Refugia for biological diversity in arid and semi-arid Australia
Biodiversity Series, Paper No. 4
S.R. Morton, J. Short and R.D. Barker, with an Appendix by G.F. Griffin and G. Pearce
Biodiversity Unit
Department of the Environment, Sport and Territories, 1995
10. Refugia in Western Australia (continued)
10.12. Reference number WA12
Refuge area: Lake Gregory
Biogeographic region: Tanami
Type of refuge: Wetlands
Lat./Long. 20°03’ - 20°17’S / 127°10’ - 127°32’E
Quality of refuge: Significant (2)
Area (km²): <1,000
Chief refuge value
A major breeding area for waterbirds, especially cormorants and terns, a major drought or non-breeding refuge for waterbirds, and a major migration stop-over area for shorebirds at times4.
General description
Large, brackish, inland drainage lake which has regular inflow and is near permanent. The Lake is variously described as "semi-permanent, drying completely every few decades"1, and as retaining some surface water permanently and the only lake in the region and in the deserts further south to do so3. Comprises all basins at the end of the Sturt Creek drainge system.
ANZECC-listed species
None identified.
Regional endemics
None identified.
Relict species
None identified.
Other significant species
The Lake possesses the largest breeding colonies of little black cormorant Phalacrocorax sulcirostris known in Australia, and freckled duck Stictonetta naevosa are present3. Among migrant shore-birds, 16 species have been recorded, particularly oriental plover Charadrius veredus and sharp-tailed sandpiper Calidris acuminata. The largest estimates of birds are 600,000, and there are more than 100,000 on a regular basis. There are 70 species recorded, 21 of them listed under treaties3.
Key threats
Excessive inundation; overgrazing by cattle which prevents tree regeneration3.
Land tenure
Aboriginal lands trust.
Key references
1. Lane and McComb (1988)
2. Storr (1981)
3. Jaensch and Lane (1993)
4. Halse (1990)
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