Publications
S.R. Morton, J. Short and R.D. Barker
with an Appendix by G.F. Griffin and G. Pearce
Area
68,816 km2.
Primary land-use
Cattle grazingNational Parks and Nature Reserves
White Mountains National Park.
Management problems
Land degradation due to over-grazing, particularly in the catchments of Lakes Galilee and Buchanan; local infestations of the weed Parkinsonia aculeata (Cummings et al. 1993).
ANZECC-listed species
Plants: Thomas and McDonald (1989) listed Acacia ramiflora (V). Lawrencia buchanensis (V) appears confined to Lake Buchanan.
Species that are regionally endemic
The skink Ctenotus capricorni (Cogger 1992).
Relict populations
No information.
Other significant populations
The spectacled hare-wallaby Lagorchestes conspicillatus occurs uncommonly across the Region (Johnson and Lyon 1985). Among birds, the squatter pigeon Geophaps scripta scripta is of conservation concern (Garnett 1992, pp. 62-3).
The plants Desmodium macrocarpum, Leptosema chapmani and Acacia gnidium were listed by Thomas and McDonald (1989) as rare or threatened.
Wetlands
Two major wetlands lie to the south-east of Hughenden (Blackman et al. 1993).
Lake Buchanan: Lake Buchanan fills from the closed drainage basin surrounding the lake. The lake dries seasonally and is surrounded by small areas of swamp and other small lakes. The major habitats are dry saline flats which are seasonally flooded, freshwater swamps and other smaller brackish water lakes, samphire associations, and sandy beach supporting a woodland dominated by Grevillea striata, Grevillea parallela, Acacia salicina and Acacia bidwillii. This swamp is an important breeding site for a range of waterbirds. The rare and threatened Lawrencia buchananensis occurs on the west beach of the Lake.
Lake Galilee: The lake has a similar range of habitats to Lake Buchanan but is less salty. It is reported to have large numbers of breeding waterbirds at times.
Refugia
Lake Buchanan and Lake Galilee are listed jointly as a refuge (see section 13.3).
