Editing Nullarbor Plain (section)

== Biogeography ==
The Nullarbor Plain constitutes a [[deserts and xeric shrublands]] [[ecoregion]], called the '''Nullarbor Plains xeric shrublands''' by the [[World Wildlife Fund]].<ref>{{WWF ecoregion|id=aa1306|name=Nullarbor Plain xeric shrublands}}</ref> The ecoregion is coterminous with the Nullarbor [[biogeography|biogeographic]] region under the [[Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia]] (IBRA).<ref name="IBRA 5.1">{{Cite journal | author = Environment Australia | title = Revision of the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) and Development of Version 5.1 – Summary Report | publisher = [[Department of the Environment and Water Resources]], [[Government of Australia|Australian Government]] | url = http://www.deh.gov.au/parks/nrs/ibra/version5-1/summary-report/index.html | access-date = 31 January 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060905215218/http://www.deh.gov.au/parks/nrs/ibra/version5-1/summary-report/index.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 5 September 2006| author-link = Environment Australia }}</ref><ref name="IBRA 6.1">[http://www.deh.gov.au/parks/nrs/ibra/version6-1/index.html IBRA Version 6.1] data</ref> The ecoregion is bounded on the west and southwest by the [[Coolgardie woodlands]] ecoregion, on the north and northeast by the [[Great Victoria Desert]], on the southeast by the [[Eyre and Yorke mallee]], and on the south by the [[Great Australian Bight]].

===Flora===
Vegetation in the area is primarily low [[Atriplex|saltbush]] (''Atriplex'' spp.) and [[Maireana|bluebush]] (''Maireana'' spp.) scrub.

===Fauna===
The fauna of the Nullarbor includes communities of [[crustacean]]s, [[spider]]s, and [[beetle]]s adapted to the darkness of the Nullarbor Caves and the underground rivers and lakes that run through them. Mammals of the desert include the [[southern hairy-nosed wombat]], which shelters from the hot sun by burrowing into the sands, as well as typical desert animals such as [[red kangaroo]]s and [[dingo]]es. An elusive subspecies of the [[Australian masked owl]] unique to the Nullarbor is known to roost in the many caves on the plain. The grasslands of the Nullarbor are suitable for some [[sheep]] grazing and are also damaged by [[European rabbit|rabbits]].{{citation needed|date=June 2015}} The caves provide roosts to large colonies of wattled microbats, species ''[[Chalinolobus morio]]''.<ref name="Richards2012">{{cite book |last1=Richards |first1=G.C. |last2=Hall |first2=L.S. |last3=Parish |first3=S. (photography) |title=A natural history of Australian bats : working the night shift |date=2012 |publisher=CSIRO Pub |isbn=9780643103740 |page=18}}</ref>

===Protected areas===
A 2017 assessment found that 62,317&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>, or 32%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas.<ref name="doi.org">Eric Dinerstein, David Olson, et al. (2017). An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm, BioScience, Volume 67, Issue 6, June 2017, Pages 534–545; Supplemental material 2 table S1b. [https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/bix014]</ref> Protected areas include:
* [[Great Victoria Desert Nature Reserve]]
* [[Nullarbor National Park]], a protected area in South Australia
* [[Nullarbor Regional Reserve]], a protected area in South Australia
* [[Nullarbor Wilderness Protection Area]], a protected area in South Australia