Goyder Lagoon (25115)
Australia, Australasia

Site overview

KBA status: confirmed

Global KBA criteria: B1, D1a

Year of last assessment: 2009

National site name: Goyder Lagoon

Central coordinates: Latitude: -26.7843, Longitude: 139.1337

System: freshwater, terrestrial

Elevation (m): 15 to 25

Area of KBA (km²): 2751.67671

KBA classification: Global

Legacy site: Yes

Site details

Site description: This IBA consists of Goyder Lagoon, which is part of the Diamantina floodplain, and it is situated beside the Birdsville Track in South Australia, close to the border with Queensland. Goyder Lagoon is a large ephemeral swamp or intermittent internal delta on the Diamantina River system; especially large floods in the Georgina-Mulligan River system (such as occurred in 2001) may contribute water to the north-western side of Goyder Lagoon via Eyre Creek. The topography is flat, except for some deeply incised and often disconnected anastomosing channel reaches, which feature high banks and levees (sometimes associated with south-east to north-east trending dunes); most of the lagoon proper is dominated by shallow braided micro-channels. The median annual rainfall is 100-150 mm and average summer maximum temperatures are 36-39 Celsius. The IBA includes the floodplain south to the Warbuton Crossing to capture most of the South Australian population of Grey Grasswren. In times of major flood there are waterbirds over the entire wetland system; the largest aggregations are found near the southern side of the lagoon. There are important colonial waterbird breeding sites known from around Goyder Lagoon waterhole and west of Koonchera waterhole. The IBA could be extended to include adjacent sand-dunes which run into the floodplain and support Eyrean Grasswrens. The floodplain receives some water in most years from the Diamantina River, which is less affected by water retention in upstream lakes and swamps than the other Channel Country river systems. The entire IBA is located within the huge Clifton Hills cattle grazing property. A total of 170,000 waterbirds was estimated from aerial surveys in 2002.

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: Goyder Lagoon is the only site in South Australia at which Yellow Chat are known to occur. High counts of waterbirds include an estimated 7714 Little Black Cormorant in 1999 (Kingsford et al. 2000) and 5480 Gull-billed Tern in 1991 (second-highest count 1310 in 1997; Kingsford & Porter 2006). Australian Painted Snipe was seen in 1981 and 2001 near Koonchera waterhole (J. Reid in litt. 2008; A. Black in litt. 2009) and thought to have bred near Koonchera Waterhole in 2002 (Costelloe et al. 2004). In 2000/01, the southern part of the lagoon supported two mixed species breeding colony of waterbirds, the largest such colonies in the South Australian Channel Country, and a smaller colony of Straw-necked Ibis. Estimated numbers of nests/pairs at the Koonchera colony in 2000/01 included 4000 Straw-necked Ibis, 3000 Little Black Cormorant, 1000 Nankeen Night-Heron, 800 Glossy Ibis and smaller numbers of Little Pied, Pied and Great Cormorants, Great and Intermediate Egrets, Australian White Ibis, Australasian Darter, Australian Pelican and White-necked Heron (J. Reid in litt. 2008). The western part of the lagoon tends to be barer and in 2001 during a major flood (i.e. water flowing in from Eyre Creek) this area held hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of migratory shorebirds, primarily smaller species such as sandpipers, but also including Little Curlew. There is a small population of Yellow Chat near Koonchera Waterhole (Black et al. 1983). Non-bird biodiversity: The nationally vulnerable Kowari occurs at Goyder Lagoon.

Other site values: Privately owned by Clifton Hills Pastoral Company.

Habitats

Land use: rangeland/pastureland (100%)

IUCN Habitat	Coverage %	Habitat detail
Forest	5
Wetlands(Inland)	90
Desert	5

Threats

Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: Grazing of cattle should be managed in a manner that minimizes damage to lignum thickets on the floodplain. Determine the potential impact of any future proposals to abstract water from upstream of the lagoon.

Threat level 1	Threat level 2	Threat level 3	Timing
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching	Agro-industry grazing, ranching or farming	Ongoing
Natural system modifications	Dams & water management/use	Abstraction of surface water (unknown use)	Only in the future
Natural system modifications	Fire & fire suppression	Increase in fire frequency/intensity	Ongoing

Additional information

References: Black, A.B., Duggan, G., Pedler, J.A. and Pedler, L.P. (1983) The Yellow Chat Ephthianura crocea at Pandiburra Bore, north-eastern South Australia. South Australian Ornithologist 29: 42-45. 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. New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service: Hurstville, New South Wales. Cox, J.B. (1976) Grey Grasswrens and Grass Owls at Goyder's Lagoon, South Australia. South Australian Ornithologist 27: 96-99. Cox, J.B. (1982) Ornithology of northeastern South Australia. In: Foale, M.R. (ed.) The far north east of South Australia: a biological survey conducted by the Nature Conservation Society of South Australia (Inc.) 2nd-30th August 1975. Nature Conservation Society of South Australia (Inc.): Adelaide. 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. Diamantina River Wetland System - SA002. http://www.environment.gov.au/water/publications/environmental/wetlands/database/ accessed August 2008. Graetz, R.D., Tongway, D.J. and Pech, R.P. (1982) An ecological classification of the lands comprising the southern Simpson Desert and its margins. CSIRO Rangelands Research Centre (Deniliquin) Technical Memorandum 82/2. Parker, S.A., Eckert, H.J., Ragless, G.B., Cox, J.B. and Reid, N.C.H. (1979) An Annotated Checklist of the Birds of South Australia. Part One: Emus to Spoonbills. South Australian Ornithological Association: Adelaide. Puckridge, J.T., Reid, J.R.W., Sheldon, F. and Baker, S. (1999) Biological Survey of the Lower Diamantina Floodplain, November 1993. Final Report. A Joint Project of the Conservation Council of South Australia and the South Australian Department of Environment and Planning, funded by the Australian Heritage Commission, Adelaide. Purdie, R. (1984) Land systems of the Simpson Desert region. Natural Resources Series No. 2. CSIRO: Canberra. Kingsford, R. and Porter, J. (2006) Eastern Australian aerial survey database. Accessed 2006. Kingsford, R.T., Porter, J.L., Ahern, A.D. and Davis, S.T. (2000) Aerial surveys of wetland birds in eastern Australia - October 1996-1999. NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service Occasional Paper 31. NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service: Hurstville, New South Wales. Mollemans, F.H., Reid, J.R.W., Thompson, M.B., Alexander, L. and Pedler, L.P. (1984) Appendix S - Biological survey of the Cooper Creek Environmental Association (8.4.4) North Eastern South Australia. South Australian Department of Environment and Planning: Adelaide. Reid, J. (1988) Birds. In: Reid, J. and Gillen, J. (eds) The Coongie Lakes study. South Australian Department of Environment and Planning: Adelaide. Reid, J. (1993) Biological survey of Goyders Lagoon, Diamantina River SA, 11/93 - brief report. Unpublished report to Conservation Council of South Australia and Department of Environment and Natural Resources.