Bustards and Miners forage in the outback.

Mallees are the dominant vegetation throughout semi-arid areas of Australia with reliable winter rainfall. Within this area, they form extensive woodlands and shrublands covering over 250,000 square kilometres and are considered one of Australia’s major vegetation groups. Mallee is the growth habit of certain eucalypt species that grow with multiple stems springing from an underground lignotuber, usually to a height of no more than ten metres.

Many species of mammal, bird and insects depend on the Mallee to survive which is being destroyed and fragmented to meet human population demands. The endangered Black-eared Miner for instance requires large blocks of long, unburnt and uncleared (older than 50 years), 5-8 meter tall mallee type forest, with an understory of small bushes, shrubs and chenopods to survive. The Bustard or “Bush Turkey” (also endangered in Victoria) needs pristine Mallee for nesting.

Created using the authors’ 3d digital bird models from SongbirdReMix.com