2. General Info
S The South West region
is one of the nine
regions of Western
Australia. It is so
named because it
located in the south-
west corner of Western
Australia. The South
West region has an area
of 23,970 km², and a
population of about
123,000 people.
3. Characteristics of Region
S A biodiversity hotspot that includes the Mediterranean
forests, woodlands, and scrub ecoregions of Western
Australia. The region has a wet-winter, dry-summer
Mediterranean climate, one of five such regions in the
world. The region is mainly woody, including forests,
woodlands, shrublands, and heathlands, but no grasslands.
7. Animals
S Australian Raven, Western Grey Kangaroo, Western Brush
Wallaby, Tammar Wallaby, Numbat, Quenda, Western
Swamp Turtle, The Turtle Frog, Brown Quail, Fairy Prion.
S Endangered Animals- red-tailed black cockatoo, western
swamp turtle, Gilbert’s Potoroo, tasmanian tiger
15. Major Threats
S Large-scale mining for bauxite is increasingly a threat to
Southwest Australia's ecosystems; the region is one of the
largest producers of alumina in the world.
S One of the most serious current threats to the natural
vegetation of Southwest Australia is the spread of root
disease, or caused by the root fungus Phytophthora
cinnamomi. The disease was first noticed in the jarrah
forests in 1940 but not identified until 1965. By that time,
thousands of hectares of forest had been infected and killed.
16. Major Threats
S Introduced alien species, especially foxes and cats, threaten
native fauna and have caused major declines in species like
the numbat in Southwest Australia.
S Land managers have successfully poisoned these alien
species with sodium flouroacetate; amazingly, native
mammals are immune to the poison because the compound
occurs naturally in the leaves of many native legumes.
