Yellabinna Reserves
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Yellabinna Reserves Supplementary Document Managed to maintain healthy country and wilderness quality and conserve broad scale Mallee Woodland ecosystems. www.environment.sa.gov.auwww.environment.sa.gov.au For further information please contact: Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources Phone Information Line (08) 8204 1910, or see SA White Pages for your local Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources office. Permissive Licence © State of South Australia through the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources. Apart from fair dealings and other uses permitted by the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), no part of this publication may be reproduced, published, communicated, transmitted, modified or commercialised without the prior written approval of the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources. Written requests for permission should be addressed to: Design and Production Manager Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources GPO Box 1047 Adelaide SA 5001 Disclaimer While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure the contents of this publication are factually correct, the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources makes no representations and accepts no responsibility for the accuracy, completeness or fitness for any particular purpose of the contents, and shall not be liable for any loss or damage that may be occasioned directly or indirectly through the use of or reliance on the contents of this publication. Reference to any company, product or service in this publication should not be taken as a Departmental endorsement of the company, product or service. © Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources, 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE OF SUPPLEMENTARY DOCUMENT .....................................................1 2 LoCATION AND DESCRIPTION OF RESERVES..........................................................................................1 3 PARK PURPOSE ..........................................................................................................................................3 4 Bioregional setting ....................................................................................................................................4 5 Geology AND LANDFORMS.....................................................................................................................5 5.1 Geological character...................................................................................................................5 5.2 Landforms .......................................................................................................................................5 5.2.1 Dunes .................................................................................................................................5 5.2.2 Playa lakes and lunettes.................................................................................................5 5.2.3 Inselbergs and rocky prominences ...............................................................................6 5.2.4 Mt Finke .............................................................................................................................6 5.2.5 Ooldea, Barton and Paling Ranges ..............................................................................6 5.2.6 Nullarbor Plain...................................................................................................................6 5.2.7 Drainage ...........................................................................................................................6 6 Native vegetation ....................................................................................................................................7 7 Native fauna .......................................................................................................................................... 12 7.1 Mammals ..................................................................................................................................... 12 7.2 Birds............................................................................................................................................... 12 7.3 Reptiles and Amphibians........................................................................................................... 12 7.4 Threatened Species ................................................................................................................... 12 Introduced flora and fauna ......................................................................................................................... 16 8 MANAGEMENT OF BIODIVERSITY ......................................................................................................... 17 9 FIRE MANAGEMENT................................................................................................................................ 18 9.1 Fire history..................................................................................................................................... 18 9.2 Alinytjara Wilurara Fire Management Plan ............................................................................. 18 10 ABORIGINAL CULTURAL VALUES .......................................................................................................... 20 11 History of non-Aboriginal activities in the Yellabinna reserves........................................................ 21 11.1 Exploration and railway ............................................................................................................. 21 11.2 Pastoral activities ........................................................................................................................ 21 11.3 The Dog Fence............................................................................................................................ 21 12 mining and mineral exploration .......................................................................................................... 23 13 Research projects IN THE RESERVES..................................................................................................... 24 REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................ 26 Appendix A: HISTORY OF ABORIGINAL OCCUPATION AND USE OF THE YELLABINNA RESERVES ......................................................................................................................................................... 27 1 INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE OF SUPPLEMENTARY DOCUMENT This supplementary d oc ument to the Draft Management Pla n for the Yellabinna Reserves provides additional information about the reserves to whic h that plan applies. This supplementary document contains information about the following reserves: Yellabinna Regional Reserve Yellabinna Wilderness Protection Area Yumbarra Conservation Park Pureba Conservation Park Boondina Conservation Park. This doc ument is not intended to be a c omprehensive sourc e of all available information relating to the reserves, rather a source of additional information that links to the proposed future management direc tions. This is a non-statutory working doc ument whic h c a n be updated as new information becomes available. 2 LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION OF RESERVES The Yellabinna reserves are loc ated on the ed ge of Australia s ic onic Nullarbor Plain, north of the Eyre Highwa y, Ced una and the Great Australian Bight (Figure 1). The c leared la nd s of the west c oa st c ereal belt are to the south and in the east are salt lakes and the Gawler Ranges. The Nullarbor Plain begins at the western b oundary. The area is outside the Dog Fence, which runs along the southern and eastern boundaries Yellabinna Regional Reserve is the largest of the Yellabinna Reserves, c omp rising over half of the area included within this plan. Its southern boundary is near Boondina Conservation Park and adjoins Pureba Conservation Park and Yumbarra Conservation Park. Yellabinna Regional Reserve largely surrounds Yellabinna Wild erness Protec tion Area. The western boundary of Yellabinna Regional Reserve adjoins Nullarbor Regional Reserve. The combined reserved area, predominantly mallee type vegetation, covers over 3 million hec tares and is relatively undisturbed, allowing ma ny natural proc esses to oc c ur without the influence of human activities and their secondary effects. Supplementary Document to Yellabinna Reserves Draft Management Plan 2012 1 Figure 1 Location of the reserves Supplementary Document to Yellabinna Reserves Draft Management Plan 2012 2 3 PARK PURPOSE Yellabinna Regional Reserve was proc laimed to c onserve an important area of high biologic al diversity and signific anc e . Pureba Conservation Park was proc laimed, to c onserve dense undisturbed mallee c ommunities . Yumbarra National Park wa s inc reased in size and re-proc laimed a Conservation Park in 1990 bec ause, a n una llotted Crown Land review of Eyre Peninsula rec ommended ad ditions to the p ark bec ause of their high c onservation value. The Yellabinna Wild erness Protec tion Area is intended to enha nc e the protec tion of a n important area of high biologic al diversity a nd signific anc e. These adjoining p arks form a valuab le wilderness area of spa rsely vegetated red sand dunes in the north. The dunes stretc h as far a s the eye c a n see and provide a stark c ontrast of red sand a nd bright blue sky. The extensive mallee