Dragon Tree Soak Nature Reserve - WA

  National Parks,Reserves

Position

DEG: -19.690272 123.34298015
DMS: 19º 41' 24.98" S 123º 20' 34.73" E
UTM: 51 K 7822756mN 535947mE
Altitude: 121.04m

Description

Place Type

Reserves - National Parks,Reserves

Location

198.68kms SouthEast of Bidyadanga Community
201.51kms SouthWest of Looma
204.57kms SouthWest of Yungngora
552.24kms NorthEast of Newman

Address & Contact

Gingerah WA
Phone: N/A
Email: N/A
Web: N/A

Information

Dragon Tree Soak Nature Reserve covers an area of around 18,000 hectares and is located in the northwest of Western Australia. It is an extremely remote area where no access roads currently exist. Access is gained only by arduous cross country travel across the dune fields and soak pans of the Great Sandy Desert. At its closest point, the reserve is 210km east of the Great Northern Highway.

Eminent botanist Dr Alex George and a college were being helicoptered to McLarty Hills in 1977 when they spotted the soak from the air, they spend a few days at the soak collecting samples and then had it named.
"Dragon Tree Soak" was the name suggested by the Western Australian Herbarium and approved on 22.12.77. "The soak is a prominent & unusual feature. It covers about 1ha and supports a dense growth of the White Dragon Tree (Sesbania Formosa)." Quote from W.A.Herbarium Letter 3661/60 page 40.

Dragon Tree Soak is a swamp believed to be a relic of the riverine vegetation found along the Mandora Palaeoriver during its partial rejuvenation by the wetter climates of the early to mid Holocene Epoch (It is generally accepted that the Holocene started approximately 12,000 years BP (before present day. The period follows the Baltic-Scandinavian Ice Age). The swamp supports beds of bullrush (Typha domingensis) and is surrounded by a low woodland of White Dragon Trees (Sesbania formosa); these and other plants are markedly confined to the Soak. It is used by birds from the surrounding hummock grasslands but also has species generally associated with scrub or tree-lined watercourses elsewhere. Species not recorded elsewhere in the region but present in the Typha beds were the Clamorous Reed-Warbler and the Australian crake. The soak includes a freshwater spring, a permanent freshwater marsh and peatland. It has an area of 5 ha (main water area: 1 ha). It forms an oasis supporting plants and animals that are absent or scarce elsewhere in the desert.





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Wildflowers

Weather

Closest Weather Station

Broome Port at 28/08:00pm WST
Distance from Dragon Tree Soak Nature Reserve 221.88km NW
TemperatureFeels LikeRel. HumidityDew PointPressureRainfallWind DirectionWind SpeedGusts
29.0°C°C%°C1010.4hPa-mmW15km/hr
8knots
20km/hr
11knots

Closest Climatic Station

Bidyadanga
Distance from Dragon Tree Soak Nature Reserve 198.46km NW
 JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Mean Max. °C34.434.135.335.632.429.829.531.032.834.234.935.0
Mean Min. °C26.025.624.922.118.315.313.914.917.521.023.925.7
Mean Rain mm126.9137.797.625.325.220.28.42.11.31.07.854.9

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