow ...

''), grey mallee ('' Eucalyptus morrisii''), white mallee (''

Eucalyptus dumosa ''Eucalyptus dumosa'', commonly known as the white mallee, dumosa mallee, or Congoo mallee, is a species of mallee that is endemic to south eastern Australia. It usually has rough, flaky grey bark on the lower trunk, smooth bark above, lance-shap ...

''), red mallee (''

Eucalyptus socialis ''Eucalyptus socialis'', commonly known as the red mallee, or grey mallee, is a species of mallee that is endemic to inland Australia. Description ''Eucalyptus socialis'' is a mallee that typically grows to a height of , but can reach as hig ...

''), yorrell white mallee (''

Eucalyptus gracilis ''Eucalyptus gracilis'', commonly known as yorrell, snap and rattle, red mallee, white mallee or kong mallee, is a species of mallee or small tree endemic to Australia, where it is found in south-western New South Wales, Victoria, South Australi ...

'') and dwyers mallee (''

Eucalyptus dwyeri ''Eucalyptus dwyeri'', commonly known as Dwyer's red gum or Dwyer's mallee gum, is a species of small tree, sometimes a Mallee (habit), mallee that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has smooth, white or cream-coloured bark, lance-shaped to cur ...

''). The remaining vegetation communities of the reserve are woodland types that have two classes: grassy and semi-arid woodland. They include white cypress pine ('' Callitris glaucophylla''), bimble box (''

Eucalyptus populnea ''Eucalyptus populnea'', commonly known as poplar box, bimble box or bimbil box, is a species of small to medium-sized tree that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has rough, fibrous or flaky bark on the trunk and branches, egg-shaped, elliptic ...

''), black box (''

Eucalyptus largiflorens ''Eucalyptus largiflorens'', or black box or river box, is a tree that is endemic to Australia. It has rough, fibrous or flaky bark, dull greenish-grey, lance-shaped leaves, oval to club-shaped green to yellow flower buds, white flowers and hemi ...

''), and belah (''

Casuarina cristata ''Casuarina cristata'' is an Australian tree of the sheoak family Casuarinaceae known as belah. It is native to a band across inland eastern Australia. Taxonomy The Dutch botanist Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel described the belah in 1848, and ...

''). Both community structure and diversity of the vegetation throughout the reserve has undergone measurable alteration as a result of land clearance and grazing activities. Uncertainty surrounds the pre-European character of distribution and diversity of vegetation and therefore the full extent to which impacts have altered the natural community assemblage is unclear. Mallee communities have a distinctive vegetation assemblage which is predominately made up of eucalypt species. Extensive grazing and agricultural activities following European settlement has reduced the distribution of these distinctive communities. The extent of intact mallee within the reserve highlights the importance for conservation activities for both the distinctive plant communities and the inhabiting fauna.

Fauna

Striated Grasswren (Amytornis striatus) with beak open

The reserve hosts a diverse range of animal species with a recorded total of 253 all of which have a protected status in New South Wales. Examples of mammal species include the short-beaked echidna (''

Tachyglossus aculeatus The short-beaked echidna (''Tachyglossus aculeatus''), also called the short-nosed echidna, is one of four living species of echidna and the only member of the genus ''Tachyglossus''. It is covered in fur and spines and has a distinctive snout ...

''), brush-tailed rock-wallaby (''

Petrogale penicillata 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 ...

''), yellow-bellied sheathtail-bat ('' Saccolaimus flaviventris''). Three nationally important kangaroo species are all present within the reserve; eastern grey ('' Macropus giganteus''), western grey (''

Macropus fuliginosus The western grey kangaroo (''Macropus fuliginosus''), also referred to as a western grey giant kangaroo, black-faced kangaroo, mallee kangaroo, sooty kangaroo and (when referring to the Kangaroo Island subspecies) Kangaroo Island grey kangaroo, is ...

'') and red kangaroo (''

Macropus rufus The red kangaroo (''Osphranter rufus'') is the largest of all kangaroos, the largest terrestrial mammal native to Australia, and the largest extant marsupial. It is found across mainland Australia, except for the more fertile areas, such as ...

''). Reptile species are also represented well within the reserve and include species such as; marble-faced delma (''

Delma australis The ''Delma australis'' is often known as the southern legless lizard, or the marble-faced delma. This terrestrial lizard falls into the category of slender Pygopodidae, a legless lizard. There are 21 known species in the Pygopdidae family in A ...

''), western blue-tongued lizard (''

Tiliqua occipitalis The western blue-tongued lizard (''Tiliqua occipitalis''), also known as the western blue-tongued skink, is a large skink native to Australia. It is one of six species of blue-tongued skinks found in Australia, though further species are found in ...

'') and mallee military dragon ('' Ctenophorus fordi''). Reptiles within the region have a preference for mallee habitat much like that of the malleefowl. The area is rich in bird species with 130 being confirmed and a further concentration of 12 species within mallee habitat. Current records raise the total number of bird species present in the area up to 162. All recorded bird species are listed as protected in NSW; of these 11 are protected and 1 endangered and 4 recognised nationally. Notable species include malleefowl ('' Leipoa ocellata''), red-lored whistler ('' Pachycephala rufogularis''), grey falcon (''

Falco hypoleucos The grey falcon (''Falco hypoleucos'') is a medium-sized falcon native to Australia, possibly the rarest. It is uncommon throughout its range and is currently classified as Vulnerable. Taxonomy The description of the species was published by ...

''), pink cockatoo (''

Lophochroa leadbeateri Major Mitchell's cockatoo (''Lophochroa leadbeateri''), also known as Leadbeater's cockatoo or the pink cockatoo, is a medium-sized cockatoo that inhabits arid and semi-arid inland areas of Australia, though it is seen regularly in other clima ...

'') and striated grass wren (''

Amytornis striatus 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 ...

''). The malleefowl has gained considerable attention and conservation status within and outside the reserve. This is a result of the combination of encroachment of human activities and the specificity of the habitat requirements of the malleefowl. Management strategies at the time of NPWS reserve plan included breeding programs alongside activities to reduce threatening processes and predatory species. A national recovery plan targeting a range of endangered species, not specific to the reserve, includes actions to protect and promote the malleefowl population. The actions undertaken in NSW will comprise a variety of conservation and management activities. Introduced animal species, data collection and monitoring are the main approaches taken in NSW in the effort to preserve the malleefowl. Many introduces species occur within the area and cause some alterations to the native species that inhabit the reserve. The major introduced species are the European red fox (''

Vulpes vulpes The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus ...

''), feral cats (''

Felis catus The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of t ...

''), feral dogs (''

Canis lupus familiaris The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

''), feral pigs (''

Sus scrofa The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is no ...

''), goat (''

Capra hircus The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

'') and rabbit ('' Oryctolagos cuniculus'').

Environmental hazards and threats

The occurrence of bushfire is the primary environmental hazard that poses a direct threat to the biodiversity of the reserve. The threat of fire has been listed as a Key Threatening Process (KTP) by the NSW Government as it would have a drastic effect on the "loss of vegetation structure and composition". The fire management plan is one that considers biodiversity and cultural heritage in the approach to managing fires. The size and age of the reserve allows for a greater capacity for drought and fire resistance, which is in part due to the age classes of existing vegetation. The second concern regarding threats comes from predation and encroachment of introduced species. Predation threats for the native species are a result of the feeding habits of the introduce feral animals. Both feral dogs and cats, for instance, pose threats to animal species within the reserve. Feral cat and fox predation on bird species is of particular concern for ground dwelling and nesting birds. Examples of the bird species that are vulnerable include; red-lored whistler ('' Pachycephala rufogularis''), malleefowl ('' Leipoa ocellata'') and striated grass wren (''

''). Goats and rabbit species pose a risk to both the plant and animal communities through

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 species competition. This is a raised concern where native animals may rely on a specific habitat such as the malleefowl. Competition, overgrazing and habitat destruction also comes from the three kangaroo species present within the reserve. Introduced and invasive plant species also pose threats to the structure and range of plant communities. Species such as lantana (''

Lantana camara ''Lantana camara'' (common lantana) is a species of flowering plant within the verbena family (Verbenaceae), native to the American tropics. It is a very adaptable species, which can inhabit a wide variety of ecosystems; once it has been introduc ...

L. sens. Lat''), bitou bush (''

Chrysanthemoides monilifera ''Osteospermum moniliferum'' ''(Chrysanthemoides monilifera)'' is an evergreen flowering shrub or small tree of the Asteraceae (daisy) family that is native to South Africa, such as the Cape Flats Dune Strandveld habitat. Most subspecies have woo ...

'') and perennial grasses are a source of competition for native plant species. Subsequent effects on the habit and the dependent native animal species raises concern for the spread of invasive species.

Reserve management

Yathong Nature Reserve is managed by the

NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is a directorate of the New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment responsible for managing most of the protected areas in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Despite its name the ...

(NPWS), an agency of the

Government of New South Wales The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales. It is currently held by a coalition of the Liberal Party and the National Party. The Governmen ...

. The management goals of the reserve plan are the protection of floral and faunal communities with wider consideration of natural and cultural heritage and public uses. The key areas for management will focus on native and introduced flora and fauna alongside considerations of fire management. The second area of concern regards the recognition of cultural and historic properties of the park. The Ngiyam and Wiradjuripaa people, traditional land owners, will be involved with works and activities that concern cultural values, heritage and important sites. The development of information and knowledge of the reserve will draw from the knowledge that the traditional land owners possess. The importance of the reserve has drawn interest from groups concerned with flora and fauna communities of the area. The Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife (FNPW) has been involved in the creation of the reserve and subsequent conservation activities, particularly of the malleefowl. The reserve is also listed in the

Important Bird Area 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. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

database, which contributes to monitoring the population's numbers and therefore aiding future protection and conservation efforts. Management activities regarding threats mainly focus on controlling the effect of encroachment and predation by introduced species. Actions undertaken by the NPWS include targeted control plans for endangered and vulnerable native species. Baiting programs exist and target pest species such as foxes and feral dogs and cats.

References

External links

* {{Nature reserves of New South Wales , state=autocollapse Nature reserves in New South Wales Biosphere reserves of Australia Protected areas established in 1971 1971 establishments in Australia Central West (New South Wales)