Billiatt (24330)
Australia, Australasia
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2009
National site name: Billiatt
Central coordinates: Latitude: -34.9768, Longitude: 140.4695
System: terrestrial
Elevation (m): 0 to 134
Area of KBA (km2): 594.11306
Protected area coverage (%): 99.33
KBA classification: Global/Regional TBD
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: The IBA is identical to Billiatt Conservation Park, which is located approximately 160 km east of Adelaide. The climate is semi-arid with mild to hot temperatures and mean annual rainfall of about 300 mm. The IBA is situated on undulating brown sands with mainly east-west oriented dunes, some clay flats and outcrops of lateritic gravel. It supports a mosaic of open mallee, mallee-heath and mallee-broombush scrub comprising various species of mallee (i.e. Ridge-fruit Mallee, Narrow-leaf Red Mallee, White Mallee, Beaked Red Mallee and Square-fruit Mallee) and Mallee Cypress Pine above an understorey of tea-tree, broombush, spinifex and sword-sedges. The IBA provides important habitat for several key mallee specialists, most notably the globally threatened Mallee Emu-wren and Malleefowl.
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance because it meets one or more previously established criteria and thresholds for identifying sites of biodiversity importance (including Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas, Alliance for Zero Extinction sites, and Key Biodiversity Areas)
Additional biodiversity: The IBA supports four nationally threatened species or subspecies: Malleefowl, Mallee Emu-wren, Red-lored Whistler and the mallee subspecies of Western Whipbird. The IBA also supports six species or subspecies that are listed as threatened in South Australia: Peregrine Falcon, Blue-winged Parrot and the eastern subspecies of Regent Parrot (both non-breeding visitors), Striated Grasswren and Shy Heathwren (both in significant numbers) and Chestnut Quail-thrush (Carpenter and Matthew 1986; Carpenter et al. 2003; Clarke 2005; A. Black in litt. 2009). Other records of interest include three Scarlet-chested Parrots in 1995 (Carpenter et al. 2003) and significant numbers of Southern Scrub-robin (Clarke 2005). Non-bird biodiversity: The IBA contains a sizeable population (at least 1000 inviduals) of Williamson's Riceflower, which is listed as a rare species in South Australia. The IBA also contains populations of another six plant species that are uncommon in South Australia and another eight plant species that have been assigned a regional conservation rating. The IBA provides habitat for five butterfly species (Sciron Skipper, Cyprotus Blue, Black and White Skipper, Donnysa Skipper and Dirphia Skipper) which are listed as threatened in South Australia.
Habitats
Land use: nature conservation and research (100%)
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Shrubland | 95 | |
| Grassland | 5 |
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: A suitable fire management regime is essential to sustain key bird species.
| Threat level 1 | Threat level 2 | Threat level 3 | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural system modifications | Fire & fire suppression | Increase in fire frequency/intensity | Only in the past and unlikely to return |
| Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases | Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases | Named species | Ongoing |
| Agriculture & aquaculture | Annual & perennial non-timber crops | Scale Unknown/Unrecorded | Only in the past and unlikely to return |
| Agriculture & aquaculture | Livestock farming & ranching | Scale Unknown/Unrecorded | Only in the past and unlikely to return |
Additional information
References: Carpenter, G. and Matthew, J. (1986) The birds of Billiatt Conservation Park. South Australian Ornithologist 30: 29-37. Carpenter, G., Black, A., Harper, D. and Horton, P. (2003) Bird Report 1982-1999. South Australian Ornithologist 34: 93-151. Clarke, R.H. (2004) Threatened bird species recorded within the Billiatt and Ngarkat Conservation Park complexes, South Australia, Spring 2003. Unpublished report to the Department for Environment and Heritage, Adelaide. Clarke, R.H. (2005) Ecological requirements of birds specialising in mallee habitats. Modelling the habitat suitability for threatened mallee birds. La Trobe University unpublished report.
Contributors: The nomination was compiled with the assistance of Jody Gates and Peter Cale.