Publications
S.R. Morton, J. Short and R.D. Barker
with an Appendix by G.F. Griffin and G. Pearce
Area
75,282 km2.
Primary land-use
Cattle grazing, Aboriginal lands.
National Parks and Nature Reserves
None.
Management problems
Land degradation due to over-grazing (Bastin et al. 1993).
If exotic mosquito fish Gambusia affinis continue to spread in the Finke River drainage (Glover 1989) they may displace other native fish.
Rabbits, feral horses and camels are present in low numbers (Latz et al. 1981).
Tamarisks or athel pines Tamarix aphylla are spreading along the Finke River. The plants are renowned for their deep-ranging roots and ability to tolerate and indeed enhance salinity. They eventually displace native trees, principally river gums, which may then be washed away in floodwaters (Griffin et al. 1989).
ANZECC-listed species
The plains rat Pseudomys australis (V) was recorded in the mid 1970s (Corbett et al. 1975; Breed and Head 1991). It may still occur in the Region.
Species that are regionally endemic
The Finke River Basin has the greatest diversity of fishes of any central Australian river basin: 18 species in 10 families (Glover 1982). Three of the species - Neosilurus argenteus, Chlamydogobius eremius and Craterocephalus centralis - are endemic to the Lake Eyre and Western Plateau Drainage Divisions (Glover and Sim 1978; Crowley and Ivantsoff 1990).Relict populations
No information.
Other significant populations
The Finke River channel, and its tributaries, provide habitat for a suite of riverine birds that otherwise would be unable to inhabit the Region (Griffin et al. 1989). Presumably many other taxa react similarly.
Wetland sites
The Karinga Creek Palaeodrainage System is a groundwater discharge lake running eastward from Lake Amadeus (see section 4.5) (Fleming 1993).
Refugia
The Lake Amadeus and Karinga Creek drainage system appears to constitute a refuge (see section 12.5).
