History of the Great Victoria Desert

 http://home.vicnet.net.au/~fgvd/facts.htm

The Great Victoria Desert has been inhabited by Abiroginal people for over 24,000 years.  They lived with the harsh environment of the desert, establishing wells and soaks in order to obtain precious water.  In the 1950s, many of these people were displaces to make room for nuclear weapons testing.  Fortunately, some lands were awarded back to the natives through acts such as the Pitjantjatjara Land Rights Act 1981.  They also help with the conservation of the desert, maintaining reserves dotted throughout the area. 

In terms of ‘Western’ discoverers, Ernest Giles crossed the desert and named it for the current English Queen, Queen Victoria.  From 1903 to 1908, an explorer by the name of Frank Hann came looking for pastoral lands and gold.  Finally, in the 1960s, Len Beadell built various roads in the desert, including the road going across the Great Victoria Desert, the Anne Beadell Highway.   
-http://www.outback-australia-travel-secrets.com/great-victoria-desert.html

-http://www.diamantina-tour.com.au/outback_info/deserts/great_victoria/great_victoria_aboriginal.asp

Fauna and Vegetation

Plant Life

 http://www.abc.net.au/science/photos/2012/11/21/3636626.htm

http://home.vicnet.net.au/~fgvd/plants.htm

 http://home.vicnet.net.au/~fgvd/plants.htm

Despite the Great Victoria Desert being a hot, arid desert with an abundance of sand dunes, the ecoregion sports great diversity in plant life.  The vegetation mostly consists of open woodlands, with the majority of the trees being eucalyptus trees, such as Marble Gum, and other endemic trees such as the Western Myall.  These trees are sparsely laid out, providing little shade from the sun for the desert wildlife.  Also present are grasses and shrubs like hummock grass, mulga, and belah.  All in all, 140 different plant species were found in 2009 by the Friends of the Great Victoria Desert, a testament to how diverse the plant life is in the desert. 

-http://home.vicnet.net.au/~fgvd/plants.htm 

-http://www.eoearth.org/article/Great_Victoria_desert?topic=74361 

Animals

http://www.abc.net.au/science/photos/2012/11/21/3636626.htm

 http://www.abc.net.au/science/photos/2012/11/21/3636626.htm

The Great Victoria Desert boasts a large diversity in animals, housing over 100 different reptilian species, one being the rare great desert skink.  Due to the diversity of regions in the Australian Outback, the Great Victoria Desert animals have evolved in isolation, allowing more variation in the reptilian species.  Up to nine different gecko species can be found in overlapping regions, indicative of the diversity in the region. 

-http://www.eoearth.org/article/Great_Victoria_desert?topic=74361

-http://www.environment.gov.au/land/publications/acris/pubs/bioregion-great-victoria-desert.pdf

 

 

Great Victoria Desert – Overview

http://www.eoearth.org/article/Great_Victoria_desert?topic=74361

 http://www.outback-australia-travel-secrets.com/australian_deserts.html

The Great Victoria Desert is the largest desert in the continent of Australia and the eight largest desert in the world overall, covering roughly 163900 square miles. It is located in the South-Western region of Australia, stretching from the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia to the Gawler Ranges in Southern Australia.  It is one of the five deserts and among the many different ecosystems located in the vast but sparsely populated region known as the Australian Outback.

-http://worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/aa1305

-http://www.outback-australia-travel-secrets.com/australian_deserts.html

The Great Victoria Desert is considered to be a hot, arid desert, receiving only 150 to 250 mm(5.9 to 9.8 inches) of rain annually.  However the rain tends to be random and unpredictable throughout the year.  Summers can achieve high temperatures reaching temperatures of 35 degrees Celsius and in the winter can reach temperatures below freezing in the middle of the night.

 

http://www.eoearth.org/article/Great_Victoria_desert?topic=74361

http://home.vicnet.net.au/~fgvd/facts.htm

http://www.outdoorssa.com.au/Feature%20Stories/Coongie%20Lake.htm

The Great Victoria Desert is mostly covered in sand dunes, especially in the low-elevation areas, dispersed among low ranges, tabletops, and plains.  In other areas, there are special regions called gibber plains, which are regions of the desert completely covered in pebbles. Little vegetation can live in this sort of environment, though during times of rain, some temporary plants will sprout. 

-http://worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/aa1305 

 

Deserts – Overview

http://www.outback-australia-travel-secrets.com/australian_deserts.html

A desert is considered to be one of the driest ecosystems in the world, with the expected rainfall of all deserts reaching only 0 to 20 inches per year.  Many associate the dry climate to the intense heat of a traditional ‘hot’ desert but freezing ‘cold’ deserts do exist, the biggest being the entire continent of Antarctica.  Due to the harsh climate of a desert, the vegetation found in these regions have adapted by either developing leaves and stems that store water, growing long taproots to gather water from deep beneath the surface, or developing spiny ‘leaves’ that give off less moisture than a typical leaf. 
Sources:
http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/deserts/features/

Work Cited

"Aboriginal History." Great Victoria Desert. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2012. <http://www.diamantina-tour.com.au/outback_info/deserts/great_victoria/great_victoria_aboriginal.asp>.

"Colours of the Great Victoria Desert › Photos (ABC Science)." Colours of the Great Victoria Desert › Photos (ABC Science). N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2012. <http://www.abc.net.au/science/photos/2012/11/21/3636626.htm>.

"Friends of the GVD." Friends of the GVD. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2012. <http://home.vicnet.net.au/~fgvd/plants.htm>.

"Great Victoria Desert 1." Great Victoria Desert 1. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2012. <http://www.dec.wa.gov.au/pdf/science/bio_audit/great_victoria_desert01_p343-350.pdf>.

"Great Victoria Desert 2." Great Victoria Desert 2. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2012. <http://www.dec.wa.gov.au/pdf/science/bio_audit/great_victoria_desert02_p351-357.pdf>.

"Great Victoria Desert, AustraliaThe Largest Desert In Australia." Great Victoria Desert, Australia. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2012. <http://www.outback-australia-travel-secrets.com/great-victoria-desert.html>.

"Great Victoria Desert Bioregion." Great Victoria Desert Bioregion. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2012. <http://www.environment.gov.au/land/publications/acris/pubs/bioregion-great-victoria-desert.pdf>.

"Great Victoria Desert." Great Victoria Desert. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2012. <http://www.eoearth.org/article/Great_Victoria_desert?topic=74361>.

"Southern Australia." Wildlife Conservation, Endangered Species Conservation. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2012. <http://worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/aa1305>.