Charles Darwin Reserve
Encyclopedia
Nature reserve
A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...
in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
. Formerly Whitewells Station, it is 90 km from Wubin
Wubin, Western Australia
Wubin is located in the northern agricultural region, 272 km north-northeast of Perth and 21 km north of Dalwallinu. Wubin was originally approved as a siding name on the proposed Wongan Hills to Mullewa railway line in April 1913, land also being set aside and a townsite gazetted the...
and 355 km north of Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
. It lies within the South West Botanical Province on the northern edge of the Wheatbelt, and is owned and managed by Bush Heritage Australia
Bush Heritage Australia
Bush Heritage Australia is a non-profit organisation based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia that operates throughout Australia. It was previously known as the Australian Bush Heritage Fund, which is still its legal name. It purchases land, assessed as being of outstanding conservation value, from...
(BHA), by which it was purchased and renamed in 2003. The purchase of the reserve was partly funded by a donation by Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
's great-great-grandson Chris Darwin
Chris Darwin
Christopher William Darwin lives in Australia and works for High and Wild and the Australian School of Mountaineering, guiding canyoning, rock climbing, mountaineering, abseiling and nature walks. He is the great-great-grandson of Charles Darwin.-Biography:Darwin was born in 1961 in London...
.
Natural values
The reserve has a semi-aridSemi-arid
A semi-arid climate or steppe climate describes climatic regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not extremely...
Mediterranean climate
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...
with an annual average, mainly winter, rainfall of 282 mm. It protects York Gum
Eucalyptus loxophleba
Eucalyptus loxophleba, commonly known as York gum, is a species of Eucalyptus which is endemic to Western Australia. It was first described by George Bentham in 1867....
and Salmon Gum
Eucalyptus salmonophloia
Eucalyptus salmonophloia or the Salmon Gum is an evergreen tree native to Western Australia.Other names of this species include Wuruk or Woonert.- Habit :...
woodland
Woodland
Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...
s as well as heath
Heath (habitat)
A heath or heathland is a dwarf-shrub habitat found on mainly low quality acidic soils, characterised by open, low growing woody vegetation, often dominated by plants of the Ericaceae. There are some clear differences between heath and moorland...
and sand-plains. The old-growth woodlands contain tree-hollows suitable for many animals. Birds recorded on the reserve include Malleefowl
Malleefowl
The Malleefowl is a stocky ground-dwelling Australian bird about the size of a domestic chicken...
, Australian Bustard
Australian Bustard
The Australian Bustard, Ardeotis australis, is a large ground bird of grassland, woodland and open agricultural country across northern Australia and southern New Guinea. It is also commonly referred to in Central Australia as the Bush Turkey, particularly by Aboriginal people.The male is up to ...
, Major Mitchell's Cockatoo
Major Mitchell's Cockatoo
The Major Mitchell's Cockatoo also known as Leadbeater's Cockatoo or Pink Cockatoo, is a medium-sized cockatoo restricted to arid and semi-arid inland areas of Australia...
, Peregrine Falcon
Peregrine Falcon
The Peregrine Falcon , also known as the Peregrine, and historically as the Duck Hawk in North America, is a widespread bird of prey in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-gray back, barred white underparts, and a black head and "moustache"...
, Crested Bellbird
Crested Bellbird
The Crested Bellbird is a species of bird in the Colluricinclidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Oreoica.It is endemic to Australia.-Conservation status:...
, and the Wheatbelt form of the White-browed Babbler
White-browed Babbler
The White-browed Babbler is a species of bird in the Pomatostomidae family.It is endemic to Australia.Its natural habitat is Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation.-References:...
. Mammals include the Echidna
Echidna
Echidnas , also known as spiny anteaters, belong to the family Tachyglossidae in the monotreme order of egg-laying mammals. There are four extant species, which, together with the platypus, are the only surviving members of that order and are the only extant mammals that lay eggs...
, Euro
Eastern Wallaroo
The Eastern Wallaroo also known as the Common Wallaroo or the Hill Wallaroo is part of the Wallaroo family . It is a large, variable species of macropod ....
and Red Kangaroo
Red Kangaroo
The Red Kangaroo is the largest of all kangaroos, the largest mammal native to Australia, and the largest surviving marsupial. It is found across mainland Australia, avoiding only the more fertile areas in the south, the east coast, and the northern rainforests.-Description:This species is a very...
.
Important Bird Area
The reserve, along with the neighbouring Mount Gibson Sanctuary, forms part of the 2335 km2 Mount Gibson and Charles Darwin Important Bird AreaImportant Bird Area
An Important Bird Area is an area recognized as being globally important habitat for the conservation of bird populations. Currently there are about 10,000 IBAs worldwide. The program was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife International...
(IBA), so identified by BirdLife International
BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global Partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources...
principally because it supports populations of Malleefowl and Western Corella
Western Corella
The Western Corella formerly known as the Western Long-billed Corella, is a species of white cockatoo endemic to south-western Western Australia.-Taxonomy:...
s, as well as several other species restricted to either the arid
Desert climate
A desert climate , also known as an arid climate, is a climate that does not meet the criteria to be classified as a polar climate, and in which precipitation is too low to sustain any vegetation at all, or at most a very scanty scrub.An area that features this climate usually experiences less than...
or mallee
Mallee Woodlands and Shrublands
Mallee Woodlands and Shrublands is a Major Vegetation Group which occurs in semi-arid areas of southern Australia. The vegetation is dominated by mallee eucalypts which are rarely over 6 metres high...
biome
Biome
Biomes are climatically and geographically defined as similar climatic conditions on the Earth, such as communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms, and are often referred to as ecosystems. Some parts of the earth have more or less the same kind of abiotic and biotic factors spread over a...
s.