Coongie Lakes (24445)
Australia, Australasia

Site overview

KBA status: confirmed

Global KBA criteria: B1, D1a

Year of last assessment: 2009

National site name: Coongie Lakes

Central coordinates: Latitude: -27.0993, Longitude: 140.1938

System: freshwater, terrestrial

Elevation (m): 25 to 120

Area of KBA (km²): 607.99675

Protected area coverage (%): 100.00

KBA classification: Global

Legacy site: Yes

Site details

Site description: This IBA is comprised of a large part of the Coongie Lakes National Park, centred on Lake Goolangirie (= Lake Goyder) and adjacent lakes of known waterbird importance, on the lower Cooper Creek system in north-east South Australia. The IBA could be extended to include the maximum extent of ephemerally flooded waterbodies and channels extending south across Innamincka Regional Reserve to the Strzelecki Desert Lakes IBA but there is inadequate survey data from most of this region. The Coongie Lakes system receives flows most years from Cooper Creek via its North West Branch which carries floodwaters to Tirrawarra Swamp and then north to the lakes. Lakes Coongie, Marroocoolcannie, Marroocutchanie, Toontoowaranie and Goyder fill regularly, whereas Lake Marradibbadibba is mainly dry. Other important lakes include Lakes Apanburra, Marradibbadibba, Lady Blanche, Sir Richard and Sturt Ponds. Cooper Creek is the longest and most important dryland river in Australia and one of the largest endorheic catchments in the world. The system consists of a series of channels and permanent and temporary waterholes with floodplains, gibber plains, sand plains and inland sand dunes. The vegetation consists of a mixture of grasses, herbs, open shrubland and open woodland, with grasses, herbs and low shrubs dominant in arid areas, and open woodland concentrated around channels, waterholes and areas of more frequent inundation. The soils are deep, cracking, grey clays (dry lake beds) and siliceous sands (dunefields). The IBA experiences an arid climate with warm to hot temperatures and mean annual rainfall of 100-150 mm. Over 100,000 waterbirds were estimated in the summers 1990/91, 1991/92, 1997/98, 2000/01 and 2001/02. The IBA is largely within the Innamincka Regional Reserve and wholly within the Coongie Lakes Ramsar site which covers almost 2 million hectares.

Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance that meets the thresholds for at least one criterion described in the Global Standard for the Identification of KBAs.

Additional biodiversity: The first specimen of the critically endangered Night Parrot was collected in the Coongie Lakes System on Captain Charles Sturt's expedition in 1845, and there were two possible observations there in 1987 (Reid 2000a; J. Reid in litt. 2009). The region also supports numbers of the endangered Plains-wanderer (one record of two birds in 1976, Bennett 1983); the near threatened Letter-winged Kite (rare to uncommon breeding visitor; Cox and Pedler 1977; Badman 1989; J. Reid in litt. 2009), Grey Falcon (rare but has been recorded breeding; Badman 1989; J. Reid in litt. 2009; Atlas of Australian Birds database), Bush Thick-knee (presumed rare breeding resident based on a limited number of observations made over the past few decades; Badman and May 1983; Badman 1989; J. Reid in litt. 2009; S. Parker unpublished) and Painted Honeyeater (two records of passage birds; J. Reid in litt. 2009); the biome-restricted Black Honeyeater (uncommon; Atlas of Australian Birds database); and the uncommon Yellow Chat (several birds in grassy dry lake bed of Lake Toontoowaranie in 2003; J. Reid in litt. 2009). The IBA supports notable numbers of several other species including 3501 Australian Pratincole counted on Coongie Lakes system in November 1997 but estimated to be 7000 (Reid 2000b); 2500 Flock Bronzewing in Coongie Lakes in autumn 1987 (Reid 1988) with smaller numbers and breeding noted intermittently to 2003 including 400 in 2003 (J. Reid in litt. 2009); 12,000 Eurasian Coot and 7991 Hardhead in 2002 (Costelloe et al. 2004). Australian Painted Snipe, which is listed as nationally vulnerable, bred at Lake Toontoowaranie in 2002 (Costelloe et al. 2004).

Other site values: Coongie Lakes National Park is managed by the Department for Environment and Heritage. Most of the remaining land is under pastoral and mineral exploration leases.

Habitats

Land use: nature conservation and research | rangeland/pastureland

IUCN Habitat	Coverage %	Habitat detail
Rocky Areas(e.g., inland cliffs, mountain peaks)	43
Desert	5
Wetlands(Inland)	43
Shrubland	5
Savanna	5

Threats

Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: Maintain Cooper Creek as a wholly unmodified hydrological system. Investigate the impact of over-grazing and erosion by livestock and rabbits. Expand the national park to include additional lakes of importance.

Threat level 1	Threat level 2	Threat level 3	Timing
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching	Agro-industry grazing, ranching or farming	Ongoing
Biological resource use	Fishing & harvesting aquatic resources	Motivation Unknown/Unrecorded	Only in the future
Natural system modifications	Dams & water management/use	Small dams	Ongoing
Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases	Named species	Ongoing
Natural system modifications	Fire & fire suppression	Increase in fire frequency/intensity	Only in the future
Energy production & mining	Oil & gas drilling		Ongoing
Human intrusions & disturbance	Recreational activities		Ongoing
Pollution	Garbage & solid waste		Ongoing
Climate change & severe weather	Droughts		Ongoing

Additional information

References: Badman, F.J. (1989) The Birds of Middle and Lower Cooper Creek in South Australia. Nature Conservation Society of South Australia: Adelaide. Badman, F.J. and May, I.A. (1983) Waders in northern South Australia. South Australian Ornithologist 29: 29-39. Baxter, C.I., Reid, J.R.W. and Jaensch, R.P. (2001) First South Australian records of the Black-necked Stork Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus and occurrence of vagrants in south-western Queensland. South Australian Ornithologist 33: 164-169. Bennett, S. (1983) A review of the distribution, status and biology of the Plains Wanderer Pedionomus torquatus, Gould. Emu 83: 1-11. Blakers, M., Davies, S.J.J.F. and Reilly, P.N. (1984) The Atlas of Australian Birds. Melbourne University Press: Melbourne. Costelloe J.F., Hudson P.J., Pritchard J.C., Puckridge J.T. and Reid, J.R.W. (2004). ARIDFLO Scientific Report: Environmental Flow Requirements of Arid Zone Rivers with Particular Reference to the Lake Eyre Drainage Basin. School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide. Final Report to South Australian Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation and Commonwealth Department of Environment and Heritage. Cox, J.B. and Pedler, L.P. (1977) Birds recorded during three visits to the far north-east of South Australia. South Australian Ornithologist 27: 231-250. DEWHA (2008) A Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia. Coongie Lakes - SA001. Accessed from http://www.environment.gov.au/water/publications/environmental/wetlands/database/ accessed August 2008. Kingsford, R.T., Curtin, A.L. and Porter, J.L. (1999) Water flows on Cooper Creek in arid Australia determine boom and bust periods for waterbirds. Biological Conservation 88: 231-248. May, I.A. (1982) Bird notes - Grey Grasswren. South Australian Ornithological Association Newsletter 102: 11. May, I.A., Close, D.H. and Badman, F. (1982) Bird notes - Freckled Duck. South Australian Ornithological Association Newsletter 104: 6. May, I.A. (1986) Appendix V: Birds of Innamincka Station. Pp. 123-137. In: Faithfull, E. (ed.) Rangeland Assessment Manual, Innamincka Station. Department of Lands, South Australia. Parker, S.A. (1980) Birds and conservation parks in the north-east of South Australia. South Australian Parks and Conservation 3: 11-18. Reid, J.R.W. (1984) [Bird Sections] In: Mollenmans F.H., Reid, J.R.W., Thompson, M.B., Alexander, L. and Pedler, L.P. Biological survey of the Cooper Creek Environmental Association (8.4.4), north eastern South Australia. Consultancy report to National Parks and Wildlife Service. Department of Environment and Planning: Adelaide. Reid, J.R.W. (1988) Birds. In: Reid, J. and Gillen, J. (eds) (1988) The Coongie Lakes Study. Consultancy report for the Department of Environment and Planning: Adelaide. Reid, J.R.W. (1992) Terrestrial monitoring of Coongie after flood. An assessment of the effects of flooding on the terrestrial biota in the Coongie Lakes District. Unpublished Final Report to the Reserves Advisory Committee of the National Parks and Wildlife. Reid, J.R.W. (2000a) Birds of Cooper Creek and the Far North East in South Australia. Pp. 209-227. In: Collier, R., Hatch, J., Matheson, B. and Russell, T. (eds) Birds, birders and birding in South Australia. South Australian Ornithological Association: Adelaide. Reid, J.R.W. (2000b) Waterbird, Riparian and Floodplain Ecology of the Coongie Lakes System, Cooper Creek, Central Australia. Volume 3 of Reid, J.R.W. & Puckridge, J.T. (eds) The Seasonal Ecology of the Coongie Lakes System and Cooper Creek Floodplain, Central Australia Unpublished report to the South Australian Department for Environment and Heritage and the Australian Heritage Commission. Reid, J. and Jaensch, R. (1999) An Aerial Survey of Waterbirds in the Coongie Lakes System, December 1998. Report to the South Australian Department of Environment, Heritage and Aboriginal Affairs. Wetlands International - Oceania, Canberra.