Ord Victoria Plain facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Ord Victoria PlainAustralia |
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The interim Australian bioregions,
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| Area | 125,407.03 km2 (48,419.9 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
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The Ord Victoria Plain is a huge natural area in Australia. It's a special kind of bioregion, which means it's a large area with similar plants, animals, and climate. You can find it in the Northern Territory and Western Australia. This plain covers a massive area of about 12.5 million hectares, which is like 31 million acres!
The name "Ord Victoria Plain" comes from two important rivers nearby: the Ord River and the Victoria River.
Contents
Discovering the Ord Victoria Plain
This amazing area is mostly made up of large, dry grasslands. It sits between the Tanami Desert in the south and greener grasslands closer to the coast in the north. Imagine wide-open spaces stretching far and wide!
Landscapes and Famous Landmarks
Rising out of the grasslands, you'll see cool sandstone rock formations. The most famous of these is the Bungle Bungle Range. This incredible place is part of Purnululu National Park. It looks like giant, striped beehives!
For a long time, these grasslands have been used for grazing cattle. This means cows roam and eat the grass here.
Climate and Seasons
The weather in the Ord Victoria Plain changes depending on where you are. The northern part gets more rain, about 1200mm each year. This is because it gets some monsoon rains from the coast. The southern part is drier, with about 600mm of rain annually.
The rainy season is from November to March. For the rest of the year, it's almost completely dry. It's always hot here, with temperatures usually between 25°C and 35°C all year round.
Plants of the Plain: Flora
The Ord Victoria Plain is covered in different types of plants. The main plant you'll see is a grass called Mitchell grass.
Trees and Woodlands
Scattered among the Mitchell grass are bloodwood Eucalyptus and Corymbia trees. You'll also find native bauhinia trees, known as Bauhinia cunninghamii. There are also big patches of lancewood acacia, or Acacia shirleyi, which form woodlands.
Plants on Sandstone Outcrops
The sandstone areas have different plants. Here, you'll find thinner eucalyptus trees over hummock grass. There are also areas of heathland with Grevillea and Acacia trees.
River Plants
Along the rivers and permanent water sources, the plants are different again. You'll see paperbark trees (Melaleuca), river redgum (Eucalyptus), and river pandanus (Pandanus). These plants love the water!
Animals of the Plain: Fauna
Even though many of the animals here are found in other parts of northern Australia, the Ord Victoria Plain is still full of amazing wildlife. The grasslands are mostly untouched, which is great for animals.
Mammals of the Ord Victoria Plain
Some of the mammals you might spot include the large eastern wallaroo. There's also the northern nail-tail wallaby (Onychogalea unguifera). A super tiny marsupial called the long-tailed planigale lives here too; it's the smallest marsupial in the world!
The lancewood woodlands are home to the spectacled hare-wallaby (Lagorchestes conspicillatus). The Bungle Bungle Range even has some unique plants and a special lizard called the Lerista bunglebungle skink.
Sadly, some mammals that used to live here are now rare or gone. These include the bilby (Macrotis lagotis), northern quoll (Dasyurus hallucatus), and golden bandicoot (Isoodon auratus).
Birds of the Ord Victoria Plain
Many birds call these grasslands home. You can see Australian bustards, singing bushlarks, and red-backed fairy-wrens.
Along the rivers, especially the Victoria River, there are important groups of purple-crowned fairywrens (Malurus coronatus). The eucalyptus trees are great places for lorikeets, friarbirds, and honeyeaters.
Did you know that Termites are a big food source for many of these birds and animals? Scientists are still learning about the wildlife here. For example, a new species of Ctenotus skink was found quite recently!
Protecting the Ord Victoria Plain
The Ord Victoria Plain is a huge area of mostly untouched grassland. However, some things are causing problems for its natural environment.
Threats to the Environment
One issue is from intensive cattle ranching. When too many cattle graze in one area, it can lead to overgrazing. This means the grass is eaten down too much, and it struggles to grow back. This can also mess up the traditional fire regimes used by Aboriginal people, where they carefully burn parts of the grasslands to help them grow back healthy.
The areas next to rivers and other water sources have also been changed a lot since ranching started. This has caused dirt and sand to build up in the Ord River. This buildup, called siltation, has destroyed important homes for birds like the white-browed robin (Poecilodryas superciliosa) and the purple-crowned fairywren.
New plants brought in from other places, like bellyache bush (Jatropha gossypifolia) and castor oil plant (Ricinus communis), are also damaging habitats. These plants can take over and push out the native plants.
Preservation Efforts
Even with these challenges, there are some protected areas in the Ord Victoria Plain. These protected zones often cover different types of habitats, not just the grazing lands. Places like the caves in Gregory National Park are still being studied by scientists who learn about the plants and animals there.
