Scotia Sanctuary

Scotia Sanctuary is a 650 km2 (250 sq mi) nature reserve in the south-western plains of New South Wales, Australia, adjacent to the border with South Australia. It is located in the Murray Mallee subregion of the Murray-Darling Depression Bioregion, 150 km (93 mi) south of the city of Broken Hill. It is owned and managed by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC).

Scotia Sanctuary
New South Wales
Scotia Sanctuary is located in New South Wales
Scotia Sanctuary
Scotia Sanctuary
Coordinates33.29°S 141.079°E / -33.29; 141.079
Established1994
Area650 km2 (251.0 sq mi)
Managing authoritiesAustralian Wildlife Conservancy
WebsiteScotia Sanctuary
FootnotesCoordinates[1]

History

Scotia comprises two former grazing properties, Tararra and Ennisvale, which were purchased by Earth Sanctuaries Limited in 1994, and eventually acquired by AWC in 2002.[2]

Landscape and climate

Scotia is characterised by a low-relief landscape of plains with parallel sand dunes and open calcareous swales. Surface water is limited by the sandy soils and there are no watercourses.[3] The climate is one of cool winters and hot summers in an arid region, with irregular rainfall averaging an annual 250 mm (9.8 in).[4]

Ecosystems

Scotia's habitats include various Eucalyptus open shrubland (mallee) communities and sheoak woodlands, .[5]

Fauna

The Scotia Endangered Mammal Recovery Project is a program of reintroduction of mammals that have become extinct regionally, in order to establish viable, self-sustaining populations. Species successfully reintroduced so far include: numbat, greater bilby, burrowing bettong, brush-tailed bettong and bridled nailtail wallaby, while an attempted reintroduction of the greater stick-nest rat failed.[6] Threatened bird species present on Scotia include malleefowl, regent and scarlet-chested parrots, striated grasswren and black-eared miner.[7] The reserve forms part of the 12,200 km2 Riverland Mallee Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International for its importance in the conservation of mallee birds and their habitats.[8]

References
  1. Scotia Landscape Context Australian Wildlife Conservancy
  2. Scotia: History
  3. Scotia: General
  4. Scotia: Climate
  5. Scotia: Ecosystems
  6. Short, Jeff; Copley, Peter; Ruykys, Laura; Morris, Keith; Read, John; Moseby, Katherine (8 October 2019). "Review of translocations of the greater stick-nest rat (Leporillus conditor): lessons learnt to facilitate ongoing recovery". Wildlife Research. 46 (6): 455–475. doi:10.1071/WR19021. ISSN 1448-5494. S2CID 203389727.
  7. Scotia: Wildlife
  8. "IBA: Riverland Mallee". Birdata. Birds Australia. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
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