Murchison bioregion

Bioregion in Western Australia

For the shire, see Shire of Murchison.

Not to be confused with Davenport Murchison Ranges bioregion.

Murchison
Western Australia

The interim Australian bioregions,
with Murchison in red

Area| 281,205.54 km2 (108,574.1 sq mi)
| Localities around Murchison:

Carnarvon | Gascoyne | Gascoyne
Yalgoo | Murchison | Great Victoria Desert
Yalgoo | Coolgardie | Coolgardie

The Murchison is an interim Australian bioregion located within the Mid West of Western Australia.[1] The bioregion is loosely related to the catchment area of the Murchison River and has an area of 281,205 square kilometres (108,574 sq mi).[2] Traditionally the region is known as The Murchison.[3]

## Contents

* 1 Geography
* 1.1 Subregions
* 1.2 Political boundaries
* 2 Climate
* 3 Flora and fauna
* 4 Land use
* 5 Protected areas
* 6 See also
* 7 References
* 8 Further reading
* 9 External links

## Geography[edit]

The landscape is characterised by low hills and mesas, separated by colluvium flats and alluvial plains.[3] The western portion of the bioregion is drained by the upper Murchison and Wooramel rivers, which drain westwards towards the coast.[4]

Together with Gascoyne bioregion, it constitutes the Western Australian mulga shrublands ecoregion.[5]

Population is scattered; the largest population centres are Meekatharra, Mount Magnet, and Leonora, with smaller mining and pastoral towns at Yalgoo, Sandstone, Cue, Wiluna, and Leinster.

### Subregions[edit]

The Murchison bioregion has two subregions:

* Eastern Murchison (MUR01) – 21,135,040 hectares (52,225,800 acres)
* Western Murchison (MUR02) – 6,985,514 hectares (17,261,580 acres)

### Political boundaries[edit]

Local government areas within the bioregion include the Shire of Yalgoo, the Shire of Mount Magnet, the Shire of Murchison, the Shire of Cue, the Shire of Sandstone, the Shire of Meekatharra, the Shire of Wiluna and the Shire of Leonora.[3]

## Climate[edit]

The climate is arid, with rainfall predominantly in the winter months.[3]

## Flora and fauna[edit]

The predominant plant community is low mulga woodlands and shrublands, characterized by mulga (Acacia aneura), with an understory of herbaceous ephemeral plants and bunchgrasses. Other plant communities include saltbush (Atriplex spp.) shrubland on calcareous soils, low samphire (Tecticornia spp.) shrubland on saline alluvium, and hummock grassland on red sandplains.[3][4]

## Land use[edit]

The Murchison is one of the main pastoral areas in Western Australia, dominated by large pastoral leases on Crown land operated as sheep and cattle stations. Mining (gold, iron and nickel) is the major contributor to the region’s economy. There are extensive mining areas, with a large number of abandoned historical mining towns and settlements.[3]

The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder radio telescope is located nearby, and was officially opened in October 2012.[6]

## Protected areas[edit]

Purchase of pastoral leases by the Western Australian Government increased the area set aside for conservation purposes from about 0.5% of the bioregion in 1998 to 6.7% in 2004.[3] Protected areas include:[7]

* Bullock Holes Timber Reserve
* De La Poer Range Nature Reserve
* Goongarrie National Park
* Matuwa and Kurrara-Kurrara Indigenous Protected Area
* Queen Victoria Spring Nature Reserve
* Toolonga Nature Reserve
* Wanjarri Nature Reserve

## See also[edit]

* Mid West region of Western Australia

## References[edit]

1. ^ Environment Australia. "Revision of the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) and Development of Version 5.1 – Summary Report" (PDF). Department of the Environment and Water Resources, Australian Government. Retrieved 7 May 2022. `{{cite journal}}`: Cite journal requires `|journal=` (help)
2. ^ "Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA7) regions and codes". Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Commonwealth of Australia. 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
3. ^ a b c d e f g Bastin, Gary (2008). Rangelands 2008 — Taking the Pulse: Focus Bioregions - Murchison bioregion (WA) (PDF). Canberra, ACT: Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Commonwealth of Australia. pp. 159–168. ISBN 978-0-642-37146-1.
4. ^ a b Anthony Desmond, Mark Cowan and Alanna Chant (2001). "Murchison 2 (MUR2 – Western Murchison subregion)", in A Biodiversity Audit of Western Australia’s 53 Biogeographical Subregions in 2002. The Department of Conservation and Land Management, Government of Western Australia, November 2001. [1]
5. ^ World Wildlife Fund, ed. (2001). "Western Australian Mulga shrublands". WildWorld Ecoregion Profile. National Geographic Society. Archived from the original on 8 March 2010.
6. ^ "Outback Observatory open for business", ABC News, retrieved 7 October 2012 from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-05/outback-observatory-open-for-business/4298094
7. ^ Mark Cowan (2001). "Murchison 1 (MUR2 – Eastern Murchison subregion)", in A Biodiversity Audit of Western Australia’s 53 Biogeographical Subregions in 2002. The Department of Conservation and Land Management, Government of Western Australia, November 2001. [2]

## Further reading[edit]

* Green, Neville, 1997 Aboriginal names of the Murchison District c. 1848-1890 (data processing by Susan Moon). Perth, W.A.
* E.C. Grunsky ... [et al.] Report on laterite geochemistry in the CSIRO-AGE database for the southern Murchison region : Yalgoo, Kirkalocka, Perenjori, Ninghan sheets Wembley, W.A. : CRC LEME, 1998 CSIRO Division of Exploration Geoscience report ; 2R (CSIRO. Division of Exploration Geoscience) ; 2R. ISBN 0-642-28238-2
* Lefroy, Charles Bayden ...'talks about Murchison station life in the 1930s.' Early Days, Vol. 10, Part 5 (1993), p. 503-512.
* Thackway, R and I D Cresswell (1995) An interim biogeographic regionalisation for Australia : a framework for setting priorities in the National Reserves System Cooperative Program Version 4.0 Canberra : Australian Nature Conservation Agency, Reserve Systems Unit, 1995. ISBN 0-642-21371-2

## External links[edit]

* Geological mapping of the region

* v
* t
* e

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
* 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
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