Geography and Species
Yellagonga Regional Park consists of high elevation sloping dunes, separated by interdunal swales that contain the park's lakes and wetlands. The western side of the park is quite steep, with a central plateau of up to 50 metres (160 ft) elevation. The eastern and southern parts of the park have a gentler slope towards Lake Goollelal and Walluburnup Swamp.
In 1996, the Department of Environmental Protection identified 217 species of flora, including 103 introduced species. The park has no recorded species of Declared Rare Flora but does have significant species, such as Jacksonia sericea, Conostylis bracteata, Hibbertia cuneiformis, Amyema miquelii, Lechenaultia linarioides and Ricinocarpus glaucus.
Over 120 bird species have been recorded in the park, with 18 species using the park for breeding grounds. A number of the recorded species are migratory birds recognised under international agreements. Three species of birds found in the park (Carnaby's Cockatoo, Australasian Bittern and Peregrine Falcon) are protected under the Wildlife Conservation Act 1950.
The impact of humans on Yellagonga National Park is extensive in areas. Many areas were previously used for farming and these are still being rehabilitated. The grassed parkland areas have led to the invasion of natural areas by aggressive introduced grass species, and weeds are also an issue. Development of roads, utilities (such as power lines and drainage outlets) and service corridors has degraded the natural landscape. Erosion is also a problem in areas, caused by tracks and pathways created by pedestrians in unsuitable locations such as slopes.
Read more about this topic: Yellagonga Regional Park
Famous quotes containing the words geography and, geography and/or species:
“The totality of our so-called knowledge or beliefs, from the most casual matters of geography and history to the profoundest laws of atomic physics or even of pure mathematics and logic, is a man-made fabric which impinges on experience only along the edges. Or, to change the figure, total science is like a field of force whose boundary conditions are experience.”
—Willard Van Orman Quine (b. 1908)
“The totality of our so-called knowledge or beliefs, from the most casual matters of geography and history to the profoundest laws of atomic physics or even of pure mathematics and logic, is a man-made fabric which impinges on experience only along the edges. Or, to change the figure, total science is like a field of force whose boundary conditions are experience.”
—Willard Van Orman Quine (b. 1908)
“Both classically- and romantically-minded spirits—inasmuch as these two species always exist—occupy themselves with a vision of the future: but the former do so out of a strength of their age, the latter out of its weakness.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)