Hamersley Range National Park, Western Australia Photograph by Mike Fields   Western Australia Deserts and Xeric Shrublands   69,400 square miles (179,800 square kilometers) -- about the size of North Dakota Vulnerable

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

Vast and rugged, the Pilbara region is sparsely populated. Its few inhabitants are miners drawn to the region by the ore-rich soils or sheep farmers who preside over enormous ranches called stations. The Hamersly and Chichester Ranges stretch out above plains of spinifex grass, dotted with the occasional hardy mulga tree. Rainfall is low during the warm winters and occurs only after sporadic cyclones in the summer. But while people may be absent in these tough conditions, other animals are not. A whole range of plants and animals can be found here that have adapted to the arid conditions, including beautiful wildflowers, raptors, and rare marsupials.

Special Features

Spiny-leaved, highly inflammable spinifex grass flourishes here. Found all over Western Australia in areas of low rainfall, spinifex grasses normally grow in clumps, or tussocks. In Pilbara, the grass clumps grow in rings, known as hummocks. Wildflowers are also found throughout the Pilbara. In the cooler months, yellow cassia, northern bluebells, and purple mulla-mullas dominate. In arid regions, the Sturt’s desert pea bursts into full bloom of red and black flowers, only after a rain. And the Dampier pea and the coastal caper are abundant along the sandy coast.

	The Western pebble mound mouse beats the heat by building a mound-shaped shelter out of pebbles. The animals build the mounds over several generations and a single mound may be 100 years old!

Wild Side

Spinifex grasses provide the ideal habitat for raptors, such as the Australian hobby, Nankeen kestrel, and large spotted harrier. Brightly colored Mulga parrots, budgerigars, and sulfur-crested cockatoos also inhabit the region. Pythons and other snakes are abundant, including the venemous mulga snake and desert death adders. The Pilbara monitor lizard suns itself on a rock while the Rothschild’s rock-wallaby remains inside a cool, safe cave in a rocky outcrop. These rare and little-known marsupials are declining due to predation by introduced foxes. Another introduced animal, the dingo, roams in packs. Introduced by the Aborgines 4,000 years ago, the dingo has spread throughout Australia. The minute Pilbara ningaui is a small mouse-like marsupial, found only in the semi-arid grasslands of the Hamersly area. Weighing only 0.14 ounces (4 g), the Pilbara ningaui must struggle to subdue its favorite prey, desert centipedes and cockroaches, which may be larger than it.

Cause for Concern

The main industries in this area include natural gas production and iron mining. At one time asbestos mining was also conducted here. Hazardous and toxic materials left over from mining operations, especially from asbestos mining, pose a potential threat to the region’s wildlife. In addition, feral animals, especially rabbits, have damaged native vegetation, and introduced species prey on native animals.

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