DARLING RIVERINE PLAINS BIOREGION Background Report

16/08/02 Darling Riverine Plains Bioregion Background Report
Key area 5: In the Castlereagh-Barwon province near Thalaba Creek to the north west of
Narrabri. The area consists of prior stream deposits and high-level floodplains of the upper
alluvial fans (330 km 2 );
Corridor: A corridor along Thalaba Creek, mainly following the stock route along the
Millie-Merrywinebone Road, connecting key areas 4 and 5;
Key area 6: An extension from the Narran Lakes area south to the Barwon River to sample
the broad and complex flood plain of the Barwon in the Castlereagh-Barwon province
(300km 2 );
Key area 7: Based on the discontinuous band of State Forests on a low red rise in the south
of the Castlereagh-Barwon province. Tallegar and Sandgate State Forests are the largest and
least disturbed remnants and form part of a proposed corridor linking Warrie State Forest in
the south-east to Narraway State Forest in the north-west (40 km 2 );
Key area 8: Includes the major land systems within the Culgoa-Bokhara province, and
connects with proposed key area 11 for the Narran Lakes area (160 km 2 );
Key area 9: Contains land systems typical of the northern part of the Warrambool-Moonie
province, and adjoins proposed key area 13 in the Collarenebri Interfluve province (140 km 2 );
Key area 10: Adjoins the large Narran Lakes key area, and is representative of the southern
part of the Warrambool-Moonie province (410 km 2 );
Key area 11: A large and complex area within the Narran-Lightning Ridge province,
including Narran Lake Nature Reserve. This would expand the Nature Reserve to include
adjoining land systems and connect to key areas in adjacent provinces (1 380 km 2 );
Key area 12: In the northern section of the Narran-Lightning Ridge province and containing
a wetland and sandstone ridge (150 km 2 );
Key area 13: The largest remaining example of intact natural vegetation in the Collarenebri
Interfluve province, which is a restricted land unit in New South Wales (250 km 2 );
Key area 14: Spans the Darling flood plain and contains representative examples of all
provincial land systems in the Louth Plains province (550 km 2 );
Key area 15: Spans the Darling flood plain and contains most of the land systems of the
Wilcannia Plains province (330 km 2 );
Key area 23: Extends over the Culgoa River to include river fringing and flood plain
communities typical of the Culgoa-Bokhara province, and areas of the Warrego fan natural
region (360 km 2 );
Key area 40: Mostly located within the Darling Depression natural region, but contains areas
representative of the overflow basins of the Wilcannia Plains province (240 km 2 );
Key area 55: Straddles the border of the Castlereagh-Barwon province and the northern
sandstones natural region (mainly in the latter), and contains areas of grey clay communities
(160 km 2 );
Key area 61: Extends from the Pilliga outwash natural region north west to the Namoi River,
which is at the edge of the Castlereagh-Barwon province (220 km 2 );
Key area 90: Mostly located within the Cobar Peneplain natural region, but extends into the
Louth Plains province on ancestral alluvials (790 km 2 ).
8.4.2 Refugia
Refugia are defined by EPA (2000) as ‘areas which have escaped the great changes
undergone by a region as a whole, providing conditions in which relic communities of plants
and animals can survive’. The DRP contains three of the nationally significant biological
refugia listed in Morton et al. (1995) for arid and semi-arid Australia. They are the Macquarie
Marshes, Narran Lakes and the Darling and Talyawalka Anabranch Lakes (Figure 8.2).
Morton et al. (1995) also identified the Paroo wetlands, most of which are located in the
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