Category: Deserts and xeric shrublands

Birdsville Track A (95)

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Site name: Birdsville Track A
Site number: 95
Point numbers: 377 (Birdsville Track A Dry B), 378 (Birdsville Track A Wet B), 379 (Birdsville Track A Dry A), 380 (Birdsville Track A Wet A)
Ecoregion: Deserts and xeric shrublands
Participant and site owner: Private owner, University of Queensland
Site location: Western South Australia
Latitude: -29.390
Longitude: 139.980
Site description: This site is a frequently visited field location for arid ecology students from the University of Queensland. This site was decommissioned in 2024.

Strzelecki 97 (97)

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Site name: Strzelecki 97
Site number: 97
Point numbers: 385 (Strzelecki 97 Dry B), 386 (Strzelecki 97 Dry A), 387 (Strzelecki 97 Wet A), 388 (Strzelecki 97 Wet B)
Ecoregion: Deserts and xeric shrublands
Participant and site owner: Private owner, University of Queensland
Site location: Western South Australia
Latitude: -27.711
Longitude: 140.870
Site description: This site is a frequently visited field location for arid ecology students from the University of Queensland. This site was decommissioned in 2024.

Strzelecki 93 (93)

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Site name: Strzelecki 93
Site number: 93
Point numbers: 369 (Strzelecki 93 Wet B), 370 (Strzelecki 93 Wet A), 371 (Strzelecki 93 Dry B), 372 (Strzelecki 93 Dry A)
Ecoregion: Deserts and xeric shrublands
Participant and site owner: Private owner, University of Queensland
Site location: Western South Australia
Latitude: -25.773
Longitude: 140.289
Site description: This site is a frequently visited field location for arid ecology students from the University of Queensland. This site was decommissioned in 2024.

Matuwa Indigenous Protected Area (90)

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Site name: Matuwa Indigenous Protected Area
Site number: 90
Point numbers: 357 (Matuwa Indigenous Protected Area Wet A), 358 (Matuwa Indigenous Protected Area Dry B), 359 (Matuwa Indigenous Protected Area Wet B), 360 (Matuwa Indigenous Protected Area Dry A)
Ecoregion: Deserts and xeric shrubland
Participant and site owner: Matuwa Piarku Aboriginal Corporation
Site location: Matuwa Indigenous Protected Area, Western Australia
Latitude: -26.138
Longitude: 121.352
Site description: Matuwa IPA covers 596,642 hectares of the Martu people’s Native Title land. Matuwa and Kurrara Kurrara are in the Murchison and Gascoyne bioregions on the southern edge of the Little Sandy Desert. Matuwa and Kurrara Kurrara are made up of yapu yapu (rocky country), rirrau (stony country), tali and parada (sand dune country) and jul jul (mulga forest).

Tjoritja (West MacDonnell National Park) 1 & 2 (87)

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Site name: Tjoritja (West MacDonnell National Park) 1 & 2
Site number: 87
Point numbers: 345 (Tjoritja (West MacDonnell National Park) 1 & 2 Dry A), 346 (Tjoritja (West MacDonnell National Park) 1 & 2 Wet A), 347 (Tjoritja (West MacDonnell National Park) 1 & 2 Dry B), 348 (Tjoritja (West MacDonnell National Park) 1 & 2 Wet B)
Ecoregion: Deserts and xeric shrublands
Participant and site owner: Traditional Owners, Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory
Site location: Central Australia
Latitude: -23.707
Longitude: 132.773
Site description: Tjoritja is a jointly managed national park of 2592 km² that is a hotspot for biodiversity and endemism in Central Australia.

Sturt National Park (NW) (80)

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Site name: Sturt National Park (NW)
Site number: 80
Point numbers: 317 (Sturt National Park (NW) Wet A), 318 (Sturt National Park (NW) Dry A), 319 (Sturt National Park (NW) Dry B), 320 (Sturt National Park (NW) Wet B)
Ecoregion: Deserts and xeric shrublands
Participant and site owner: NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service
Site location: Western New South Wales
Latitude: -29.015
Longitude: 141.016
Site description: Sturt National Park is a very large reserve of 3253 km² that includes the dingo fence and a reintroduction site for regionally extinct mammals. This site was decommissioned in 2024.

Sturt National Park (79)

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Site name: Sturt National Park
Site number: 79
Point numbers: 313 (Sturt National Park Dry A), 314 (Sturt National Park Wet A), 315 (Sturt National Park Dry B), 316 (Sturt National Park Wet B)
Ecoregion: Deserts and xeric shrublands
Participant and site owner: NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service
Site location: Western New South Wales
Latitude: -29.094
Longitude: 141.509
Site description: Sturt National Park is a very large reserve of 3253 km² that includes the dingo fence and a reintroduction site for regionally extinct mammals.

Kalamurina (71)

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Site name: Kalamurina
Site number: 71
Point numbers: 281 (Kalamurina Dry A), 282 (Kalamurina Wet A), 283 (Kalamurina Dry B), 284 (Kalamurina Wet B)
Ecoregion: Deserts and xeric shrublands
Participant and site owner: Australian Wildlife Conservancy
Site location: North Eastern South Australia
Latitude: -27.910
Longitude: 137.660
Site description: Kalamurina is an AWC property of 667,000 hectares located at the juncture of the Simpson, the Tirari, and Sturt’s Stony Desert. The reserve has large areas of dune fields, freshwater and salt lakes, floodplains, and gibber plains. Kalamurina protects a variety of desert fauna including the Crest-tailed Mulgara, the Dusky Hopping Mouse, the Eyrean Grasswren and the Lake Eyre Dragon.
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Ethabuka (9)

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Site name: Ethabuka
Site number: 9
Point numbers: 33 (Ethabuka Dry A), 34 (Ethabuka Wet A), 35 (Ethabuka Dry B), 36 (Ethabuka Wet B)
Ecoregion: Deserts and xeric shrublands
Participant and site owner: Bush Heritage Australia
Site location: Far Western Queensland
Latitude: -23.105
Longitude: 138.494
Site description: In the north of the Simpson Desert, Ethabuka is a haven for desert wildlife. The reserve is home to a wetland system of national significance, brimming with shrimps, fish and waterbirds following good rains.

Cravens Peak (8)

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Site name: Cravens Peak
Site number: 8
Point numbers: 29 (Cravens Peak Dry A), 30 (Cravens Peak Wet A), 31 (Cravens Peak Dry B), 32 (Cravens Peak Wet B)
Ecoregion: Deserts and xeric shrublands
Participant and site owner: Bush Heritage Australia
Site location: Far Western Queensland
Latitude: -23.205
Longitude: 138.416
Site description: Cravens Peak protects gibber plains, red sandy dune fields, semi-permanent waterholes, Coolabah woodlands, and one of the richest reptile assemblages on earth. Craven Peak supports a range of animal and plant species including the Grey Falcon, Painted Finch, Spinifex Pigeon, Ridge-tailed Monitor, Pituri, Mulga, and Red-bud Mallee

Newhaven (73)

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Site name: Newhaven
Site number: 73
Point numbers: 289 (Newhaven Wet A), 290 (Newhaven Wet B), 291 (Newhaven Dry B), 292 (Newhaven Dry A)
Ecoregion: Deserts and xeric shrublands
Participant and site owner: Australian Wildlife Conservancy and Birdlife Australia
Site location: Central Australia
Latitude: -22.733
Longitude: 131.152
Site description: Newhaven is a conservation reserve of approximately 261500 hectares in the Northern Territory. The reserve is jointly managed by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy and Birdlife Australia, and protects large expanses of mulga woodlands and spinifex sandplains. Newhaven are the traditional lands of the Ngalia-Warlpiri/Luritja people.

Arkaba (72)

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Site name: Arkaba
Site number: 72
Point numbers: 285 (Arkaba Dry A), 286 (Arkaba Wet A), 287 (Arkaba Dry B), 288 (Arkaba Wet B)
Ecoregion: Deserts and xeric shrublands
Participant and site owner: Arkaba Conservancy
Site location: Flinders Ranges, South Australia
Latitude: -31.733
Longitude: 138.501
Site description: Arkaba Conservancy is a private conservation reserve in the Flinders Ranges. The vegetation is dominated by Casuarina and Cypress Pine, and River Red Gum along creek lines. Local landforms include high ranges and plateaus, gorges, valleys and floodplains.

Hamelin Station Reserve (10)

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Site name: Hamelin Station Reserve
Site number: 10
Point numbers: 37 (Hamelin Station Dry B), 38 (Hamelin Station Wet B), 39 (Hamelin Station Wet A), 40 (Hamelin Station Dry A)
Ecoregion: Deserts and xeric shrublands
Participant and site owner: Bush Heritage Australia
Site location: Central Coastal Western Australia
Latitude: -26.49
Longitude: 114.37
Site description: Abutting the shore of Hamelin Pool and the Shark Bay World Heritage Area, Hamelin Station Reserve is a former sheep station protecting Acacia dominated shrublands on sandplains, samphire shrublands, and eucalypt woodlands with an understorey of spinifex hummocks.

Bon Bon Station (2)

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Site name: Bon Bon Station
Site number: 2
Point numbers: 5 (Bon Bon Wet A), 6 (Bon Bon Dry A), 7 (Bon Bon Wet B), 8 (Bon Bon Dry B)
Ecoregion: Deserts and xeric shrublands
Participant and site owner: Bush Heritage Australia
Site location: Central South Australia
Latitude: -30.490
Longitude: 135.500
Site description: Bon Bon Station Reserve is a former sheep property in the Stony Plains and Gawler Bioregions of South Australia. Bon Bon has diverse vegetation communities and land systems including the buckshot plains, mulga and western myall woodlands, salt bush and blue bush shrub lands, sand dunes and salt lakes.

Fowlers Gap (24)

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Site name: Fowlers Gap
Site number: 24
Point numbers: 93 (FOWLERS GAP Dry A), 94 (FOWLERS GAP Wet A), 95 (FOWLERS GAP Dry B), 96 (FOWLERS GAP Wet B)
Ecoregion: Deserts and xeric shrublands
Participant and site owner: University of New South Wales, Fowlers Gap Arid Zone Research Station
Site location: Western New South Wales
Latitude: -31.09
Longitude: 141.71
Site description: Fowlers Gap is an arid zone research station located in western New South Wales, about 110 km to the north of Broken Hill. The research station of around 39,000 hectares straddles the Barrier Range and has an arid climate with <250 mm rainfall annually. The Research Station has been established for over 50 years (since 1966) and been the site of long-term research projects focused on kangaroos, arid zone vegetation and birds (particularly the Zebra Finch and Chestnut-crowned Babbler). The barrier ranges are composed largely of sandstone, while the flat country on the eastern side of the research station is scalded flats of loamy sands and clays (site A is in the former and site B in the latter country). Chenopod shrubs dominate in both areas, including Saltbush (Atriplex sp.), Blue Bush (Maireana sp.), and Copperburrs (Sclerolaena sp.). In the flat country major river channels are dominated by River Red Gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis), with minor drainage lines holding stands of Prickly Wattle (Acacia victoriae) and Dead Finish (Acacia tetragonophylla).

The classic pattern of arid zone ecology, with primary productivity determined by unpredictable rains (both spatially and temporally) make Fowlers Gap an ideal location for long-term ecoacoustic monitoring, with dramatic changes in both the abundance and community structure of animals and plants across years.

Calperum Mallee (56)

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Site name: Calperum Mallee
Site number: 56
Point numbers: 221 (Calperum Mallee Dry A), 222 (Calperum Mallee Dry B), 223 (Calperum Mallee Wet B), 224 (Calperum Mallee Wet A)
Ecoregion: Deserts and xeric shrublands
Participant and site owner: The University of Adelaide, Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network
Site location: River Murray floodplains on Calperum Station, near Renmark South Australia
Latitude: -29.383
Longitude: 140.728
Site description: The Calperum Mallee TERN SuperSite is in the mallee semi-arid ecosystem, fringing the River Murray floodplains on Calperum Station, near Renmark South Australia. The area comprises undulating mallee woodlands and riverine vegetation that fringes the River. All areas are in the process of recovering from extensive grazing.

The Calperum Mallee TERN SuperSite has established and reinforced research infrastructure that can measure and monitor the condition of a nationally iconic region. This SuperSite is part of the Australian Flux Network Project and will build on and strengthen existing ecosystem monitoring, grazing and floodplain restoration experiments and link with in-stream water quantity and quality measurements and is an OzFlux energy, carbon and water monitoring site.

The SuperSite is investigating fluxes of water vapour and carbon dioxide between the atmosphere, upper soil layers and groundwater as well as monitoring the changes in vegetation and dependent biota associated with the different ecosystems of the site.

Alice Mulga (54)

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Site name: Alice Mulga
Site number: 54
Point numbers: 213 (Alice Mulga Dry A), 214 (Alice Mulga Wet A), 215 (Alice Mulga Dry B), 216 (Alice Mulga Wet B)
Ecoregion: Deserts and xeric shrublands
Participant and site owner: University of Technology Sydney, CSIRO, Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network
Site location: Pine Hill Cattle Station, Northern Territory
Latitude: -22.300
Longitude: 133.200
Site description: The Alice Mulga TERN SuperSite is located on Pine Hill Cattle Station approximately 200 km north of Alice Springs, Northern Territory. It lies in the expansive arid and semi-arid portion of mainland Australia that receives less than 500 mm of annual rainfall. The site includes Mulga woodland, hummock grassland, and River Red Gum forest. The SuperSite Core 1 ha is located in a dense Mulga woodland (cover 70–80%).