NATIONAL WILDERNESS RED INDEX

Published by the Colong Foundation for Wilderness Ltd. 30/09/94
Level 2, 332 Pitt Street, Sydney, NSW, 2000.
Ph (02) 9261 2400; Fax (02) 9261 2144.

Name:

SWORDS RANGE

Nominated by:

Not recorded

Location:

The Swords Range area is located between the small settlements of Middleton and Kynuna in northwest central Queensland.

Size
For size and tenure information contact the Colong Foundation.

DESCRIPTION

This area represents the southeast sector of the northwest Highlands mineral
belt. It is predominantly a landscape of acacia tall shrubland with sparse
emergent eucalypts on disected, lateritized Cretaceous sediments. A surface
strew of silcrete/billy and minor quartz pebble are common surface features.
[1]

The range and ridge country support mixed Acacia species, the most dominant of
which are Acacia aneura and Acacia shirleyii. This community ranges from dense
stands of lancewood below teh scarps to grassy open mixed acacia shrubland on
the crest plains. These in turn grade to grassy open eucalypt woodland featuring
Eucalypt terminalis, E. papuana with a sparse understory of acacia, cassia,
eremophila, dodonaea, bassia and myoporum shrubs. The most prominent ground
layer species are the wiregrasses (Aristida spp.) and a variety of short tussock
grasses.
The Lowland plains of the narrow dissected valleys broaden out into extensive
mitchell grass grazing pastures on gently undulating relief away from the ridges
and residuals. On the shallow gravelly cracking clay soils, gidgee (Acacia
cambagii) grassy open woodlands predominate. These grade to gidgee/coolibah (E.
microtheca) grassy open woodlands where the cracking clays are deeper and the
moisture ratios are slightly higher. The domnant ground layer is Astrebla
tussock grassland accompoanied by a variety of Bassia spp. Other conspicuous low
trees are beefwood (Grevillea striata), whitewood (Atalaya hemiglauca), ironwood
(Acacia excelsa), boonaree (Heterodendrum eleifolium) and plum (Santalum
lanceolatum). [2]

STATE FORESTS

ENDANGERED SPECIES

LAND USE HISTORY


Because of the generally infertile, arid nature of the range country, shallow
gravelly soils and remoteness, the area has supported little more than marginal
cattle grazing since settlement in the 1880's. [3]

CONSERVATION HISTORY

THREATS

CONTACTS

No contacts are recorded from that area.
ENDNOTES
1
Prineas, P., Lembit, R., Fisher, N., 1986, "Australia's Wilderness An Inventory"

2
Prineas, 1986

3
Prineas, 1986.

Return to Contents Page