Editing Great Victoria Desert

{{Short description|Desert in Western Australia and South Australia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Use Australian English|date=September 2011}}

{{Infobox ecoregion
| name = Great Victoria Desert
| image = Serpentine Lakes.JPG
| image_size = 
| image_alt = 
| image_caption = [[Serpentine Lakes]], [[South Australia]]
| map = IBRA 6.1 Great Victoria Desert.png
| map_size = 
| map_alt = 
| map_caption = Map of the [[Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia|IBRA]] regions, with the Great Victoria Desert in red
| biogeographic_realm = [[Australasian realm|Australasian]]
| biome = [[Deserts and xeric shrublands]]
| border1 = [[Central Ranges xeric scrub]]
| border2 = [[Coolgardie woodlands]]
| border3 = [[Eyre and Yorke mallee]]
| border4 = [[Great Sandy-Tanami desert]]
| border5 = [[Gibson Desert]]
| border6 = [[Nullarbor Plains xeric shrublands]]
| border7 = [[Tirari-Sturt stony desert]]
| border8 = [[Western Australian mulga shrublands]]
| area = 422,466
| country = [[Australia]]
| state1 = [[South Australia]]
| state2 = [[Western Australia]]
| region_type = 
| bird_species = 
| mammal_species = 
| habitat_loss = 
| habitat_loss_ref = 
| conservation = Relatively stable/intact
|protected = 129,367&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> (31
|protected_ref = )<ref name=Ecoreg>{{cite journal | first1=Eric | last1=Dinerstein | first2=David | last2=Olson | display-authors=etal | title=An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm | journal=BioScience | volume=67 | issue=6 | date=June 2017 | pages=534–545 | doi=10.1093/biosci/bix014| pmid=28608869 | pmc=5451287 | doi-access=free }} Supplemental material 2 table S1b.</ref>
|embedded = 
}}
The '''Great Victoria Desert''' is a sparsely populated desert [[ecoregion]] and [[Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia|interim Australian bioregion]] in [[Western Australia]] and [[South Australia]].

==History==
In 1875, British-born Australian explorer [[Ernest Giles]] became the first European to cross the desert. He named the desert after the then-reigning monarch, [[Queen Victoria]]. In 1891, David Lindsey's expedition travelled across this area from north to south. [[Frank Hann]] was looking for gold in this area between 1903 and 1908. [[Len Beadell]] explored the area in the 1960s.

==Location and description==
[[Image:Australia.A2002231.0145.250m NASA Nullarbor.jpg|thumb|left|NASA - Visible Earth, the Great Victoria Desert is in the center of the image, north of the Nullarbor Plain.]]

The Great Victoria is the largest desert in Australia,<ref>[http://www.outback-australia-travel-secrets.com/great-victoria-desert.html Great Victoria Desert – The Largest Desert in Australia]. Birgit Bradtke. Retrieved 26 March 2013.</ref> and consists of many small sandhills, [[grassland]] plains, areas with a closely packed surface of pebbles (called [[desert pavement]] or gibber plains), and [[salt lake (geography)|salt lake]]s. It is over {{convert|700|km|mi|abbr=on}} wide (from west to east) and covers an area of {{convert|348750|km2|abbr=on}} from the [[Eastern Goldfields]] region of Western Australia to the [[Gawler Ranges]] in [[South Australia]]. The [[Western Australian mulga shrublands]] ecoregion lies to the west, the [[Little Sandy Desert]] to the northwest, the [[Gibson Desert]] and the [[Central Ranges xeric shrublands]] to the north, the [[Tirari-Sturt stony desert]] to the east, and the [[Nullarbor Plain]] to the south separates it from the [[Southern Ocean]]. Average annual [[rain]]fall is low and irregular, ranging from {{convert|200|to|250|mm|in|abbr=on}} per year. Thunderstorms are relatively common in the Great Victoria Desert, with an average of 15–20 thunderstorms yearly. Summer daytime temperatures range from {{convert|32|to|40|C|F}}, while in winter, this falls to {{convert|18|to|23|C|F}}.

The Great Victoria desert is a [[World Wildlife Fund]] [[ecoregion]] and an [[Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia]] region of the same name.<ref name="IBRA7">[http://www.environment.gov.au/land/nrs/science/ibra IBRA Version 7] data</ref><ref>{{WWF ecoregion|id=aa1305|name=Great Victoria desert}}</ref>

==Habitation==
[[File:Connie Sue Highway 2007.jpg|thumb|View of the [[Connie Sue Highway]]]]
The majority of people living in the region are [[Indigenous Australians]] from different groups, including the [[Kogara]], the [[Mirning]] and the [[Pitjantjatjara people|Pitjantjatjara]]. Aboriginal populations have been increasing in this region. Young Indigenous adults from the Great Victoria Desert region work in the Wilurarra Creative programs to maintain and develop their culture.<ref name="Wilurarra Creative">[https://www.wilurarra.com.au Wilurarra Creative 2011];</ref>

Despite its isolated location, the Great Victoria is bisected by very rough tracks, including the [[Connie Sue Highway]] and the [[Anne Beadell Highway]]. Human activity has included some mining and [[nuclear weapons testing]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Southern Australia|url=http://www.worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/aa1305|publisher=[[World Wildlife Fund]]|access-date=21 October 2015}}</ref>

==Flora==
Only the hardiest of plants can survive in much of this environment. Between the sand ridges, the areas of wooded steppe consist of ''[[Eucalyptus gongylocarpa]]'', ''[[Eucalyptus youngiana]]'', and ''[[Acacia aneura]]'' (mulga) shrubs scattered over areas of resilient spinifex grasses, particularly ''[[Triodia basedowii]]''.

==Fauna==
The wildlife that adapted to these harsh conditions include a few large birds or mammals such as [[emu]]s and [[red kangaroo]]s. However, the desert does sustain many types of lizards, including the vulnerable [[great desert skink]] (''Egernia kintorei''), the [[Oxyuranus temporalis|Central Ranges taipan]] (discovered in 2007), and a number of small marsupials, including the endangered [[sandhill dunnart]] ''(Sminthopsis psammophila)'' and the [[crest-tailed mulgara]] ''(Dasycercus cristicauda)''. One way to survive here is to burrow into the sands, as a number of the desert's animals, including the [[southern marsupial mole]] ''(Notoryctes typhlops)'', and the [[Litoria platycephala|water-holding frog]] do. Birds include the [[chestnut-breasted whiteface]] (''Aphelocephala pectoralis'') found on the eastern edge of the desert and the [[malleefowl]] of Mamungari Conservation Park. Predators of the desert include the [[dingo]] (as the desert is north of the [[Dingo Fence]]) and two large monitor lizards, the [[perentie]] ''(Varanus giganteus)'' and the [[sand goanna]] ''(Varanus gouldii)''.

==Conservation and threats==
[[File:Red Earth Desert.jpg|thumb|right|Former British nuclear test site at [[Maralinga]] ]]
[[File:Scene in Lake Gairdner National Park, South Australia.jpg|thumb|[[Lake Gairdner National Park]]]]
As this area has had very limited use for agriculture, many habitats remain largely undisturbed. 31% of the desert is in protected areas,<ref name = dopa/> including [[Mamungari Conservation Park]] (formerly known as Unnamed Conservation Park) in South Australia, a large area of pristine arid zone wilderness, which possesses cultural significance and is one of the 14 World [[Biosphere Reserve]]s<ref>[http://www.environment.gov.au/node/20937 Australia's Biosphere Reserves]. Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Populations and Communities. Retrieved 3 May 2015.</ref> in Australia. Habitat is also preserved in the large [[Aboriginal Australians|Aboriginal]] [[Local government in Australia|local government area]] of [[Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara]] in South Australia and in the [[Great Victoria Desert Nature Reserve]] of Western Australia. Protected areas include:<ref name = dopa>[https://dopa-explorer.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ecoregion/11305 "Great Victoria Desert". DOPA Explorer. Accessed 8 May 2022]</ref>
* [[Antara-Sandy Bore Indigenous Protected Area]]
* [[Apara-Makiri-Punti Indigenous Protected Area]]
* [[De La Poer Range Nature Reserve]]
* [[Gawler Ranges National Park]]
* [[Gawler Ranges Conservation Park]]
* [[Great Victoria Desert Nature Reserve]]
* [[Kalka-Pipalyatjara Indigenous Protected Area]]
* [[Lake Gairdner National Park]]
* [[Mamungari Conservation Park]]
* [[Mount Willoughby Indigenous Protected Area]]
* [[Neale Junction Nature Reserve]]
* [[Ngaanyatjarra Indigenous Protected Area]]
* [[Nullarbor Regional Reserve]]
* [[Plumridge Lakes Nature Reserve]]
* [[Pureba Conservation Park]]
* [[Queen Victoria Spring Nature Reserve]]
* [[Tallaringa Conservation Park]]	
* [[Walalkara Indigenous Protected Area]]
* [[Watarru Indigenous Protected Area]]
* [[Yellabinna Regional Reserve]]
* [[Yellabinna Wilderness Protection Area]]
* [[Yeo Lake Nature Reserve]]
* [[Yumbarra Conservation Park]]

The nuclear weapons [[British nuclear tests at Maralinga|trials]] carried out by the United Kingdom at [[Maralinga]] and [[Emu Field]] in the 1950s and early 1960s have left areas contaminated with [[plutonium-239]] and other radioactive material.

==See also==
{{Portal|Australia|Geography}}
* [[Deserts of Australia]]
* [[List of deserts by area]]
*[[Tallaringa Conservation Park]]
{{Clear}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{Commons category|Great Victoria Desert}}
* {{Citation | author1=Shephard, Mark | title=The Great Victoria Desert : north of the Nullarbor, south of the centre | year=1995 | publication-date=1995 | publisher=Reed Books | isbn=978-0-7301-0485-8 }}
* {{Citation | author1=Joseph, Leo | author2=Greenslade, Penelope | author3=Barley, R. H. (Rachel) | author4=Nature Conservation Society of South Australia | author5=Barley, Rachel | title=The Great Victoria Desert | year=1986 | publication-date=1986 | publisher=Nature Conservation Society of South Australia Inc | isbn=978-0-949751-08-9 }}
* {{Citation | author1=Peppas, Lynn | title=The Great Victoria Desert | publication-date=2013 | publisher=St. Catharines, Ontario Crabtree Publishing Company | isbn=978-1-4271-9100-7 }}
* {{Citation | author1=Friebe, Marlene | author2=Matheson, W. E | author3=South Australia. Department for Environment and Heritage | author4=Friends of the Great Victoria Desert Parks | title=Shrubs and trees of the Great Victoria Desert | year=2006 | publication-date=2006 | publisher=Friends of the Great Victoria Desert Parks with the assistance of the Dept. for Environment and Heritage | isbn=978-0-646-45948-6 }}
* {{Citation | author1=Friends of the Great Victoria Desert Parks (S.A.) | title=Friends of the Great Victoria Desert | publication-date=2007 | publisher=The Friends of the Great Victoria Desert Parks | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/37183566 | access-date=25 June 2017 }}

{{Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA)}}
{{Deserts}}
{{Authority control}}

{{Coord|29.15|S|129.26|E|source:dewiki_region:AU_scale:7000000_type:landmark|format=dms|display=title}}

[[Category:Great Victoria Desert| ]]
[[Category:Deserts and xeric shrublands]]
[[Category:Deserts of Western Australia]]
[[Category:Deserts of South Australia]]
[[Category:Ecoregions of South Australia]]
[[Category:Ecoregions of Western Australia]]
[[Category:Ergs]]
[[Category:Goldfields–Esperance]]
[[Category:IBRA regions]]