The Tanami Desert is a desert in northern Australia situated in the Northern Territory. It has a rocky terrain with small hills. The Tanami Desert is one of the most isolated and arid places on Earth[citation needed]. The Tanami was the Northern Territory's final frontier and wasn't fully explored until well into the twentieth century. It is traversed by the Tanami Track.
Under the name Tanami, it is one of the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) regions.[1][2]
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Statistics
- Area: 184,500 km²[3][4]
- Closest place to the Tanami Desert with recorded rainfall is Rabbit Flat, Northern Territory:
- Annual rainfall: 429.7 mm
- Mean daily max temperature: 33.5 °C
- Mean daily min temperature: 16.4 °C
- Mean number of clear days 169
- Mean daily evaporation 7.6 mm
Biological resources
According to government commissions, the Tanami desert is uniquely "one of the most important biological areas to be found in Australia particularly as it provides refuge for several of Australia's rare and endangered species." [5][6]
The species that are found include:
- Western Chestnut Mouse (Pseudomys nanus)
- Little Native Mouse (Pseudomys delicatulus)
- Long-tailed Planigale (Planigale ingrami)
Significant bird species include:
- Grey Falcon (Falco hypoleucos)
- Australian Painted Snipe (Rostratula australis)
- Freckled duck (Stictonetta naevosa)
Local indigenous groups
The Tanami Desert is Kukatja and Walpiri country. The Tjurabalan live at the edge of the desert.
Notes
- ^ Environment Australia. Revision of the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) and Development of Version 5.1 - Summary Report. Department of the Environment and Water Resources, Australian Government. http://www.deh.gov.au/parks/nrs/ibra/version5-1/summary-report/index.html. Retrieved 2007-01-31.
- ^ IBRA Version 6.1 data
- ^ Australian Government. Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts.. "Refugia for Biological Diversity in Arid and Semi-arid Australia. Tanami." (in en). http://www.aussieheritage.com.au/listings/nt/Yuendumu/TanamiDesertWildlifeSanctuaryformer/9102. Retrieved 30 July 2008.
- ^ Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2008.. "Tanami Desert." (in en). http://au.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_121646622/tanami_desert.html. Retrieved 30 July 2008.
- ^ page 79 of Gibson, D. F. (David F.) (1986) A biological survey of the Tanami Desert in the Northern Territory Alice Springs, N.T. : Conservation Commission of the Northern Territory, 1986. Technical report 072-9990 ; no. 30. ISBN 0724508368
- ^ http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/publications/series/paper4/tan.html
References
- Kelly, Kieran, (2003) Tanami : on foot across Australia's desert heart Sydney : Pan Macmillan Australia, 2003. ISBN 0732911885
- 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 0642213712
External links
- http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/publications/series/paper4/tan.html Australian government paper on environmental conditions.
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