The Eastern Australia mulga shrublands, also mapped as the Mulga Lands, sweep across the semi-arid inland of New South Wales and Queensland on flat plains and low rises of ancient, infertile soils. The signature vegetation is low mulga (Acacia aneura) woodland and shrubland, interwoven with chenopod shrublands of saltbush and bluebush and codominant eucalypts such as poplar or bimble box (Eucalyptus populnea), coolibah (E. coolabah), and silver-leaved ironbark (E. melanophloia). The climate is relatively arid with unpredictable, low annual rainfall, so plant life flushes quickly after rains, briefly blanketing the country in wildflowers and filling ephemeral freshwater and saline lakes that draw large congregations of waterbirds. The region holds roughly 747 plant species, yet its mammal fauna has been devastated: of 56 mammals once present, 23 are now extinct or extirpated. About 80 percent of the ecoregion still carries natural vegetation, though much of it is degraded by overgrazing, and drought-hardy native genera like Acacia and Eucalyptus point to the kinds of plants suited to dry, low-water gardens here.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 27.9°S, 145.2°E.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
11a-11b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
11a-12a
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +3.3°F by mid-century. SSP3-7.0 (current trajectory) · CHELSA v2.1 bio06 sampled across 10 of 10 points within this ecoregion's bounding box.
At a glance
Dominant biome
Temperate Grasslands, Savannas & Shrublands
Realm
Australasia
Approximate area
97,419 sq mi
Conservation tier
Nature Could Reach Half Protected (Dinerstein NNH 2)
About the temperate grasslands, savannas & shrublands biome
Temperate prairies, steppes, and pampas of grasses and forbs with few trees, under continental climates of hot summers and cold winters. Their deep, fertile soils have made them among the most extensively converted biomes for agriculture.
Catalog plants suited to this ecoregion
Computed from each plant's stated USDA zone range against this ecoregion's CHELSA-derived current zone range, with the CHELSA mid-century warming delta applied for the projection. Plants whose stated range falls outside both the current and projected zone end up dropped; the rest land in one of the three buckets below.
Climate-resilient picks · 52
These plants fit this ecoregion today AND remain in range under the mid-century SSP3-7.0 projection. Lead with these for a planting that holds up as the climate shifts.
No curated collection's plants all fit this ecoregion's zone range. We surface a collection only when every member would grow here — partial fits get filtered out rather than mislead. As the catalog and the curated set both grow, this section will fill in.
Related ecoregions
Other temperate grasslands, savannas & shrublands ecoregions to explore: