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Flora and vegetation of the southern Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Keighery, G. J. Gibson, Neil Lyons, M. N. Burbidge, Allan H. |
| Copyright Year | 2000 |
| Abstract | This paper reports the first detailed study of the vascular flora of the southern Carnarvon Basin, an area of c. 75000 km2• A total flora of 2133 taxa of vascular plants was listed for the area. There are eight major conservation reserves which have 1559 taxa present in them. Most of the 574 unreserved taxa are wetland taxa, taxa of tropical affinities or those only present on the Acacia shrublands of the central basin. Vegetation patterning at a regional scale showed the major floristic boundary in the south west of the study area, which in turn reflected the major climatic gradients of the area. The other major influence on vegetation patterning was soil type. INTRODUCTION Despite Shark Bay being the site of very early visitation and study by several European expeditions (Beard, 1990; Keighery, 1990; George, 1999) the area was until recently still poorly known botanically. Beard (1975, 1976a) prepared structural vegetation maps for the whole area at a 1: 1 000000 scale and Payne et al. (1987) have undertaken land system maps (rangeland mapping) for the whole area at a 1: 250000 scale. More localised areas have been mapped and published for the Kalbarri-Shark Bay area by Beard (1976b, 1976c) at a scale of 1: 250000. Limited floristic surveys have been undertaken in the north of the study area around Lake MacLeod by Tyler (1988), Rocky Pool near Carnarvon by Kenneally (1978) and Cape Range by Keighery and Gibson (1993). Other localised studies have involved the Shark Bay World Heritage Area by Trudgen and Keighery (1995), Bernier and Dorre Islands by Royce (1962), Dirk Hartog Island by Burbidge and George (1978), Kennedy Range by Newbey and Newbey (1992) and Toolonga Nature Reserve by Burbidge et al. (1980). The present work is part of a multi-disciplinary study to sample the biodiversity of a 75000 km2 region of Western Australia (the southern Carnarvon Basin) and identify biophysical factors related to the observed patterns of species distribution (Burbidge et al., 2000). The aim of this paper is to describe the flora and vegetation of the major landforms sampled as biodiversity sites and to discuss the composition, biogeographic patterns and conservation status of the vascular plants of the study area. Related papers in this volume deal with the wetIand flora (Gibson, Keighery and Lyons, 2000) and the flora of the temperate arid change-over zone (Gibson, Burbidge, Keighery and Lyons, 2000). |
| Starting Page | 77 |
| Ending Page | 77 |
| Page Count | 1 |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| DOI | 10.18195/issn.0313-122x.61.2000.077-154 |
| Volume Number | 60 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://museum.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/SuppWAMuseum_2000_61_77to154_KEIGHERYetal.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
