Australian Natural Resources Atlas

Natural Resource Topics

Rangelands - Overview

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Location map of Brigalow Belt North bioregionphotograph

Brigalow Belt North

Summary

ATSIC Boundaries

Catchment Basins

Statistical Local Areas

Introduction

The Brigalow Belt North bioregion is 135,500 sq. kms in central eastern Queensland. The bioregion includes coastal areas, rugged ranges and alluvial plains. The main town centres include Townsville (pop. 109,914), Bowen (pop. 8,000), Clermont (pop. 2.388), Emerald (pop. 9,345) and Collinsville (pop. 2021). The bioregion has a subhumid to semiarid climate.

Not all of the region is rangelands (or savannas) as much has been developed for cropping and improved pasture which is generally found on the more fertile soils that originally carried brigalow (Acacia harpophylla), or grasslands of eastern mid-height grasses (Dichanthium and Bothriochloa spp.). The rangelands occur as eucalypt woodland, often as a mosaic pattern with improved pasture and cropping lands.

Natural Environment

Climate

The bioregion experiences a semi-arid to tropical climate with dry winters. Rainfall decreases from north to south and with the distance from the coast. The annual average rainfall ranges from 400mm in the south-west to 1200mm on the coast. Rainfall is more intense in the summer and can occur in association with the tropical cyclones. The rangelands portion of the bioregion has an annual rainfall of approximately 500mm. Temperatures in the Clermont area range from 22° C to 38° C in the summer and from 8° C to 22° C in winter. Clermont is within the Brigalow Belt North, but slightly east of the rangelands portion.

Climate averages are available for Clermont: http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/map/climate_avgs/a35.shtml.

Barcaldine weather station is just to the west of the bioregion, and gives a good indication of the conditions within the rangelands: http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/map/climate_avgs/a37.shtml.

Several weather stations lie within the region. For monthly rainfall and temperature graphs refer to Bureau of Meteorology: www.bom.gov.au/climate/forms/map_forms/new_imagemaps/qld_name.html.

Current seasonal conditions and their historical context can be provided by satellite imagery. The Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is a measure of the vegetation ‘greenness’. The NDVI for the Brigalow Belt North bioregion for this year and previous years can be found at: http://www.environment.gov.au/erin/ndvi/ttrace/bbn.html.

For additional climate information the Queensland Department of Natural Resources ‘The Long Paddock’ at: www.dnr.qld.gov.au/longpdk provides seasonal variability information and the latest El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) information. ‘Silo’ at: http://www.nrm.qld.gov.au/silo/ provides agro-meteorological data, such as rainfall, temperature, radiation, climate outlook products. The Queensland Department of Natural Resources’ Patched Point Dataset and Data drill at: www.dnr.qld.gov.au/resourcenet/silo/index.html, provides information on climatic risk management in agriculture, pastoralism, water resources and natural resource management.

The entire Brigalow Belt North bioregion is east of the Great Dividing Range. The major rivers that flow through the bioregion to the South Pacific Ocean include the Fitzroy and Burdekin Rivers. The Burdekin and Belyando Rivers flow into Lake Dalrymple and then into the Pacific south of Townsville.

The geology of the Brigalow Belt North bioregion is complex. The rangelands portion of the bioregion includes part of the Anakie Inlier, Drummond Basin and the Galilee Basin. The Anakie Inlier consists of Cambrian to Ordovician (545-434 million years ago) sediments and granites. In the west is the Drummond Basin comprising Devonian to Carboniferous (410-300 million years ago) sedimentary and volcanic rocks. The Galilee Basin consisting of Triassic (251-205 million years ago) sediments is in the westernmost province (Bailey, 1984).

The rangelands comprise linear hills, small mesas, breakaways and undulating to mountainous country in the north. The central areas are characterised by rugged to undulating hills of the Anakie Inlier, extensive undulating lowlands, plains and plateaux. The southern areas are dominated by the extensive sandstone ranges and lowlands with low ridges (Sattler & Williams, 1999).

A number of provinces have been defined within the Brigalow Belt on the basis of vegetation, climate and geology. Five of these provinces are within the rangelands portion of the bioregion. For more information refer to Sattler & Williams (1999).

For more detailed geological information and map refer to the Australian Geological Survey Organisation website: www.agso.gov.au/map/ and the Department of Mines and Energy, Queensland: www.dme.qld.gov.au/gsd/index.htm.

There are a wide array of soils within the Brigalow Belt bioregion due to the complex geology and geomorphology (Bailey, 1984). The rangelands soils range from shallow loam, sands and duplex soils in the north and south with red and yellow earth deep alluvium soils associated with the Belyando River flood plain (Gunn et al 1967, Isbell 1962, and Sattler & Williams, 1999). There are also extensive occurrences of cracking and non cracking clay soils.

For further information on soils refer to the Digital Atlas of Australian Soils at: www.affa.gov.au/content/output.cfm?ObjectID=3C13924F-E7F7-41FB-BC154E9540FE6BAF.

The vegetation of the Brigalow Belt North bioregion consists of woodlands of ironbarks (Eucalyptus melanophloia, Eucalyptus crebra), poplar box (Eucalyptus populnea) and Brown’s box (Eucalyptus brownii) with forests of brigalow (Acacia harpophylla), blackwood (Acacia argyrodendron) and gidgee (Acacia cambagei) (Isbell 1962, Isbell and Murtha 1972, Johnson 1964, Thackway & Creswell, 1995).

The rangelands part of the bioregion includes open forests of lancewood and bendee (Acacia shirleyi/catenulata) with eucalypt woodland and areas of brigalow and blackwood. The eucalypt woodlands includes narrow-leaved ironbark (Eucalyptus crebra), silver-leaved ironbark (Eucalyptus melanophloia), mallee box (Eucalyptus persistens), poplar box (Eucalyptus populnea) and mountain coolibah (Eucalyptus orgadophila).

The alluvial plains support woodlands of poplar box, gidgee or coolibah (Eucalyptus coolabah) with forest areas of Dawson gum-brigalow (Eucalyptus cambageana-Acacia harpophylla). Along the water courses are tall woodlands to open-forests of red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis and E. tereticornis) and coolibah.

There are 78 rare, 53 vulnerable and 13 endangered flora species within the Brigalow Belt bioregion. For a list of rare and threatened flora and vegetation descriptions of the bioregion refer to Sattler & Williams (1999).

There have been several fauna surveys conducted in the Brigalow Belt bioregion. The mammal species of the Brigalow Belt bioregion are generally adapted to the eucalypt woodlands and open forests. Approximately 43 mammal species have been recorded in the Brigalow Belt bioregion (Gordon, 1984). Ten species of macropods occur in the bioregion, these include the bridled nailtailed wallaby (Onychogalea fraenata), brushtailed rock-wallaby (Petrogale penicillata), wallaroo (Macropus robustus), eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus) and the black-striped wallaby (Macropus dorsalis) (Bailey, 1984).

There are 4 presumed extinct, 10 endangered, 30 vulnerable and 35 rare fauna species within the bioregion. The extinct fauna species include the western quoll (Dasyuria geoffroii geoffroii), white-footed rabbit-rat (Conilurus albipes), downs hopping-mouse (Notomys mordax) and the paradise parrot (Psephotus pulcherrimus). For a list of rare and threatened species and fauna surveys refer to Sattler & Williams (1999).

Land Tenure & Use

The rangelands are predominantly pastoral leasehold but also include private freehold land and nature reserves. There are several nature reserves within the rangelands including the Narrien Range, Epping Forest and Blackwood National Parks. For information on the nature reserves within the bioregion refer to: http://www.nrm.qld.gov.au/vegetation/bioregions.html.

Land use within the Brigalow Belt North bioregion includes grazing, cropping, tourism and mining, particularly coal. The bioregion contains various mineral and coal deposits. Coal deposits occur in the Bowen and Galilee Basins. Other mineral deposits include tin, gold and silver. Gemstones are mined west of Emerald in the Anakie region.

The rangelands portion of the bioregion is predominantly used for grazing and includes major beef cattle areas.

Condition Of The Landscape

Land degradation

The rangelands portion of the bioregion is subjected to grazing pressure and continues to be extensively cleared for pasture (Sattler & Williams, 1999). Broad scale tree clearing poses major threats to the biodiversity and regional ecosystems within the bioregion (Sattler & Williams, 1999). The clearing of woodlands may have a number of effects such as soil erosion, soil compaction, loss of soil nutrients, salinity and changes in hydrology (Bailey, 1984).

The State-wide Landcover And Tree Study (SLATS) undertaken by the Queensland Department of Natural Resources, provides vegetation cover and cover change information using Landsat Thematic Mapper ™ satellite imagery. SLATS provides baseline land cover mapping over the entire State of Queensland (http://http://www.nrm.qld.gov.au/slats/).

This bioregion has a wide range of feral animals including wild dogs, foxes, feral pigs, goats, rabbits, horses, donkeys and feral cats. Feral cats, foxes and pigs can be found throughout the region impacting severely on biodiversity. Pigs cause a great deal of damage by the wallows they dig which break up the country. The horse, rabbit, and goat all have isolated or patchy distributions and cause localised impacts on the region's natural environment.

Exotic weed infestations in the bioregion include,), rubber vine (Cryptostegia grandiflora) prickly acacia (Acacia nilotica), parkinsonia (Parkinsonia aculeata), noogoora burr (Xanthium pungens), harrisia cactus (Eriocereus martinii), parthenium weed (Parthenium hysterophorus) and prickly pear (Opuntia stricta) (Sattler & Williams, 1999, Bailey, 1984). Buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris) is highly valued as a pasture species by the pastoral industry but decried by conservationists as a weed impacting on biodiversty.

Native woody weed problems have followed the development of brigalow in the bioregion. The main woody weed regrowth includes currant bush (Carissa ovata), yellowwood (Terminalia oblongata), limebush (Eremocitrus glauca), false sandalwood (Eremophila mitchellii) and Dawson gum (Eucalyptus cambageana) (Bailey, 1984).

Social & Economic Aspects

People

There are indications of Aboriginal occupation of the Brigalow Belt region more than 19,000 years ago from an archaeological site in the centre of the bioregion (Bailey, 1984). In 1844, the explorer Ludwig Leichhardt was the first European to make contact with the Aboriginal people of the region. Pioneers followed the tracks of explorers and settlement of the region commenced.

Prior to World War 2 the Brigalow Belt consisted of underdeveloped leasehold properties, with much of the land used for sheep grazing. Since World War 2 there has been large-scale settlement and a change from sheep to cattle grazing. The clearing of the brigalow, gidgee and blackwood vegetation occurred initially between 1955 and 1965. Moving towards the rangelands, clearing west of Emerald to Pine Hill occurred between 1965 and 1975, followed by further clearing from 1975 to 1985 to the edge of the Desert Uplands. Tree clearing across the entire Brigalow Belt bioregion in the period 1995-97 accounted for about 57% of total tree clearing in Queensland.

There are very few towns within the rangelands portion, which include Alpha. The bioregion covers all or part of several local governments. The rangelands portion of the bioregion includes the local governments of Jericho, Emerald, Belyando and Dalrymple. The bioregion is within the ATSIC regions and respective council of Townsville (McLennan, 1997). For more information on the Aboriginal people of this region refer to Horton, (1994) and the relevant websites in the reference list.

Resources, References & Contacts

Publications

Bailey A. (ed.), 1984, The Brigalow Belt of Australia, Royal Society of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland.

Gunn, R.H.,Galloway, R.W., Pedley, L. and Fitzpatrick, E.A. 1967 Lands ofthe Nogoa-Belyando Area, Queensland. Land Research Series No. 29, CSIRO, Melbourne.

Horton, D. R. 1994, The Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia, Aboriginal Studies Press for the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Canberra, ACT.

Isbell, R.F. 1962 Soils and Vegetation of the Brigalow Lands, Eastern Australia. Soils and Land Use Series No. 43, Division of Soils, CSIRO.

Isbell, R.F. and Murtha, G.G. 1972 ‘Vegetation’. In: Burdekin-Townsville Region. Queensland. Resource Series (Geographic Section, Department of National Development, Canberra)

Johnson, R.W. 1964 Ecology and Control of Brigalow in Queensland, Queensland dept Primary Industries, Brisbane.

McLennan. W. 1997, 1994 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Survey: Social Atlas, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra, ACT.

Morton, S.R., Short, J., & Barker, R.D. with an Appendix by Griffin, G.F., & Pearce, G. 1995, Refugia for Biological Diversity in Arid and Semi-arid Australia, Department of the Environment, Sport and Territories, Canberra, ACT.

RPM, in prep., The social, economic and institutional drivers behind land clearing 1970-1990. Unpublished report for the Australian Greenhouse Office.

Sattler, P. & Williams, R. (eds.) 1999, The Conservation Status of Queensland’s Bioregional Ecosystems, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, Queensland.

Thackway, R. & Cresswell I.D. 1995, An Interim Biogeographical Regionalisation for Australia: a Framework for Setting Priorities in the National Reserves System Cooperative Program, Australian Nature Conservation Agency, Canberra, ACT.

Woinarski J., Fensham, R., Whitehead, P. & Fisher, A., with map production by Verhagen, C. in preparation, Biodiversity in the Australian Rangelands: a Review of Changes in Status and Threatening Processes. Draft report prepared as a resource document for Project 3: Developing an Adaptive Framework for Monitoring Biodiversity in Australia’s Rangelands, of the National Land and Water Resources Audit, Theme 4 (Rangelands monitoring) by the Tropical Savannas Cooperative Research Centre, Darwin, Northern Territory.

Aboriginal languages of Australia:

http://www.dnathan.com/VL/

Aboriginal Studies WWW Virtual Library:

http://www.ciolek.com/WWWVL-Aboriginal.html

Australian Landcare Council:

www.dpie.gov.au/agfor/landcare/org/alc.html.au

Aboriginal Torres Strait Islanders Commission (ATSIC):

www.atsic.gov.au/

Australian Geological Survey Organisation, Geology of Australia:

www.agso.gov.au/map/

Bureau of Meteorology, Climate averages:

www.bom.gov.au/climate/map/climate_avgs/a17.shtml

http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/map/climate_avgs/a37.shtml

Bureau of Meteorology, Temperature and rainfall graphs: www.bom.gov.au/climate/forms/map_forms/new_imagemaps/qld_name.html

Bureau of Rural Sciences, Digital Atlas of Australian Soils:

www.affa.gov.au/content/output.cfm?ObjectID=D2C48F86-BA1A-11A1-A2200060B0A05758

Department of Mines and Energy, Queensland:

www.dme.qld.gov.au/gsd/index.htm

Department of the Environment and Heritage, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) information including bioregional information:

www.environment.gov.au/erin/ndvi/index.html

National Property Management Planning Campaign, The Future profit program:

www.dpi.qld.gov.au/ruraldev/futureprofit/Welcome.html

Queensland Department of Natural Resources. ‘Long Paddock’:

www.dnr.qld.gov.au/longpdk

Queensland Department of Natural Resources. ‘Silo’:

www.dnr.qld.gov.au/resourcenet/climate/#silo

Queensland Department of Natural Resources. Patched Point Dataset and Data drill:

www.dnr.qld.gov.au/resourcenet/silo/index.html,

Queensland’s Environmental Protection Agency. National Park information, animal and plant species information including rare and threatened species:

www.env.qld.gov.au

Queenslands Parks and Wildlife Service:

www.env.qld.gov.au/environment/park/discover/

Rural Lifestyles Queensland:

www.rlq.dcilgp.qld.gov.au

State-wide Land cover and Tree Study (SLATS) Vegetation cover and cover change information using Landsat Thematic Mapper ™ satellite imagery:

www.dnr.qld.gov.au/resourcenet/veg/slats/index.html

Tropical Savanna Co-operative Research Centre:

www.savanna.ntu.edu.au/information/savannaexplorer.html

Link to the Map Maker to make a map using this information.

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