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Tanami Research Paper

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Deserts cover 1,371,000 square kilometres (18%) of Australia’s mainland. Deserts & their arid climatic conditions are generally found in the central west & interior lowlands of the continent. There are ten deserts in Australia: the Great Victoria Desert, the Great Sandy Desert, Tanami Desert, Simpson Desert, Gibson Desert, Little Sandy Desert, Strzelecki Desert, Sturt Stony Desert, Tirari Desert & Pedirka Desert. Only 3% of the country’s population live in the desert.
Features & Climate (Tanami Desert):
The Tanami spans across both the Northern Territory & North West Australia, its Australia’s third largest desert at 184,500 square kilometres. The Tanami receives up to 400mm in annual rainfall- a lot for a desert environment; its northern …show more content…

Some of the species that can be found …show more content…

The area is so underpopulated there is little direct human threat apart from over-grazing of cattle & farming operations. Predation from feral cats & foxes is a direct cause of the decline in the deserts Bilby population, habitat loss also plays another key role.
• The escape or deliberate release of domestic cats led to a free-living population, they are now found on the entire continent of Australia; Researchers have found the Northern Territory’s feral cat population exceeds 100,000; they kill an estimated amount of 3.65 million small native animals a year.
• Feral camels were originally imported into Australia from India, Afghanistan & Arabia for use in construction during colonisation of parts of central & Western Australia. The population now exceeds 1 million. Camels ingest 80% of the plant species available leaving little of local indigenous people or native herbivorous fauna. Their soft padded feet mean they don’t erode the earth like feral horses or cattle however they can destabilise dune-crests which may lead to erosion.

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