Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia Photograph by Gerhard Ortner   Northern Australia Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands   61,000 square miles (158,100 square kilometers) -- about the size of Florida and New Jersey combined Relatively Stable/Intact

· The Stone Country
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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The Stone Country

The rugged gorges and escarpments of this ecoregion, which lead people to call it the "stone country," provide refuge for plants and animals found nowhere else in Australia, let alone the world. Many kinds of habitat are found in this ecoregion, including small patches of rain forest, open eucalyptus forest and grasslands, as well as floodplains and lowland wetlands. But with the city of this region contains Darwin, now the largest and most industrialized in Australia’s city in the Northern Territory, and tourism, mining, and cattle ranching are increasing threats.

Special Features

This ecoregion contains the largest tracts of tropical savannas in Australia not already given over to grazing. The tropical climate is influenced by its proximity to the coast and is characterized by hot, humid summers and mild, drier winters. Average annual rainfall ranges from 32 to 64 inches (800 to -1,600 mm), with much of that coming from monsoons or cyclones. A high sandstone plateau stands in the middle of the region in Kakadu National Park. Some of the tallest eucalyptus forests in Australia occur here. Darwin’s woolybutt and Darwin’s stringybark are dominant tree species in the lowlands. Darwin’s woolybutt has fuzzy orange flowers that bloom every spring, attracting lorikeets, honeyeaters, and large bats called flying foxes.

	Reptiles found here include frilled lizards and monitor lizards. The frilled lizard has a large ruff around its neck, which it can raise by opening its mouth when alarmed. The frilled lizard will also run on its hind limbs, scampering up into a tree when scared.

Wild Side

Endemic species restricted to this region include the black wallaroo, Oenpelli python, chesnut-quilled rock pigeon, Arnhem land rock-rat, and several species of skinks. Black wallaroos are the smallest kangaroos, but beyond that little is known about these shy and elusive animals. Other mammals found here include the fawn antechinus, black-footed tree-rat, and the antilopine wallaroo, a small, reddish kangaroo. Highly social, the antilopine wallaroo occupies the same niche in tropical woodlands that the red kangaroo occupies in arid lands or the grey kangaroo occupies in forests of southern and eastern Australia. Short-eared rock wallabies remain on rocky outcrops, while the narbarlek, or little rock wallaby, occassionally wanders into the plains. The chesnut-quilled rock pigeon is dark brown with a chestnut wing patch seen in flight, and a head and throat dotted with gray. Rainbow pittas are not truly all colors of the rainbow, but they are brightly colored. By contrast, the pied imperial pigeon is almost all white in color, with black accents. Many fruit-eating animals are found here, including gliders, pigeons, orioles, and cuckoos, attracted by the high concentrations of fruit in the wet season.

Cause for Concern

The area around Darwin is increasingly being developed for agriculture. Overgrazing, mining, fire, and introduced feral species such as swamp buffalo are all causes for concern as well.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.