Einasleigh Uplands

Bioregion in Queensland, Australia

Einasleigh Uplands
Einasleigh Uplands savanna

View from Kalkani Crater, Undara Volcanic National Park

IBRA 7 bioregion (in yellow); corresponds to WWF 'Einasleigh Uplands savanna' ecoregion

Ecology
Realm| Australasian
Biome| tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands
Borders|

List

* Brigalow tropical savanna
* Cape York Peninsula tropical savanna
* Carpentaria tropical savanna
* Mitchell Grass Downs
* Queensland tropical rain forests

Geography
Area| 116,257 km2 (44,887 sq mi)
Country| Australia
States| Queensland
Conservation
Conservation status| Relatively stable/intact
Protected| 5,330 km² (5%)[1]

The Einasleigh Uplands is an interim Australian bioregion,[2] with vegetation consisting of savanna and woodland located on a large plateau in inland Queensland, Australia.[3] It corresponds to the Einasleigh Uplands savanna ecoregion, as identified by the World Wildlife Fund.[4]

## Location and description

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This area is inland from the moist Queensland coast but is not as dry as the Brigalow Belt and the Mitchell Grass Downs savannas to the south, while the Cape York Peninsula to the north is lower-lying and wetter. The region contains a number of specialised habitats that add to the variety of wildlife found here. These include lava tubes and caves such as those of Chillagoe.

The uplands are an area of eroded volcanic rock on and to the west of the Atherton Tableland in the northern section of Australia's Great Dividing Range running inland as far as the town of Croydon in the southwest. The plateau is covered in grassland dotted with eucalyptus trees and cut through with ridges, gorges and lava tubes. The area has rich fertile soil. Natural features include the Great Basalt Wall of dried volcanic lava and the lava tubes of Undara Volcanic National Park.[4]

Rivers that have their source in the uplands include the Flinders River which runs northwest to the Gulf of Carpentaria along with the Palmer, Mitchell and Gilbert-Einasleigh while the Burdekin and Herbert Rivers run south-east from the tablelands to the Coral Sea coast.

Urban areas include Herberton and Croydon.

Einasleigh Uplands bioregion, defined by the IBRA 7.

## Climate

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The climate is cooler than the coast with summer nights being as cool as 9 °C compared with 20 °C on the coast. The summer high temperatures are around 35 °C. There is a wet season between December and March.

## Flora

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This stony upland habitat is dominated by ironbark eucalyptus woodland but there are wetlands and patches of rainforest too. Lava flows are home to stands of thicker forest.

## Fauna

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These woodlands are home to many animals including a number of marsupials such as the antilopine kangaroo, the large eastern grey kangaroo and the near-endemic Godman's rock-wallaby and Mareeba rock-wallaby. There are a number of endemic mammals, reptiles and insects in the region especially in the more thickly forested areas where a large number of endemic reptiles occur. The caves and lava flows harbour specific wildlife of their own as do the wetter east-facing slopes of the uplands. Rivers such as the Burdekin have important populations of waterbirds as do the unique (to Australia) wetlands of Innot Hot Springs.

## Threats and preservation

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The area has long been used for cattle ranching but apart from the heavily farmed Atherton Tableland is thinly populated so the landscape is well preserved although it has been changed by overgrazing, clearance for agriculture and the introduction of weeds. Some areas of the acacia gidgee (Acacia cambagei) in the southeast of the uplands have suffered in particular. There are a number of protected areas containing a good variety of the different types of habitat found in the region, including Undara and the Great Basalt Wall as well as Blackbraes National Park, Kinrara National Park, Littleton National Park, part of Bulleringa National Park and the caves of Chillagoe.

## See also

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* Queensland portal
* Environment portal

* Geography of Australia
* Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia

## References

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1. ^ Eric Dinerstein, David Olson, et al. (2017). An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm, BioScience, Volume 67, Issue 6, June 2017, Pages 534–545; Supplemental material 2 table S1b. [1]
2. ^ "IBRA7 subregions and codes" (PDF). Retrieved 6 May 2018.
3. ^ Stanton, J. P. (James Peter); Morgan, M. G; University of New England. School of Natural Resources (1977), The rapid selection and appraisal of key and endangered sites : the Queensland case study, the University of New England School of Natural Resources, p. 3, retrieved 11 February 2022
4. ^ a b "Einasleigh Uplands savanna". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.

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Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA)

* Arnhem Coast
* Arnhem Plateau
* Australian Alps
* Avon Wheatbelt
* Ben Lomond
* Brigalow Belt North
* Brigalow Belt South
* Broken Hill Complex
* Burt Plain
* Cape York Peninsula
* Carnarvon
* Central Arnhem
* Central Kimberley
* Central Mackay Coast
* Central Ranges
* Channel Country
* Cobar Peneplain
* Coolgardie
* Coral Sea
* Cumberland Plain
* Daly Basin
* Dampierland
* Darling Riverine Plains
* Darwin Coastal
* Davenport Murchison Ranges
* Desert Uplands
* Einasleigh Uplands
* Esperance Plains
* Eyre Yorke Block
* Finke
* Flinders Lofty Block
* Furneaux
* Gascoyne
* Gawler
* Geraldton Sandplains
* Gibson Desert
* Great Sandy Desert
* Great Victoria Desert
* Gulf Coastal
* Gulf Fall and Uplands
* Gulf Plains
* Hampton
* Indian Tropical Islands
* Jarrah Forest
* Kanmantoo
* King
* Little Sandy Desert
* MacDonnell Ranges
* Mallee
* Mitchell Grass Downs
* Mount Isa Inlier
* Mulga Lands
* Murchison
* Murray Darling Depression
* Nandewar
* Naracoorte Coastal Plain
* New England Tablelands
* Northern Kimberley
* New South Wales North Coast
* New South Wales South Western Slopes
* Nullarbor Plain
* Ord Victoria Plain
* Pacific Subtropical Islands
* Pine Creek
* Pilbara
* Riverina
* Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields
* South East Coastal Plain
* South East Corner
* South Eastern Highlands
* South Eastern Queensland
* Southern Volcanic Plain
* Stony Plains
* Sturt Plateau
* Subantarctic Islands
* Swan Coastal Plain
* Sydney Basin
* Tanami
* Tasmanian Central Highlands
* Tasmanian Northern Midlands
* Tasmanian Northern Slopes
* Tasmanian South East
* Tasmanian Southern Ranges
* Tasmanian West
* Tiwi Cobourg
* Victoria Bonaparte
* Victorian Midlands
* Warren
* Wet Tropics
* Yalgoo

Bioregions of the National Reserve System

18°28′47″S 144°07′54″E﻿ / ﻿18.47972°S 144.13167°E﻿ / -18.47972; 144.13167

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Australasian grasslands and savannas

Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands|

* Canterbury-Otago tussock grasslands (New Zealand)
* Gippsland Plains Grassy Woodland (Australia)
* New England Peppermint Grassy Woodland (Australia)
* Northern Plains Grassland (Australia)
* Southeast Australia temperate savanna (Australia)
* Iron-grass Natural Temperate Grassland of South Australia (Australia)
* Southern Tablelands Temperate Grassland (Australia)
* Victorian Volcanic Plain grasslands (Australia)
* Lowland Grassy Woodland (Australia)
* Lowland Native Grasslands of Tasmania (Australia)

Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands|

* Cumberland Plain Woodland (Australia)
* Eastern Australia mulga shrublands (Australia)
* Central Hunter Valley eucalypt forest and woodland (Australia)
* Carpentaria tropical savanna (Australia)
* Arnhem Land tropical savanna (Australia)
* Einasleigh Uplands (Australia)
* Cape York Peninsula tropical savanna (Australia)
* Kimberley tropical savanna (Australia)
* Victoria Plains tropical savanna (Australia)
* Southwest Australia savanna (Australia)

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