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:

GREAT VICTORIA DESERT -SA

Nominated by:

Not recorded

Location:

The Great Victoria Desert area stretches from well beyond the Western Australian border into the pastoral leases of South Australia to the east, and south to the Nullabor Plain.

Size
For size and tenure information contact the Colong Foundation.

DESCRIPTION

The Desert rises from an elevatio of about 200 metres above sea level in the
south to 700 metres in the north. It is essentially an old erosional surface on
a variety of mostly Archaean rocks, veneered with aeolian sand. Longitudinal
dunes with an easterly trend cover almost the entire area. The dunes average
about 20 metres relative height and may reach over 100 metres in length. [1]

Mallee shrublands and woodlands, characteristically of Marble Gum (Eucalyptus
gongylocarpa) of mulga, occupy the sand plains and interdune lows. The eucalypts
typically have an understorey of hard spinifex (Triodia basedowii) while the
mulga areas have tufted grasses such as Kerosene Grass (Aristida contorta). On
the dunes hard spinifex merges with needlebush (Hakea spp.), grevillea and
occasional mallee eucalypts including endemic species. Numerous granitic
inselbergs with red earth pediments supporting sparse shrubs of Bird's Eye
(Cassia spp.) and Native Fuchsia (Eremophila spp.) rise abruptly from the sand
plain. The larger of these collect considerable run-off and produce drainage
channels which extend some distance into the desert, and consequently numerous
small claypans and salt lakes have developed, the margins of which carry a
samphire vegetation of Halosarcia spp, Sclerostegia tenuis and Frankenia spp.
Exotic vegetation is practically absent, a pointer to the exceptional quality of
this area as natural habitat.
[2]

Some larger mammal species have gone from the area, exotic animlas including
rabbits, cats and camels have become established. Only native bird species have
been recorded, including the Scarlet-chested Parrot, for which the Great
Victoria Desert is a stronghold and the centre of population. The reptile and
invertebrate fauna is considered to be rich, but still needs much study. [3]

STATE FORESTS

ENDANGERED SPECIES

LAND USE HISTORY

CONSERVATION HISTORY

THREATS

ROADING
Sections of the Great Victoria Desert of otherwise high wilderness quality bear
vehicular tracks formed principally in the process of petroleum exploration. [4]

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.

4
Prineas, 1986.

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