THE EXTRAORDINARY NATURE OF The Great Western Woodlands By Alexander Watson, Simon Judd, James Watson, Anya Lam, and David Mackenzie Supported by: THE EXTRAORDINARY NATURE OF THE GREAT WESTERN WOODLANDS i All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be This publication has been printed by Scott Print reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted utilising Eco Friendly Printing Techniques - in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, Green Printing Credentials Include: photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission Vegetable Based Inks / Environmentally Friendly and of the publisher. Recycled Paper / Solvent Reduction / Paper Recycling / This edition © 2008 The Wilderness Society of WA Inc. Environmental Print Audits / Certified Environmental Management / Green Stamp (Level 3) / Waste Management / Plastic Recycling / Aqueous Coatings Photographic Images Printed on Tudor Rp 100% Recycled. A recycled paper The authors gratefully acknowledge the many contributors made from 100% recycled waste (60% Pre-consumer + 40% of photographic images contained within this report. Post-consumer) that is bleach chlorine free (PCF). Front cover images: Tudor RP is Australian made and contains 100% recycled Amanda Keesing fibre sourced from collected office, printing and converting Lochman Transparencies waste. No chlorine bleaching occurs in the recycling process Barbara Madden and Australian Paper has ISO 14001 accreditation. Sales of Alexander Watson Tudor RP support Landcare Australia. Vanessa Westcott Design by Iannello Design - iannellodesign.com.au The Great Western Woodlands - Visual Imagery An icon using Eucalyptus leaves has been developed and adopted for this publication. There are 351 species of Eucalyptus found within the Great Western Woodlands. Colours used throughout the report have been chosen to reflect the varied appearance of the leaves during their lifecycle and the wide spectrum of colour that exists between species. Its decay also reflects the enormous difference between the Western Australian Wheatbelt and GWW. ii www.gww.net.au Contents Foreword v Summary vi Introduction 01 Aims of this report 02 The region 02 Indigenous ecological knowledge 06 The structure of the study 06 1 2 CHAPTER 2 - The Biological Cornucopia 09 Internationally significant plant communities 09 A tapestry of habitats 11 Vertebrates 12 3 4 ‘The other 99%’ 16 Being in the zone 18 Bridging botanic boundaries 22 A continent-wide priority 22 CHAPTER 3 - An Ancient Landscape 27 The Great Western Woodlands great age 28 The appearance of life 30 A land of modest mountains 31 Worn away 33 5 The gradual drying 33 1. Examining vehicle damage on Lake Johnson. Alexander Watson 2. Mulla Mulla (Ptilotus sp.). Barbara Madden CHAPTER 4 - Key Ecological Processes 37 3. One of the many salt lakes in the Great Western Woodlands. Climate 38 Barbara Madden 4. Lake Johnstone. Barbara Madden Fire 40 5. Overlooking Lake Cowan. David Mackenzie Hydro-ecology 41 Geographic and temporal variation of plant productivity 44 The role of strongly interactive species 46 CHAPTER 5 - The people in the landscape 49 Indigenous ownership and management 49 Explorers and prospectors in a dry land 51 From the ‘roaring 90s’ to the present day 51 Land tenure, land use and land management 56 CHAPTER 6 - A sustainable future for the Great Western Woodlands 59 Protecting the natural legacy 60 Managing the landscape 60 Living in the land 63 References 65 The Authors 71 THE EXTRAORDINARY NATURE OF THE GREAT WESTERN WOODLANDS iii Acknowledgements Sunset overlooking Lake Johnstone. Barbara Madden The authors of this report acknowledge the Traditional Many people gave advice as to the scope and content at Owners of the Great Western Woodlands and their right to various stages of the report. These include various members speak for country. We are also grateful for the support they of the WildCountry Science Council and some Herculean have given us in our work out there on Country. efforts by Katie Schindall, Keith Bradby, Barry Traill and Larelle McMillan. A number of our colleagues were kind The writing and publication of this report was made enough to read and make comment upon various versions possible by funding support from the Wind Over of this report. In particular, we would like to thank Water Foundation, PEW Trust for Nature and The Ric How, Brendan Mackey, Harry Recher, Scott Thompson Nature Conservancy. We are extremely grateful to these and Michael Soulé. organizations. We are indebted to the authors of the text boxes and Stephen Hopper for writing the foreword of The writing of this report has involved many past and present this report. We are also indebted to Barbara Madden, Wilderness Society staff. We would like to acknowledge Chris Dean, Amanda Keesing, Vanessa Wescott, David the invaluable assistance of Anthony Esposito, Rebecca Knowles, Lochman Transparencies, Charles Roche, Mark Hubbard, Charles Roche, Andrew Wong, Tiffane Bates and Godfrey, Rob Lambeck, Luke Barrett, Phil Drayson, Andy Virginia Young. We would also like to thank the staff of the Wildman, Keith Wood, Stephen Elson, Joanna Jones and J. Western Australia Wilderness Society office including Hacker for their photographic expertise. Dora de Luca, Renae Williams, Jill St John, Keith Wood, Jessica Chapman, Greg Martin and Peter Robertson as well This report also drew upon research funded by ARC as the Western Australia Management Committee of The Linkage Grant LP0455163 for which The Wilderness Wilderness Society. Society was the Industry Partner. A range of licensed Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Many people provided technical knowledge or expertise. data were used in this report. We thank the helpful staff We would like to thank Sandy Berry, Kerry Ironside, at the following organisations: The Western Australian Amanda Keesing, Nina Rabe, Tim McCabe, Malini Department of Agriculture and Food, The Western Devadas and Sean Stankowski. Scott Thompson, Graham Australian Department of Environment and Conservation, Thompson and Thomas Rasmussen provided assistance the Western Australian Land Information Authority with reptile data. Nathan McQuoid helped with the plant (Landgate) and Geoscience. data and Harry Recher with bird data. We also thank Brett Iannello, Fabio Pereira, Tanya McAllan and Andrew Wong for their creative nouse in the creation of the figures in the report and design of the report. iv www.gww.net.au Foreword My first encounter with the Great Western Woodlands was in groves through which the wind sighed. There were as a teenager in 1965, immigrating to Perth from eastern numerous wattles, sandalwood and quondong, mistletoes, Australia. Beyond Balladonia, travelling west out of the spinifex, native pine, chenopods, pigface and daisies. On Nullarbor, an extraordinary woodland unfolded, as rich the granite in cracks and fissures were many plants that had in eucalypt trees and mallees as some tropical rainforests caught the eye of Spencer Le Marchant Moore, the Kew are in trees of any kind. I had little notion of, or interest in, botanist first to explore these woodlands in the 1890 s — this arborescent diversity at the time, but was struck by the rock isotome (Isotoma petraea), distinctive pincushion ‘lilies’ handsome colourful bark of some of the eucalypts. Over (Borya constricta) lining the shallow soils adjacent bare rock, the past three decades, countless trips throughout these greenhood and donkey orchids, and myrtaceous shrubs woodlands in collaboration with CSIRO eucalypt specialist such as Melaleuca elliptica and Kunzea pulchella, gnarled Ian Brooker led to us describing more than 35 species of and stocky, both resplendent at other times of the year in red eucalypts as new to science. Our colleagues the late Lawrie brushes of flowers full of nectar for the honeyeaters. Johnson, Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney and On flatter surfaces of the ageless rock were the shallow pools botanist Ken Hill described an additional 25 species from the of freshwater known as gnammas. In the mud beneath Great Western Woodlands, and new species continue to be their clear waters lived tiny annuals of the snapdragon discovered as collection intensifies. This is pure heaven for family, appropriately called mudmuts (Glossostigma those smitten by trees of arid country. diandrum), about which swam a busy diversity of aquatic Many other groups of plants are similarly replete with invertebrates and tadpoles. Adjacent the pools in damp undescribed species in the Great Western Woodlands. It’s a soil were numerous other annual herbs of great richness in botanical mecca. Here painter Philippa Nikulinsky was born colour and shape when inspected closely. Resurrection ferns and raised, affording extraordinary opportunities to hone (Cheilanthes) sat nestled among boulders or ledges. Sundews her skills in botanical exploration and artistic discovery. Here (Drosera peltata) formed elegant glistening miniature many others arrive from afar, enticed by floral wealth and forests, their sticky red leaves entrapping insects for a slow sheer wonderment. death through enzymatic absorption. This was mesmerizing richness, with the added pleasure of freshwater present in an In June 1979, I was first able to visit the heart of the Great otherwise dry landscape. Western Woodlands as a professional biologist, employed by the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife. Joining me were In a warming world where ongoing destruction of wild recently appointed management planner Ian Crook and his vegetation