Global ecosystem typology

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T5.3 Sclerophyll hot deserts and semi-deserts

Biome: T5. Deserts and semi-deserts biome

Contributors:
(texts)

Sclerophyll hot deserts and semi-deserts occur across central and western Australia on sandy soils. Dry and very low nutrient conditions favour dominance of long-lived hard-leaved shrubs and hummock grasses. This vegetation concentrates scarce resources in patches that provide critical refuges for invertebrates, reptiles, ground-nesting birds and small mammals, whose digging activity contributes to nutrient cycling. Fires periodically liberate resources and restructure these ecosystems. Episodic rain storms regulated by regional climate cycles produce a ‘boom’ in productivity, with emergence of short-lived plants and high, but transient abundance of small mammals.

Key Features

Perennial sclerophyll shrubs and Hummock C4 grasses on nutrient-poor soils; highly variable rainfall, high diversity and endemism.

Overview of distribution

Central Australia on sandy substrates; extremely arid with hot summers and and cool winters..

Profile versions

Main references

Selected references for this functional group:

  • Keith DA (2004) Ocean shores to desert dunes: the native vegetation of NSW and the ACT NSW Department of Environment and Conservation, Sydney

  • Morton S, Stafford Smith DM, Dickman CR, Dunkerley DL, Friedel MH, McAllister RRJ, Reid RW, Roshier DA, Smith MA, Walsh FJ, Wardle GM, Watson IW, Westoby M (2011) A fresh framework for the ecology of arid Australia Journal of Arid Environments 75: 313-329 DOI:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2010.11.001

Diagrammatic assembly model

Diagrammatic assembly model of T5.3 Sclerophyll hot deserts and semi-deserts. See general notes on diagrams. Open image full size.

Maps

Maps are indicative of global distribution patterns are not intended to represent fine-scale patterns. The maps show areas of the world containing major (coloured red) or minor occurrences (coloured yellow) of each ecosystem functional group. See general notes on maps.

There are 2 alternative versions of the indicative map for this functional group, please compare description and sources below.

T5.3.WM.nwx_v1.0

The distribution of Sclerophyll hot deserts and semi-deserts in Australia was compiled from multiple source maps (Keith and Tozer 2017). It was mapped at 30 arc second spatial resolution. Open image full size.

Datasets

  • GIRT

Map references

  • Keith, D. A. & Tozer, M. G. (2017) Girt: a continental synthesis of Australian vegetation Australian vegetation. D. A. Keith. Editor, pp3-39. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

T5.3.web.mix_v1.0

Major and minor occurrences were initially identified using consensus land-cover maps (Tuanmu et al. 2014) and then cropped to selected terrestrial ecoregions (Dinerstein et al. 2017) at 30 arc seconds spatial resolution. Ecoregions were selected if: i) their descriptions mentioned features consistent with those identified in the profile of the Ecosystem Functional Group; and ii) if their location was consistent with the ecological drivers described in the profile. Open image full size.

Datasets

  • EarthEnv-LandCover-v1.0
  • Resolve-Ecoregions-2017

Map references

  • Tuanmu, M.-N. and W. Jetz (2014) A global 1-km consensus land-cover product for biodiversity and ecosystem modeling Global Ecology and Biogeography 23(9):1031–1045 DOI:10.1111/geb.12182

  • Dinerstein E, Olson D, Joshi A, Vynne C, Burgess ND, Wikramanayake E, Hahn N, Palminteri S, Hedao P, Noss R, Hansen M, Locke H, Ellis EE, Jones B, Barber CV, Hayes R, Kormos C, Martin V, Crist E, Sechrest W, Price L, Baillie JEM, Weeden D, Suckling K, Davis C, Sizer N, Moore R, Thau D, Birch T, Potapov P, Turubanova S, Tyukavina A, de Souza N, Pintea L, Brito JC, Llewellyn Barnekow Lillesø JP, van Breugel P, Graudal L, Voge M, Al-Shammari KF, Saleem M (2017) An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm, BioScience 67: 534–545. DOI:10.1093/biosci/bix014. Data-set available on-line

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