Gibson Desert, Western Australia Photograph by www.c2ctours.com   Western central Australia Deserts and Xeric Shrublands   60,200 square miles (155,900 square kilometers) -- about twice the size of South Carolina Relatively Stable/Intact

· Buckshot Plains
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Buckshot Plains

This is a vast, dry region of red sandhills and desert grass. On these so-called "buckshot" plains, the soil is sandy, iron-rich, and deeply weathered. Here, mulgas, an evergreen eucalyptus shrub with yellow coneflowers, grow alongside clumps of hardy Triodia grass and other drought-resistant shrubs. After one of this ecoregion’s rare rains, these small shrubs will flower in a brilliantly colorful display.

Special Features

The Gibson Desert is bounded on the north by the Great Sandy Desert and on the south by the Great Victoria Desert. To the west lies Lake Disappointment, a large saline lake that is no disappointment for the many waterbirds that congregate there, seeking refuge in an otherwise arid environment. The characteristic gravel rises of the Gibson Desert led one early explorer to call it a "great undulating desert of gravel."

	In 1874, explorer Ernest Giles first explored the Gibson Desert and ultimately crossed it in 1876. The desert was named for Alfred Gibson, a member of Giles’s expedition who was lost while searching for water.

Wild Side

The endangered greater bilby, a small, rabbit-like animal with large ears and a delicate, pointy snout, emerges from its den at night to search for food. The bush stone curlew (a bird) is most active at night, too, when its mournful, eerie cry rings out over the desert. Red kangaroos may be seen during the day, traveling in small social groups led by a dominant male. Large, flightless emus hunt for grains and insects, while the small striated grasswren flits about the Triodia grass. The emu once provided an important source of protein for Aborigines who lived in arid areas.

Cause for Concern

This region is mostly uninhabited except for Aboriginal land. Some sheep and cattle grazing occurs on the margins of the desert. Feral and introduced animals are also concerns.

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