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average temp different times of year and dif places  

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average temp different times of year and dif places  

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perth/ W.A
https://weatherspark.com/y/128792/Average-Weather-in-Perth-Australia-Year-Round

port hedland/W.A got the first bit

darwin,/N.T
https://weather-and-climate.com/average-monthly-Rainfall-Temperature-Sunshine,Darwin,Australia

mount isa/QLD
https://weatherspark.com/y/143786/Average-Weather-in-Mount-Isa-Australia-Year-Round

alice springs/NT
https://weather-and-climate.com/average-monthly-Rainfall-Temperature-Sunshine,Alice-Springs,Australia

brisbane/QLD
https://weather-and-climate.com/average-monthly-Rainfall-Temperature-Sunshine,Brisbane,Australia

canberra/NSW
https://weather-and-climate.com/average-monthly-Rainfall-Temperature-Sunshine,canberra,Australia

melbourne/VC
https://weather-and-climate.com/average-monthly-Rainfall-Temperature-Sunshine,Melbourne,Australia

hobart/TAS
https://www.climatestotravel.com/climate/australia/hobart

adelaide/SA
https://weather-and-climate.com/average-monthly-Rainfall-Temperature-Sunshine,adelaide,Australia

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Climate Port Hedland (Australia)

Port Hedland are in the southern hemisphere.

Summer starts here at the end of January and ends in December. There are the months of summer: December, January, February, March.

The best time to visit are April, May, September, October, November.

The month with the highest relative humidity is February (63.99 %). The month with the lowest relative humidity is August (39.41 %).

The month with the highest number of rainy days is February (6.30 days). The month with the lowest number of rainy days is October (0.17 days).

>>Weather by month // weather averages Port Hedland

>>Climate graph // Weather by Month Port Hedland

>>average temperature Port Hedland

>>Weather Port Hedland

>>Water temperature Port Hedland

Port Hedland's climate is a desert one. During the year, there is virtually no rainfall. According to Köppen and Geiger, this climate is classified as BWh. In Port Hedland, the average annual temperature is 27.0 °C | 80.5 °F. The annual rainfall is 363 mm | 14.3 inch.

Precipitation is the lowest in October, with an average of 0 mm | 0.0 inch. Most of the precipitation here falls in February, averaging 100 mm | 3.9 inch.

average temperature Port Hedland

At an average temperature of 30.7 °C | 87.3 °F, December is the hottest month of the year. July is the coldest month, with temperatures averaging 20.7 °C | 69.3 °F.

Weather by month // weather averages Port Hedland

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| Avg. Temperature °C (°F) | Min. Temperature °C (°F) | Max. Temperature °C (°F)

January

30.7

(87.3)

27.3

(81.1)

35.8

(96.4)

February

30.6

(87)

27.2

(80.9)

35.5

(95.8)

March

30.4

(86.8)

26.6

(80)

35.6

(96.1)

April

28.8

(83.9)

24.2

(75.5)

34.8

(94.6)

May

24.7

(76.4)

19.8

(67.6)

30.7

(87.3)

June

21.1

(69.9)

16.2

(61.2)

27

(80.6)

July

20.7

(69.3)

15.3

(59.6)

27.1

(80.8)

August

22.2

(72)

16.4

(61.6)

29.2

(84.6)

September

25.1

(77.2)

19.4

(67)

32.2

(90)

October

28.6

(83.5)

23.2

(73.8)

35.7

(96.3)

November

29.9

(85.8)

25

(77.1)

36.6

(97.8)

December

30.7

(87.3)

26.6

(79.9)

36.7

(98)

| January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December

Avg. Temperature °C (°F)

30.7 °C

(87.3) °F

30.6 °C

(87) °F

30.4 °C

(86.8) °F

28.8 °C

(83.9) °F

24.7 °C

(76.4) °F

21.1 °C

(69.9) °F

20.7 °C

(69.3) °F

22.2 °C

(72) °F

25.1 °C

(77.2) °F

28.6 °C

(83.5) °F

29.9 °C

(85.8) °F

30.7 °C

(87.3) °F

Min. Temperature °C (°F)

27.3 °C

(81.1) °F

27.2 °C

(80.9) °F

26.6 °C

(80) °F

24.2 °C

(75.5) °F

19.8 °C

(67.6) °F

16.2 °C

(61.2) °F

15.3 °C

(59.6) °F

16.4 °C

(61.6) °F

19.4 °C

(67) °F

23.2 °C

(73.8) °F

25 °C

(77.1) °F

26.6 °C

(79.9) °F

Max. Temperature °C (°F)

35.8 °C

(96.4) °F

35.5 °C

(95.8) °F

35.6 °C

(96.1) °F

34.8 °C

(94.6) °F

30.7 °C

(87.3) °F

27 °C

(80.6) °F

27.1 °C

(80.8) °F

29.2 °C

(84.6) °F

32.2 °C

(90) °F

35.7 °C

(96.3) °F

36.6 °C

(97.8) °F

36.7 °C

(98) °F

Precipitation / Rainfall mm (in)

73

(2)

100

(3)

80

(3)

24

(0)

20

(0)

23

(0)

11

(0)

3

(0)

2

(0)

0

(0)

0

(0)

27

(1)

Humidity(%) | 63% | 64% | 59% | 48% | 45% | 44% | 43% | 39% | 41% | 41% | 45% | 54%
Rainy days (d) | 4 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1
avg. Sun hours (hours) | 11.1 | 10.8 | 10.4 | 10.2 | 9.8 | 9.5 | 9.7 | 10.2 | 10.7 | 11.2 | 11.6 | 11.8

Data: 1991 - 2021 Min. Temperature °C (°F), Max. Temperature °C (°F), Precipitation / Rainfall mm (in), Humidity, Rainy days. Data: 1999 - 2019: avg. Sun hours

Between the driest and wettest months, the difference in precipitation is 100 mm | 4 inch. Throughout the year, temperatures vary by 10.0 °C | 18.1 °F.

Port Hedland weather and climate for every month

Hours of sunshine in Port Hedland

avg. hours of sun

Total hours of sun

In December the highest number of daily hours of sunshine is measured in Port Hedland on average. In December there is an average of 11.77 hours of sunshine a day and a total of 364.79 hours of sunshine throughout December.

In January, the lowest number of daily hours of sunshine is measured in Port Hedland on average. In January there are an average of 11.77 hours of sunshine per day and a total of 364.79 hours of sunshine.

Around 3864.48 hours of sunshine are counted in Port Hedland throughout the year. On average there are 127.06 hours of sunshine per month.

Weather Port Hedland

7 days

+7 days

Date | Weather | Max. | Min. | Rainrisk | Windspeed | Precipitation / Rainfall mm (in) | Humidity
21. June | Clear sky | 31 °C 87.8 °F | 20 °C 68 °F | 0 % | 21 km/h 13 mph | 0mm 0 in | 34%
22. June | Clear sky | 31 °C 87.8 °F | 20 °C 68 °F | 0 % | 18 km/h 11 mph | 0mm 0 in | 32%
23. June | Clear sky | 30 °C 86 °F | 19 °C 66.2 °F | 0 % | 17 km/h 11 mph | 0mm 0 in | 29%
24. June | Clear sky | 29 °C 84.2 °F | 18 °C 64.4 °F | 0 % | 17 km/h 11 mph | 0mm 0 in | 29%
25. June | Clear sky | 29 °C 84.2 °F | 18 °C 64.4 °F | 0 % | 20 km/h 12 mph | 0mm 0 in | 25%
26. June | Clear sky | 28 °C 82.4 °F | 18 °C 64.4 °F | 0 % | 31 km/h 19 mph | 0mm 0 in | 23%
27. June | Clear sky | 26 °C 78.8 °F | 18 °C 64.4 °F | 0 % | 34 km/h 21 mph | 0mm 0 in | 29%

Date | Weather | Max. | Min. | Rainrisk | Windspeed | Precipitation / Rainfall mm (in) | Humidity
28. June | Clear sky | 26 °C 78.8 °F | 16 °C 60.8 °F | 0 % | 28 km/h 17 mph | 0mm 0 in | 29%
29. June | Clear sky | 26 °C 78.8 °F | 15 °C 59 °F | 0 % | 22 km/h 14 mph | 0mm 0 in | 27%
30. June | Clear sky | 26 °C 78.8 °F | 15 °C 59 °F | 0 % | 24 km/h 15 mph | 0mm 0 in | 25%
1. July | Clear sky | 26 °C 78.8 °F | 17 °C 62.6 °F | 0 % | 23 km/h 14 mph | 0mm 0 in | 21%
2. July | Clear sky | 26 °C 78.8 °F | 16 °C 60.8 °F | 0 % | 21 km/h 13 mph | 0mm 0 in | 21%
3. July | Clear sky | 26 °C 78.8 °F | 16 °C 60.8 °F | 0 % | 25 km/h 16 mph | 0mm 0 in | 22%
4. July | Clear sky | 26 °C 78.8 °F | 17 °C 62.6 °F | 0 % | 28 km/h 17 mph | 0mm 0 in | 21%

Water temperature Port Hedland(Indian Ocean)

| Max. Water temperature °C (°F) | Avg. Water Temperature °C (°F) | Min. Water Temperature °C (°F)

January

30.5

86.9

30.2

86.4

29.8

85.6

February

30.6

87.1

30.5

86.9

30.1

86.2

March

30.6

87.1

30.3

86.5

29.9

85.8

April

29.8

85.6

29

84.2

28

82.4

May

27.8

82

26

78.8

24.5

76.1

June

24.4

75.9

23.1

73.6

22.3

72.1

July

22.2

72

21.7

71.1

21.4

70.5

August

22.3

72.1

21.7

71.1

21.5

70.7

September

24.6

76.3

23.5

74.3

22.3

72.1

October

27.3

81.1

26.1

79

24.7

76.5

November

28.6

83.5

28

82.4

27.3

81.1

December

29.8

85.6

29.3

84.7

28.6

83.5

| January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December

Min. Water Temperature °C (°F)

29.8

85.6

30.1

86.2

29.9

85.8

28

82.4

24.5

76.1

22.3

72.1

21.4

70.5

21.5

70.7

22.3

72.1

24.7

76.5

27.3

81.1

28.6

83.5

Avg. Water Temperature °C (°F)

30.2

86.4

30.5

86.9

30.3

86.5

29

84.2

26

78.8

23.1

73.6

21.7

71.1

21.7

71.1

23.5

74.3

26.1

79

28

82.4

29.3

84.7

Max. Water temperature °C (°F)

30.5

86.9

30.6

87.1

30.6

87.1

29.8

85.6

27.8

82

24.4

75.9

22.2

72

22.3

72.1

24.6

76.3

27.3

81.1

28.6

83.5

29.8

85.6

In Port Hedland, the annual water temperature (Indian Ocean) is on average 26.60°C | 79.88°F.

In February, the highest average water temperature for this place is reached with on average 30.60°C | 87.08°F. Whereas in July the lowest average water temperature is measured at 21.40°C | 70.52°F.

Approximately around February 11, the highest water temperature of around 30.60°C | 87.08°F is reached during the year. Whereas around July 18 the lowest average water temperatures are to be expected. At this time these are at about 21.40°C | 70.52°F.

The following water was used as the basis for the specified water temperatures for Port Hedland: Indian Ocean.

Airport close to Port Hedland

The closest Airports of Port Hedland are: Karratha Airport (KTA) 193.61km,Paraburdoo Airport (PBO) 329.70km,Newman Airport (ZNE) 367.54km

You can reach Port Hedland from this Cities by Plane: Sydney (SYD), Perth (PER), Broome (BME), Brisbane (BNE), Melbourne (MEL)

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they remember where the ones they went to before are

https://nature-mentor.com/how-do-animals-find-water/

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A key factor in every animal's survival is finding enough water to keep their bodies strong & healthy.

For this reason, animals have many different strategies for finding & using water from the environment, and it's a great way to gain insight into their behavior.

Most modern humans would have no clue where to find enough clean water in a survival situation... so how do animals do it?

A few key points to remember about wild animals and water:

Animals have specialized senses that can smell & feel moisture with much greater sensitivity than humans.

The amount of water animals need can be dramatically reduced by having efficient biology & eating a well-hydrated food source.

Most animals are capable of drinking water that would make humans sick.

With these points in mind, it's important to remember that different animals all have their own unique strengths, weaknesses & behavior traits that help us more accurately predict their survival.

So let's take a closer look at how different types of animals find water and what these strategies tell us about our local wildlife!

Mammals Navigate To Water Sources

An important thing to remember about mammals is they are very intelligent creatures who acquire tremendous knowledge about their environment at a young age, including how to find water.

Following the tracks of mammals reveals they follow habitual patterns of movement around their territories that include regular trips to known water sources, especially during times of heat and dry conditions.

In cases like this, finding water is simply a matter of remembering the locations of ponds, streams & water sources they've visited before.

Drinking spots will be first learned from parents and then gradually over time through exploration and slowly adjusting territorial boundaries.

These drinking locations are important to animals like deer, coyotes & bears because their large bodies have much higher water needs than many smaller animals.

It's also extremely common for mammals to navigate along the edges of creeks, ponds, and lakes where food tends to concentrate more readily.

In short - large & medium-sized mammals simply learn their landscape so well that they always know exactly where to find the closest water.

Water is just an everyday part of how these animals interact with their environment, so it's never very far away.

It certainly makes things easier when you can freely drink from streams, rivers & ponds that would make our human stomachs sick.

Many mammals also have biological adaptations to help them get through droughts:

In very dry climates, camels evolved specialized anatomy to store large volumes of water in their humps.

Ungulate species like deer can tolerate salty and brackish water for drinking (study)

Desert mammals tend to become more nocturnal and have large ears for releasing heat without sweating.

Small Mammals Get Their Water From Plants

One of the benefits of having a small body is that you simply don't need very much water to stay at peak condition.

Most small mammals are capable of getting enough water from having a well-hydrated food source like moist vegetation.

This means that despite their much smaller territories, there is still plenty of water to be found for small mammals like squirrels, mice & voles.

These creatures are capable of surviving without any access to open standing water.

This includes having a diet plentiful in moist grasses covered in morning dew or rain.

In this way, small mammals also help to funnel water up through the food chain in dry climates whenever they are eaten by predators who are less efficient at harvesting dew.

Birds Can See Water From Above

Birds are very similar to large mammals because their survival depends on knowing the landscape with great accuracy, and adopting habitual patterns of movement to meet their daily needs.

Similar to how mammals learn and remember previously visited water sources, birds learn where to find water from their parents at an early age.

Birds also have the extra advantage of being able to fly up into the sky and look around for open water if needed.

Whenever birds migrate into a new area, they already have that high level perspective of what the land looks like from above.

Flying into a new place, birds can see the patterns of creeks, ponds, lakes & rivers, and will pre-emptively choose a location that has adequate access to water.

If a location doesn't have enough water for a bird, they simply won't stay there.

Similar to small mammals however, their small size also means birds have quite efficient biologies when it comes to using water.

Most birds will only need to drink once or twice a day, which can be easily planned into a daily commute to and from a nightly roosting location, or any source inside their daytime territories.

Reptiles Are Extremely Water Efficient

A fascinating fact about reptiles is their scaly bodies are perfectly designed for capturing dew and funneling it towards their mouths.

This means reptiles can collect condensation on their bodies directly from the night-time air, making it possible to survive many months without a single drop of rain.

Reptiles have extremely low needs for water.

Their cold-blooded metabolism enables them to go for long periods of time without any access to standing water, and they can also extract water from prey.

These are all great reasons why reptiles do so well in deserts.

More examples of how reptiles harvest water in the desert are detailed in this article on Passive Water Harvesting by Desert Plants and Animals and includes examples like:

Licking water from stones

Digging ditches to harvest rain by reptiles & birds

Avoiding activity during the hottest times of day

Snakes coiling up to collect water in the shallows between the loops

Lots of other examples with insects, plants & amphibians

Amphibians Can Absorb Water Through Their Skin

For amphibians, water is life...

The entire life-cycle of animals like frogs & salamanders is so incredibly linked to water that a huge part of their water finding strategy comes down to only living in places that have moist conditions all year round.

If a location doesn't have access to clean water in all four seasons, amphibians will simply die off in an area.

This is unfortunate for the ones who don't make it, but in locations where water is plentiful, they are incredibly abundant and capable of using every last drop.

Even in places with a hot & dry summer that dries up perennial creeks & ponds, amphibians can survive by crawling under a wet log or rock and absorbing water directly through their skin.

This means amphibians can still survive for relatively long periods of time without any standing water.

Can Animals Smell Water?

The typical scientific notion is that water has no smell or taste, however, this is in a laboratory setting using distilled water and the human nose.

We have to remember that out in nature, water reacts with everything in ways that do have very noticeable smells.

Even the human nose can easily smell water when it's mixed with sand or mud, plant material or various minerals from the landscape.

Most animals have much more sensitive smelling capabilities than humans, and can absolutely smell water nearby. (The main exception to this would be birds, most of which have basically no sense of smell).

The more important question is whether animals actually need to smell water in order to find it.

Studying how animals behave & interact with water makes it apparent that animals do not need to smell water in order to find it.

However, where smell likely does play a critical role is in helping animals decide whether a water source is safe to drink.

There may be times when an animal decides to avoid a particular water source because of chemical or biological contamination. (This is a much more important application of smell).

When it comes to finding water, it's much more likely that animals are simply remembering where they found water before, or following other secondary signs of water like plants/animals.

What Are Secondary Signs Of Water?

Anyone who spends enough time outside eventually gains a sort of natural instinct whenever there's water nearby.

It's an accumulation of understanding about things like landscape topography, ecology, seasonal changes and key indicator plants, birds & animals that are particularly sensitive to dry conditions.

In my video on how to read the secrets of a forest, I demonstrated how easy it is to find water simply by looking for patterns in elevation & associations with particular trees & plants (even in the desert).

Some common examples of secondary water indicators include willows, cattails, red-winged blackbirds, sedges, marsh wrens, raccoons & random pockets of lush vegetation.

These are all in effect, indicator species of a water source that other birds & mammals can observe in order to find water more easily.

In some cases this may be quite intentionally driven by a need to find water, but very often it's also just convenient that life tends to accumulate in these abundant wet locations for foraging & hunting.

How Do Animals Find Water In The Desert?

The question of how to find water is especially relevant for animals in the desert.

Since deserts go through extended dry periods, most animals depend on special adaptations to help their bodies function on less water, while also extracting water from every possible source.

During the driest times, water is slowly funnelled up through the food chain starting with the plants:

Vegetation grows more lush, green & dense in places with the most water, causing small herbivores to accumulate & multiply in key locations of desert abundance.

Larger animals are drawn to the abundance of prey species both as a food source and for the extra water they provide.

Animals that depend on having fresh drinking water will become increasingly concentrated around oases and rivers. They will adjust their movement patterns and territorial boundaries to ensure access to water.

There may be significant booms & busts of wildlife populations between the wet & dry seasons.

Many animals will simply die when it gets too dry, but enough survive to repopulate when the water returns.

Many animals become nocturnal in the desert to help manage their temperature and reduce water needs.

Rabbits & foxes develop large ears to help control body temperature without using water.

Some animals like camels have humps for storing large volumes of water.

It's easy to look at a dry environment and wonder how anything can possibly survive.

But you can rest assured that if you see an animal in the desert, it MUST be getting water from somewhere, even if it's just moisture in plants & other animals being consumed.

Think about what type of animal are you studying?

How much water does it actually need? (See above sections on mammals, birds, reptiles & amphibians)

How do this animal's methods for finding water differ from others?

Get skilled at studying landscape patterns to identify the wettest locations, and soon you'll be able to track exactly how water is funneling through the food chain, helping your local wildlife survive.

Oh any by the way... I hope all this talk about water makes you feel grateful for your own access to fresh H2O!

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How Do Animals Find Water? (includes mammals, birds, reptiles & differences in the desert)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A key factor in every animal's survival is finding enough water to keep their bodies strong & healthy. For this reason, animals have many different strategies for finding & using water from the environment, and it's a great way to gain insight into their behavior.

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using the heat of fires to release their seeds, germination stimulated by smoke, regrowth of trees from epicormic buds and lignotubers.

https://www.bgpa.wa.gov.au/kings-park/events/kings-park-education/teacher-resources/primary-school-bites/2780-kped-srl-primary-adaptations

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Fire plays a big role in WA ecosystems and has been used by Aboriginal people for thousands of years.

European settlement has affected natural fire behaviour, which in turn has changed native ecosystems. Scientists in Kings Park are assessing the impacts of varying fire and weed management approaches on plant diversity, weed cover and fuel loads in the urban Banksia Woodland.

Many Western Australian plant species have adaptations to survive in this fire prone environment. Some examples include using the heat of fires to release their seeds, germination stimulated by smoke, regrowth of trees from epicormic buds and lignotubers.

Join us to investigate our Banksia Woodland and learn about the variety of plant adaptations in the South West.

Knowledge

Meet Russell Miller, a research scientist with Kings Park. His research is focused on understanding how plants in Perth's Banksia Woodland respond to fire, this knowledge will help improve land management for conservation. Join Russell in sharing his knowledge in fire science.
Watch 'Fire Ecology' video on YouTube
Visit the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions website to learn even more about fire science here in Western Australia.

Action

Transpiration Experiment

This is a fun experiment to investigate how a plant loses water through its leaves. Leaves have tiny holes called stomata. Water travels up through the roots of plants and passes out the stomata by evaporation. This is called transpiration. Plants in Australia have adapted in different ways to slow this down. Let's investigate!

Carry out this experiment to measure how much water is lost through transpiration in different Western Australian plants at your school. Collect the water at the end of the experiment to measure the total volume (ml) lost. Make predictions. Take photos. Compare with class members.
Materials:

Clear plastic bag

Elastic band

Measuring cylinder

Camera or phone

Method:

1. Identify a Western Australian plant at school. Florabase website will help to do this.

2. Label a clear, clean plastic bag with your name, the date and the plant name.

3. Tie the labelled plastic bag firmly around a bunch of leaves on the plant. Be gentle.

4. Draw a table for observations (or use our template ).

5. Check the bag every day. Record observations and take photos.

6. Correlate results. Use the data to make conclusions. Draw a graph to show water loss (ml) in different plant species at school. Share results with your class. Do all plants species transpire the same?

Extension:

Discuss rate of transpiration. What does this mean?

List factors that affect the rate of transpiration.

How would you find out if native plants transpire less than non-native plants?

Two hypothesis to test in the classroom:

1. The effect of light intensity on transpiration.

2. The effect of temperature on transpiration.

Citizen

With your new skills and knowledge visit a site near your school to participate in a citizen science program.

Participating in environmentally friendly behaviour increases civic interest and ability to take action. When we equip students to lead action at their school and in their community, they are more likely to become custodians of social and environmental responsibility, educate their families and broader community about the value of sustainability.

ClimateWatch is an Australian program that aims to monitor and collect phenology data during seasonal events that will help scientists understand the effects of climate change.

Being a ClimateWatcher is simple. Download the ClimateWatch app, then observe and record plant and animal information at school. Or look for a ClimateWatch trail in your area. The information collected will be used by scientists, policy makers and land managers to understand climate change and take appropriate measures.

Cultural

Watch this short movie presented by Kings Park Education Officer Rickeeta Walley. Rickeeta is a proud Whadjuk Noongar yok (woman) with connections to seven of the 14 Noongar nations. She has a passion for Aboriginal language preservation and education.
Watch 'Karla Katitjin' video on YouTube
Connection

We would love to hear from you and your class. Share your photos and findings with us via social media using the hashtag #STEMActionInKingsPark.

If your students have any questions email us via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

View our other Primary School Bites activities and check out the other education programs we run here in Kings Park.

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Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority - Adaptations

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Fire plays a big role in WA ecosystems and has been used by Aboriginal people for thousands of years. European settlement has affected natural fire behaviour, which in turn has changed native ecosystems. Scientists in Kings Park are assessing the impacts of varying fire and weed management approaches on plant diversity, weed cover and fuel loads in the urban Banksia Woodland.

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Australia happens to have a perfect environment, hot and dry, for a particular form of chemical weathering called oxidation

https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/news/why-does-australia-look-red-space#:~:text=Chemical%20weathering%20occurs%20when%20conditions,contain%20high%20amounts%20of%20iron.

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When seen from space, the surface of Australia seems to look more like the red planet Mars than it does a continent on Earth. So, why is Australia so red? The nature of soil greatly depends on an array of factors, such as climate, time, composition of the rock the soil came from, and many others. In areas with a generally cool climate, rock weathering (the breaking down of rocks and minerals on Earth's surface) is a physical process caused by freezing water, changes in temperature, plants and animals, and sometimes saltwater absorption. In warmer climates, like Australia, chemical weathering is more common. Chemical weathering occurs when conditions change the materials that make up the rock and soil.

Australia happens to have a perfect environment, hot and dry, for a particular form of chemical weathering called oxidation. This occurs in rocks that contain high amounts of iron. In this type of environment, these rocks actually begin to rust. As the rust expands, it weakens the rock and helps break it apart. The oxides produced through this process give the ground its reddish hue.

Another contributing factor is time. Australia hasn't "recently" (geologically speaking) been affected by ice ages. Unlike much of the Northern Hemisphere, Australian soils are very thick and millions of years old. The remnant iron oxides have been able to accumulate through millions of years of weathering. Unfortunately, although the red soil is beautiful, it is not of much use because it is very poor in nutrients.

To get a closer look at this image and explore soils around the globe, visit NOAAView.

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Why does the surface of Australia look red when seen from space? The answer is buried in its soil. When seen from space, the surface of Australia seems to look more like the red planet Mars than it does a continent on Earth. So, why is Australia so red?

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Australia happens to have a perfect environment, hot and dry, for a particular form of chemical weathering called oxidation

https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/news/why-does-australia-look-red-space#:~:text=Chemical%20weathering%20occurs%20when%20conditions,contain%20high%20amounts%20of%20iron.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
When seen from space, the surface of Australia seems to look more like the red planet Mars than it does a continent on Earth. So, why is Australia so red? The nature of soil greatly depends on an array of factors, such as climate, time, composition of the rock the soil came from, and many others. In areas with a generally cool climate, rock weathering (the breaking down of rocks and minerals on Earth's surface) is a physical process caused by freezing water, changes in temperature, plants and animals, and sometimes saltwater absorption. In warmer climates, like Australia, chemical weathering is more common. Chemical weathering occurs when conditions change the materials that make up the rock and soil.

Australia happens to have a perfect environment, hot and dry, for a particular form of chemical weathering called oxidation. This occurs in rocks that contain high amounts of iron. In this type of environment, these rocks actually begin to rust. As the rust expands, it weakens the rock and helps break it apart. The oxides produced through this process give the ground its reddish hue.

Another contributing factor is time. Australia hasn't "recently" (geologically speaking) been affected by ice ages. Unlike much of the Northern Hemisphere, Australian soils are very thick and millions of years old. The remnant iron oxides have been able to accumulate through millions of years of weathering. Unfortunately, although the red soil is beautiful, it is not of much use because it is very poor in nutrients.

To get a closer look at this image and explore soils around the globe, visit NOAAView.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Why does the surface of Australia look red when seen from space? The answer is buried in its soil. When seen from space, the surface of Australia seems to look more like the red planet Mars than it does a continent on Earth. So, why is Australia so red?

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A soakage, or soak, is a source of water in Australian deserts. It is called thus because the water generally seeps into the sand, and is stored below, sometimes as part of an ephemeral river or creek.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soakage_(source_of_water)#:~:text=A%20soakage%2C%20or%20soak%2C%20is,an%20ephemeral%20river%20or%20creek.

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A soakage, or soak, is a source of water in Australian deserts.

It is called thus because the water generally seeps into the sand, and is stored below, sometimes as part of an ephemeral river or creek.

Soakages were traditionally important sources of water for Aboriginal Australians in the desert, being the most dependable source in times of drought in Australia.

Aboriginal peoples would scoop out the sand or mud using a coolamon or woomera, often to a depth of several metres, until clean water gathered in the base of the hole. Knowing the precise location of each soakage was extremely valuable knowledge. It is also sometimes called a native well.

Anthropologist Donald Thomson wrote:

For a white man the difficulty in this country is that there is no way in which he can find the wells and soaks unless he does so by chance, and certainly nothing to indicate that the well is there, nor as a rule, even when the terrain and at least its superficial geological formation, the lie of the country, is examined, is there anything to explain the presence of water when he does find it

...

A lifetime of experience, backed by the traditional knowledge that is handed down from generation to generation, enables these people [the Pintupi in this instance] to judge, without having to visit a well that they know, whether it will still contain water and whether, if dry, with the sides fallen in and the well full of debris, it is worth cleaning out.

Cleaning and maintaining the well

Wells were covered to keep them free from fouling by animals. This involved blocking the well with dead branches and uprooted trees. When the wells fell into disrepair, people would bail the well, using the coolamon to throw slush against the wall. This would set like a cement wash and help to hold loose sand, preventing it from falling into the water.

Wells could be up to fifteen feet deep, with small toe holds cut into the walls.

Donald Thomson writes:

Just before we left, the old men recited to me the names of more than fifty waters - wells, rockholes and claypans ... this, in an area that the early explorers believed to be almost waterless, and where all but a few were, in 1957, still unknown to the white man. And on the eve of our going, Tjappanongo ( Tjapanangka) produced spear-throwers, on the backs of which were designs deeply incised, more or less geometric in form. Sometimes with a stick, or with his finger, he would point to each well or rock hole in turn and recite its name, waiting for me to repeat it after him. Each time, the group of old men listened intently and grunted in approval - "Eh!" - or repeated the name again and listened once more. This process continued with the name of each water until they were satisfied with my pronunciation, when they would pass on to the next. I realized that here was the most important discovery of the expedition - that what Tjappanongo and the old men had shown me was really a map, highly conventionalized, like the works on a " message" or "letter" stick of the Aborigines, of the waters of the vast terrain over which the Bindibu hunted.

In the nineteenth century, both Warburton and Carnegie recorded that they had run down Aboriginal residents with camels and captured and chained them to compel them to reveal their secret sources of water. This action left a lasting impression on Aboriginal residents of desert regions, who would have handed accounts of this down through successive generations.

In the 1930s, when H. H. Finlayson made his journeys through the desert by camel, he noted that a gelded male camel, after a hard three-and-a-half-day journey in intense heat without water, drank 150 litres (33 imperial gallons) by actual measure without stopping, and fifteen minutes later, another 45 L (10 imp gal).

This sheds light on the resentment built up among the Aboriginal population against explorers for the exploitation and, by enlarging well entrances and digging out springs, the devastation of their precious water supplies to satisfy camel teams.

Don McLeod (Aboriginal rights activist, see Pilbara#20th century) also tells a story of clashes over soak water at the time of the gold rushes in Western Australia:

During the time of the Laverton rush, the Blackfellows tried to keep their meager water supplies hidden from the knowledge of white prospectors since their horses and camels quickly exhausted the limited soaks.

McLeod relates a story told to him by an old prospector by the name of Long, observing an Aboriginal man and woman:

The man took the throwing stick he was carrying and worked it into the sand. He then broke off a hollow reed and, placing it in the hole he had thus developed, lay down on his stomach and appeared to suck up something through the reed. His companion repeated his movements before they quietly moved on...

Without delay Long, with the aid of a shovel, proved the existence of a soak of sweet water, from which he replenished his supplies...Only a few days later in the same place, another prospector had the same Blackfellow bailed up, threatening to shoot him unless he revealed a source of water. This was certainly not an untypical bush encounter. However, [they were] interrupted by yet another prospector riding a camel. The Blackfellow took advantage of the confusion and threw a spear into the bush and escaped.

On the diggings, a hue and cry was raised over this alleged murderous attack and a party was quickly organised to set out and teach the Blackfellows a lesson - for daring to protect their water. Mustering what guns they could, the punitive party went out to what later became known as Skull Creek, and shot every Blackfellow they could find. The bodies were buried in shallow graves.

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A soakage, or soak, is a source of water in Australian deserts. It is called thus because the water generally seeps into the sand, and is stored below, sometimes as part of an ephemeral river or creek. Soakages were traditionally important sources of water for Aboriginal Australians in the desert, being the most dependable source in times of drought in Australia.

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locally indigenous trees with large leaves usually shed their leaves early on in a cyclone, so the branches have less pressure on them

https://www.fionalake.com.au/blog/which-trees-withstand-cyclones/#:~:text=%E2%80%93%20Smaller%20leaves%20offer%20less%20wind,more%20pressure%20from%20strong%20winds.

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There is very little publicly available Australian information on what trees withstand cyclonic winds well and which don’t.  This is despite copious studies being made of areas hit hard by cyclones – for example Darwin after cyclone Tracy and Innisfail after cyclone Larry.  There is some good American information on what trees and shrubs stand up to hurricanes there, including a ‘Top 10 best trees to survive a hurricane’ but naturally these list trees commonly grown in the southern U.S., not Australia.  (Live oaks seem to top all the U.S. lists of trees that stand up to strong winds well.)  But there were two familiar trees on the U.S. lists.  One is the Crepe Myrtle, which are commonly grown in Australia.  Though they are native to Japan and China (not Australia or America) they apparently survive cyclones and hurricanes very well – although it must be said they don’t usually grow very high, in Australia anyway.  (It’s easy to survive a strong wind if you’re shorter than everyone else.).   The other is a species of eucalypt grown in the southern U.S. which is presumably an Australian native, and unsurprisingly, it is listed as coping badly with strong winds.  Date palms and cabbage palms are also listed as faring well in hurricanes.

Points to remember, when choosing trees, palms and bushes to plant in cyclone or hurrican prone regions:

–  Smaller leaves offer less wind resistance than large leaves.  However locally indigenous trees with large leaves usually shed their leaves early on in a cyclone, so the branches have less pressure on them.  Big trees with large leaves that aren’t easily shed, are under a lot more pressure from strong winds.

– Trees with branches arranged in clear layers allow the wind to pass through above and below each layer, relatively unimpeded.  Sea Almond trees are the best north Queensland example of this natural layering.

– Top heavy trees or palms – i.e. with very weighty heads compared to trunks and root systems – are a no-no.  The tree I’d put up the top of this list is the notorious African mahogany, and the palm that deserves to sit up the top of the ‘don’t-plant in cyclone areas’ list is the Queen palm.  Why grow these when there are so many other plants that are so much better?

– Naturally flexible trees survive much better than those that are brittle and prone to cracking rather than bending.  The trunks and branches of young trees are often more flexible and survive better than old trees, however the former are more likely to be blown over if the root system hasn’t become sufficiently established.  Peltophorum trees are the trees I’d put up the top of the brittle-branch list – there wouldn’t be a single one in town that hasn’t lost a branch or two or a whole lot more – and any over middle age are full of scars from previous amputations.

-The ground is often waterlogged by the time cyclonic force winds arrive.  Trees with a tap root or a deep root system are obviously far less likely to be blown over than species with shallow root systems.  Different species produce different root systems however soil type/situation also has a big bearing on the strength of the root system.  For example, trees planted in shallow topsoil which is underlaid by rock or dense clay, have difficulty establishing deep roots, just as trees planted in deep sand have nothing firm to grip onto.  You can tinker with the top layers of soil and make it ideal for small plants and bushes, but soil-tinkering is a waste of time when it comes to big trees because their roots need to spread such a long distance across and below, to be securely anchored during winds of more than 200kph.  If you want to grow huge trees and you’re dwelling on the side of a granite hill, you’re going to have to move to an area with deeper, more suitable soil.  Or be prepared to kiss your trees goodbye when a strong cyclone arrives.  Check out what else is growing near your house, and the age (i.e. have the nearby trees ever been through a big cyclone, or are they all too young?)

– Naturally, trees indigenous to hurricane and cyclone prone areas tend to fare well by comparison to trees species from other regions and other countries.  If you’re considering growing something that is native to an area that doesn’t get cyclonic winds, check it out carefully first.

From Townsville observations after cyclone Yasi, I’ve been developing my own list of trees and palms commonly grown in northern Australian coastal towns that seemed to survive cyclones relatively well.

So what commonly grown trees and palms in northern Australia seem to do well or not so well in cyclones?

Common mango trees:

If trees could laugh, they’d be splitting their sides.  Much maligned by fashion victims who prefer a backyard as pristine as their white-tiled loungeroom, they have been cut down in their droves.  ‘They drop too many leaves’; ‘they drop too much fruit’; ‘they attract too many fruit bats’ etc are the reasons given.  But, thankfully, plenty still remain in and around Townsville.  And of all the trees here, they seemed to have fared best – 99% look like nothing has happened, with only a few suffering a broken branch or two.  Best of all, mango trees obviously offer great protection from airborne missiles.  Mango trees are still dotted all around Townsville.

Tamarind trees:

Tamarinds are another ‘old fashioned’ tree that you rarely see planted now.  Providing extremely dense shade, they drop lots of fine leaves and of course tamarind pods, and being so extremely shady, absolutely nothing will ever grow under a tamarind tree.  So they aren’t popular with the OCD gardener brigade either.  Like the mango trees, Townsville’s tamarind trees look like nothing has happened to disturb their peace over the last couple of weeks – I haven’t seen a single broken branch.   Adult Tamarind trees line the road side of Rossiter Park in Love Lane and the soccer field on the corner of Balls Lane and Ross River Road, in Mundingburra.

Paperbarks:

Popular through the 1970’s, particularly, there are a lot of huge paperbark trees in Townsville suburbs settled in the 1960s and 70s.  I watched ours during the peak wind gusts of cyclone Yasi, and they were hardly even moving.  When the wind gusts were getting up over 100kph they shed the thick outer layers of paperbark, and they dropped fine twigs and leaves, but when the wind stopped the trees actually looked like they’d just been to a flash hairdressers and come out with a wedding quality hairdo – i.e. they looked tidier and healthier than before they were wind blasted.  As someone reminded me, their sheer strength is not surprising, given that they line the banks of massive seasonal rivers such as the Burdekin and Mitchell – often living right in the riverbed, and not just withstanding a torrent of wet season floodwater, but copping floating logs etc being caught up in their branches, yet still remaining upright.  Incredibly tough trees.  There are lots of solitary, mature paperbarks scattered through Townsville’s older suburbs, plus younger plantings, such as the beautiful grove of young paperbarks near the corner of Kennedy and Mitchell Streets in North Ward.

Leichardt trees:

Leichardt trees are sometimes called ‘Leichardt pines’ due to the similar shape of mature trees.  However they are not of course related to pine trees.  Like paperbarks, Leichardt trees are often found growing along creek and riverbanks in north Queensland.  Large leaved, the round fruit attracts a lot of birds.  I have been surprised to see how well Leichardt trees coped in the cyclone – it seems most lost a lot of leaves early on, thus having to deal with less pressure from the wind.  Some have lost small branches but most appear to be remarkably unscathed.  The best Townsville example of just how tough these native trees are, is the Leichardt tree just downstream of Aplin’s Weir in Mundingburra.   This tree has it’s roots down amongst the rocks and takes the full force of any water pouring out of Ross River Dam and the full force of any wind howling up the river, and it looks as happy as a pig in mud.  Unfortunately, Leichardt trees are hard to grow from seed and difficult to obtain from nurseries.

Raintrees:

I’m not sure whether to list raintrees as faring well or faring badly.  However, given that raintrees are easily the largest Townsville trees (spread combined with height), they really deserve to be in the done-well category.   They had their heads stuck up way above any other vegetation, and the older raintrees are absolutely massive trees!  Many have broken branches and some have been destroyed.  But other huge and very old raintrees, have very little damage at all.  And they have done a sterling job of protecting whatever is immediately downwind of them.  Studying raintree damage throughout town would yield a lot of interesting information about wind patterns and the relationship with other nearby objects, and the influence of how healthy each specific tree was (influenced by water availability and soil types, etc).  Because some raintrees have been hard hit while others have done well and obviously there’s concrete reasons as to why this is.  Presumably the natural shape of the tree and quality of any pruning that has been done, is also a big influence as well.  There are quite a few solitary and grouped raintrees around Townsville.  For example in Pioneer Park, on Riverway Drive opposite the Willows Shopping centre (Kirwan), and the park on Brownhill Street (Mundingburra).

Sea Almond trees  (Terminalia catappa)

Sea almond trees are native to the area and I love them because of their layered growth habit, large leaves and the hordes of black cockatoos attracted to the seed feast.  They did well or badly standing up to cyclonic winds, depending on your point of view.  Ours hardly lost a leaf and only one small branch snapped off, but other sea almonds around town lost more branches.  But it is this branch-dropping habit that protects the whole tree from being blown over.  Personally, I think they’re a priceless tree – standing spitting distance away from a feeding black cockatoo is a treat.  Anyone who loves a change of leaf colour to indicate a change of season would enjoy sea almonds also, as the leaves turn a splendid red/orange colour before dropping off, during the dry season.  There are quite a few sea almonds planted along The Strand (North Ward).

Foxtail palms:

I watched the neighbour’s foxtail palms during the height of the cyclone and they didn’t turn a hair either; not even breaking a single frond let alone dropping one.  I guess it’s not surprising since they’re a native of Cape York Peninsula, right near a coastal stretch that has been hit regularly by strong cyclones.   They certainly don’t look like they’d stand up to a strong wind, but they do.  There’s an excellent stand of foxtail palms at the entrance to the railway station (near the corner of Charters Towers Road and Flinders Street).

Alexander palms:

Another North Queensland palm tree that as expected, stood up to cyclonic winds extremely well.  We have many in our garden (they provide large quantities of fruit for fig birds, Torres Pigeons, Bowerbirds, etc) and I watched how the wind affected them also.  Fairly early on the frond on each palm which faced directly into the wind snapped and hung down – but that was all that happened – the fronds didn’t even fall off.  Alexander palms are found all over Townsville, for example in front of the Podiatry business on the corner of Ross River Road and O’Reilly Streets in Mundingburra.

Fan Palms:

Quite a few species of fan palms are native to northern Australia and many are grown in Townsville.  Because of the large, wind-catching fronds you’d expect they would fare badly in a cyclone but it seems this is not the case.  There may be some fan palms that blew over or snapped off in cyclone Yasi, but I haven’t seen one yet.  All those I have seen look like nothing has happened!  The most likely explanation is that the ‘fan’ part of the frond is on the end of a reasonably long and very flexible stem, so presumably when a strong wind hits the fronds just blow over to the downwide side of the palm and move into the position offering the very least resistance to the oncoming wind.  Most fan palms are exceedingly tolerant of harsh conditions (hot weather, erratic watering etc) and there are many very beautiful species, so it is surprising that they are not more commonly found in private and public gardens in northern Australia, especially in specific locations that their dimensions are ideally suited to – eg road median strips.   Some beautiful, very hardy fan palms can be seen in the median strip on Ross River Road, out the front of Cathedral School (Aitkenvale).

Royal Palms:

Natives of Cuba, where presumably they’re weathered big cyclones over the years, they’ve done well.  Despite their appearance.  Apart from relatively stout date palms, royal palms are the largest palms – certainly the tallest – commonly grown in north Queensland.  The trunks are huge and so are the heads, and they can grow very tall.  We removed our two last year as they were growing up through the top of a huge raintree and I thought they’d beat the raintree to death if blowing about during a cyclone; but the neighbours royal palms did well – they look a bit tatty, but are already sprouting new leaves.  Personally, I wouldn’t ever leave a royal palm standing within striking distance of a house, however.  There are quite a few that have blown over, and they are so tall and heavy they demolish whatever they hit.  Unlike a tree, which will have a fall broken by a number of branches, there are no branches on a palm tree to break the force of the hit.   Royal palms are found all over Townsville and are easily spotted because when mature they tower over any other palms.  Royal palms line part of Flinders Street West (in the Townsville CBD) and Woolcock Street.

Pandanus:

I think pandanus is hugely underrated as a garden plant.  Yes pandanus trees generally grow slowly and yes most pandanus leaves are spiky and a pain to handle (literally).  However pandanus plants are incredibly hardy, they make fabulously quirky garden features (providing excellent afternoon shadows or lit up at night) and, they stand up to cyclones well.  Some have dropped a branch or two, but the main trunk and most of the branches seem to have survived unscathed.  Anderson Park in Mundingburra has a huge collection of different types of pandanus, and they can been seen around town in various locations, such as in some of the roundabouts along The Strand (North Ward).

Which common trees fared badly in cyclone Yasi?

Unfortunately, some of my favourite trees didn’t do well.

Weeping fig trees and Moreton Bay fig trees:

I love fig trees, they are one of my favourite types of tree.  But unfortunately I must admit that many of the mature weeping fig trees I’ve seen lately – from small to absolutely massive – have been horizontal ones.  No branches broken or leaves lost – and perhaps that’s partly why.  Trees that drop their leaves early, and small branches, put up less resistance to the wind and fare better than many that hang on to every leaf and branch.  Although we’ve had a lot of rain over the last few months, the cyclone brought relatively little rain (only a few inches), so this cannot be blamed for uprooting trees.

I have seen many Moreton Bay fig trees with huge broken branches – and believe that often it’s the pruning of their aerial roots that doesn’t help the situation; they need all their aerial roots to protect the massive, weighty horizontal-spreading branches.

However, fig trees are spectacular and provide beautiful, dense shade – they are ideal for public parks and sporting grounds, where they can spread out without being pruned or having root growth restrictions.  So they are far less likely to fall over, and if they do, then there’s little likelihood of damage to infrastructure (water pipes etc).  Fortunately many of the younger weeping figs seemed to have survived in Bicentennial Park, between Queens Road and Ross River, in Hermit Park.

Frangipani trees:

It’s hard to beat frangipani trees as a symbol of the Pacific.  Townsville is full of frangipani trees of all colours.  Left to grow to full height they grow into surprisingly large trees, and unfortunately many of the largest and oldest frangipanis did not fair well in cyclone Yasi – simply blowing right over, roots out of the ground.  However smaller frangipani trees still have a full head of leaves and flowers and look like nothing has happened.  On the plus side, also, being hit by a falling frangipani tree would be akin to being slapped with a wet fish.  They are relatively light trees with smooth, pliable branches – they do not fall with anything like the force of a gum tree or royal palm, for example.  And foot-long frangipanni sticks can be broken off, dried and then stuck back in the ground to sprout a new tree, to produce flowers of the same colour.  The Townsville street well known for mature frangipanni trees of all flower colours is Love Lane, in Rosslea.

Gum trees (eucalypts):

I love all types of gum trees, but Townsville is now littered with every type – from locally indigenous blackbutts to ghost gums, river red gums and cadagi gums.  Large broken branches, snapped off trunks, or simply blown over completely.   Although there are also many survivors.  Large parks and riversides is where the tallest-growing eucalypts belong, in cyclone areas.

African mahogany trees:

I’d think these were a nice looking trees if I didn’t know how useless they were when it came to withstanding strong wind.  Notoriously shallow rooted, these top-heavy, large trees keel over like ninepins in a cyclonic wind – wrecking whatever they land on, while their roots damage anything nearby such as underground water pipes.  Kununurra (WA) is full of African mahoganies so the East Kimberley Shire council will be up for a great cleanup bill when the next cyclone hits the town.

Pine trees:

I have seen very few Norfolk Island pines that survived Yasi intact – many seemed to have blown straight over.  Given that they’re useless for shade, other plants don’t like growing underneath them and  they’re only good for eagles to perch on, from a bird’s point of view – why plant them?  I admit I’ve always been mystified as to why people do.  Norfolk pines look fabulous, squeezed between huge granite boulders on Magnetic Island, where they grow naturally.  But in a suburban garden?  I don’t think so – especially now it is apparent that they don’t handle cyclonic winds well.

Peltophorum pterocarpum (yellow poinciana, golden flame tree etc):

I’d always thought these trees were introduced from Africa or South America but apparently they’re an Australian native – from the Northern Territory (also in Asia).  I must admit they’re one of my least favourite trees – messy straggly things that often seem to get borers; they look tatty at the best of times – so I’m not disappointed to see so many keeled over during cyclone Yasi.  They are very hardy trees (tolerating hot humid summers and cold dry winters) and grow well in towns between Townsville and Mt Isa, for example, but on the coast why bother growing them when there is so many better alternatives.

Queen palms:

It’s puzzling why anyone would want to grow a Queen palm in a suburban garden.  Certainly they’d look great lining a driveway running for acres; but as they drop incredibly hard, heavy and pointy seed pods they’re actually quite dangerous.  Before we chopped ours down, I had found the pods buried up to 10cm point-down in mud in the backyard.  Wouldn’t do your skull a lot of good.  They aren’t self cleaning, and the truckload of tatty fronds, seed heads etc that accumulates up top is much favoured by nesting rats.  Their trunks are relatively slender with a very heavy head – so it’s no surprise that I’ve only seen one mature Queen palm still standing after cyclone Yasi; the rest have keeled over (onto sheds, houses, fences, etc…)  The only ones that survived are relatively stumpy.

Golden cane palms:

Alright I admit it, I’ve probably put golden cane palms in the ‘fail’ category because I don’t like them.  Popular decades ago, people still plant them even though there are much better looking alternatives.  But I admit, they are incredibly hardy – you couldn’t kill them with a stick.  But being hardy also means that like pencil pines, it’s almost impossible for any other vegetation to thrive underneath them – their roots form a mat as dense as concrete.  I thought they would be good cyclone protection but alas, quite a few of ours snapped off.  These were spindlier trunked ones that were competing more for light – stumpier golden cane palms seemed to have survived perfectly well – but I was very surprised that the trunks snapped, given they were in a reasonably protected location.  I guess the moral is to prune back anything spindly near houses.

There are several vital points to remember, to ensure the trees you plant have the best chance of survival in a cyclone:

– Suburban trees can live for many decades or even centuries and become much loved landmarks.   So have patience and get the start as perfect as possible.  When planting a tree, it is vital to start with a healthy plant, not one that is rootbound, stunted or diseased.  Saving several dollars upfront is ridiculously false economy!   Before planting your tree go and find mature specimens grown nearby so you know exactly just how high and wide your tree may become in your similar growing conditions, and ensure it’s got enough space to grow into a well balanced shape (unpruned by unhappy neighbours, electricity supply companies, road maintenance employees and not constrained by too many competing roots and branches of trees nearby).  You don’t want to find out the hard way that that little $9.95 rootbound seedling you hastily shoved in the ground was an accident waiting to happen in a high wind two decades later.

If you can, grow your tree from seeds produced by a healthy, locally grown tree whose shape you like.  I have often grown my own trees and palms, including boabs, coolamon trees, tamarind trees, poincianas, Alexander and livistona palms etc.  The sea almond at the front of our house was grown from a seed that fell from one of the best layer-shaped sea almonds on The Strand (Townsville).   My plant propagation methods are as basic as it gets – collect mature seed from the ground then throw them out onto soil (pots or a bare piece of garden bed), throw a bit of mulch over the top (palm frond ends) and wait for the seeds to germinate, usually over the wet season.    If you can’t grown your own trees and must buy them, then carefully CHECK that the tree is not rootbound when planting it out.  If it is, return it for a refund or quality replacement.  If at all possible, DO NOT buy and plant trees that are disproportionally tall in relation to the size of the pot they are squeezed into.  Ideally purchase trees no taller than around a metre – in fact 30cm or better still, small tube stock – to ensure the root system gets the very best start possible.  All to often people are misled into believing that the bigger the potted tree they buy, the sooner it will reach maturity.  However it is true that a (much cheaper) very small, healthy tree will quickly outpace a tree that has grown far too large for the pot it has been left in – even though the latter costs far more to buy.

– don’t stake trees or bushes if you can possibly avoid it and if you must stake a tree to prevent it falling over, only stake it for the bare minimum length of time.  It makes sense  that trees which experience strong winds when young, respond by producing more roots to brace against the wind pressure.  Staking a tree permanently is like keeping someone with a sore leg on crutches for good – their muscles will remain weakened.

– give young seedlings plenty of water but ease off as soon as they start to look like they don’t need to be mollycoddled.  Give growing ‘teenage’ trees only occasional waterings to keep them going during the hottest/driest periods, and give them good deep soaks rather than quick sprinkles.  This encourages the growing trees to invest energy in sending roots far and wide in search of the water they need.  Resist the urge to plant trees with in-ground watering systems.  Instead water them with a moveable hose/sprinkler so they’re watered on the edge of the drip line rather than right up against the trunk, and are weaned off gardener-supplied water altogether, as soon as is ideal.  (There’s a fairly obvious analogy here with children/young adults…)

– theoretically you shouldn’t dig out too large a hole and fill with another kind of soil (i.e. more fertile/friable) when planting trees (because the roots may be less encouraged to spread out).  In reality, if you’re planting a tree that will grow into a massive specimen, by the time it is mature it probably matters diddly squat whether the original hole was only as big as the original root ball or as big as a 20 litre drum, because the original hole created will be mostly if not completely taken up by tree’s root system.  It is however probably ideal to plant into a hole twice the size of the pot, just to make it a bit easier for the first roots to spread, and backfill the hole with whatever soil came out of it.

– the tree’s surroundings matter.  The taller the tree, the stronger the winds it will be subjected to – because the strength of cyclonic winds are reduced slightly at ground level due to the effect of vegetation, buildings, fencing and other objects etc.  So big trees, especially rainforest species, seem to get less of a battering if they are planted in a bit of a hollow.  They also survive better in carefully spaced groups rather than standing right out on their own or in straight lines, especially if they are out in the open.   Trees scattered around sporting grounds have a tough time during cyclones.  In Townsville’s Anderson Park, one of the ‘rainforest’ sections is on the westerly side of a large, open area which is slightly higher up, and these trees took an absolute caning.  Whereas mature trees tucked down on the slopes of a nearby creek/drain look virtually untouched.  It is the same along Ross River – most trees fared fairly well, except for an absolutely smashed section of the riverside bike track near Brownhill Street (Mundingburra), where the wind must have picked up speed up a long straight stretch of the river.

– remember that during a cyclone, vegetation seems to offer more protection to houses than it causes damage.  It is often said that the suburbs mostly badly damaged in Darwin during Cyclone Tracy were houses in the newest suburbs where trees and bushes were scarce, so there was little or no protection from flying debris – such as roofing tiles and sheets of iron.

– every year before the cyclone season begins, cast a beady eye over vegetation near buildings and powerlines.  Prune off all dead wood and keep an eye on borer and termite damage.    It’s infinitely cheaper and easier to get essential pruning done before a cyclone than have to wait in the queue for a tree lopper after a cyclone has been through.  And quality pruning upfront can prevent damage that would otherwise occur in high winds.

– if you are cutting a tree off at the butt then any old chainsaw butcher will probably do the job.  But if you are having a tree’s health assessed and/or pruning done, find a good arborist.  Pruning that is too severe, not severe enough or unbalanced may well cause more problems during a cyclone than would have occurred if the tree was left alone.

–  Trees and bushes offer shelter, nesting areas and food for all kinds of birds and animals, they add value onto properties and lower air temperatures by several degrees.  As well as turning out oxygen.  Anyone who has a bare backyard should be sentenced to life on the western Queensland & NT  blacksoil plains where summers are excruciatingly long and hot and it is impossible to grow anything taller than the eves on a single story house (due to the naturally cracking clay drying out tree roots), until they wake up to themselves.  Either that or they should move into a high rise unit where they have nothing more than a few balcony potplants to kill.

…this is a work in progress, if you have any comments at all to make, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Tags: Living in the country and remote areas

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 16th, 2011 at 6:34 pm and is filed under News - Rural & Agriculture, Outback Life.

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view mobile site | web design by precedence

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Which trees survive cyclones? How do you help trees withstand cyclones? | Fiona Lake Australian Outback Photos & Writing

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Australian outback cattle station photos & coffee table books

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Animals can either be killed by hurricanes or impacted indirectly through changes in habitat and food availability caused by high winds, storm surge, and intense rainfall but some have evolved to have a higher survival rate and some of the desert is no affected

http://www.hurricanescience.org/society/impacts/environmentalimpacts/#:~:text=Hurricanes%20generate%20strong%20winds%20that,storm%20surge%2C%20and%20intense%20rainfall.

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In addition to impacting individuals, homes, and communities, hurricanes also have a profound effect on the environment, especially estuarine and coastal habitats. Hurricanes generate strong winds that can completely defoliate forest canopies and cause dramatic structural changes in wooded ecosystems. Animals can either be killed by hurricanes or impacted indirectly through changes in habitat and food availability caused by high winds, storm surge, and intense rainfall. Endangered species can be dramatically impacted, such as the Puerto Rican Parrot ( Amazona vittata), whose population was reduced to half its original size after the passage of Hurricane Hugo in 1989. Hurricane Gilbert pushed the Cozumel Thrasher ( Toxostoma guttatum), found only on Mexico's Isla Cozumel, to the edge of extinction in 1988. In addition to impacting animals, storm surge and dangerous waves can move large amounts of sand and ultimately reshape the coastal landscape. Hurricanes such as Ivan (2004), Katrina and Rita (2005), and Gustav and Ike (2008) have led to shoreline position changes of about 100 m (328 ft) in some regions. The loss of land from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita alone was estimated to be about 73 square miles.

By changing environmental conditions in coastal habitats, hurricanes cause a cascade of direct and indirect ecological responses that range from immediate to long-term. In terms of environmental effects, no two hurricanes are alike. Individual characteristics, such as the storm's forward speed, size, intensity, and amount of precipitation, play a large role in the type and temporal extent of a hurricane's impact. Depending on many of these factors, even tropical storms can cause severe damage to property and natural resources.
Additional Links on HSS

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Ecosystem Perspective: What can a hurricane do to the environment?

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In addition to impacting individuals, homes, and communities, hurricanes also have a profound effect on the environment, especially estuarine and coastal habitats. Hurricanes generate strong winds that can completely defoliate forest canopies and cause dramatic structural changes in wooded ecosystems. Animals can either be killed by hurricanes or impacted indirectly through changes in habitat and food availability caused by high winds, storm surge, and intense rainfall.

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The main source of energy for tropical cyclones is the warm oceans in the tropical regions and its also near the equator and is dessert mostly

https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/community-safety/severe-wind

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Geoscience Australia is the national public sector geoscience organisation. Its mission is to be the trusted source of information on Australia’s geology and geography to inform government, industry and community decision-making. The work of Geoscience Australia covers the Australian landmass, marin…

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did the aboriginals grind them use them for paint

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did the aboriginals grind them use them for paint

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they used clay

https://www.firstpeoplesrelations.vic.gov.au/fact-sheet-aboriginal-rock-art

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Characteristics

Shelter art

red or white motifs are found on the rear wall of a rock shelter

the motifs are usually less than 200 millimetres in width

the art is made up of small numbers of simple line shapes, with denser concentrations at the larger places

some places have hand stencils or prints

the floors of larger shelters often contain stone artefacts and traces of charcoal

Limestone cave art

parallel and overlapping sets of sinuous finger marks are usually found on the cave ceiling, towards the back of the cave

the art is often about 3 metres in length

scratched motifs of emu tracks, V shapes, lines, ovals and barred ovals are usually found on the walls or ceiling near the cave mouth

most of these artworks are less than 200 millimetres in length

the cave floor may contain stone artefacts and traces

What is Aboriginal rock art?

Aboriginal people created artworks on rock surfaces. These include stencils, prints and drawings in rock shelters,and engravings in limestone caves.

Rock shelter paintings are usually of small stick figures, other simple forms such as kangaroo and emu tracks, and sets of stripes or bars. A few hand prints and hand stencils occur in Gariwerd (the Grampians).

Where is it found?

Aboriginal people painted in shallow rock shelters that are large enough to protect a small number of people from wind and rain.

Such shelters are found in Gariwerd and north eastern Victoria, usually in small clusters on the lower slopes of the ranges.

Engraving sites are more scattered, although they all occur in limestone caves.

Finger lines occur in areas of near or total darkness, while scratched motifs tend to be closer to cave entrances.

Why did Aboriginal people produce rock art?

We do not fully know why Aboriginal people produced rock art. Possible reasons include painting or engraving to:

perform part of a ritual

illustrate aspects of ceremonies, such as initiation rites or funerals

show the people's bond with the land

record events such as a successful hunt, or the arrival of white people

The Bunjil painting

Only one painting has a recorded Aboriginal interpretation - the figure of Bunjil, at Bunjil's Shelter near Stawell.

Bunjil was the main Dreaming Being of south eastern Australia. He produced many of the natural features of the landscape, and gave the various tribes their particular country. He also provided the laws, customs and rites with which to organise Aboriginal society.

Bunjil was important in boys' initiation into manhood, and he was also the guardian of the secret lore. At the end of his time on earth, he rose into the sky where he is represented by a star.

The Bunjil painting has exceptional significance for the present Aboriginal people of western Victoria.

Bunjil's shelter

How did Aboriginal people produce rock art?

Aboriginal people collected pigments for painting. The artists made red, purple and yellow pigments from ochre clays (which are rich in iron), and white pigment from kaolin clay.

They worked in the rock shelter, grinding up the ochre (usually with a stone on a grindstone slab) and adding water. They applied the paint to the rock wall with a finger, or with a brush made of bark or feathers.

Hand prints involved covering the hand in paint and pressing it against the wall. Hand stencils involved spraying paint from the mouth over a hand held against the wall.

A shadow image was left on the wall when the hand was removed. Drawings were made with a small lump of red ochre or charcoal used much like a crayon.

Engravings were cuts into the rock surface with a harder, blade-like rock, probably a specially made stone tool. Finger impressions could be made only in the soft clay that builds up on the walls of limestone caves.

The Aboriginal artists drew their fingers across the wall surface, leaving a characteristic trail of three or four parallel grooves.

What are the subjects in Aboriginal rock art?

Rock art varies across regions, but the style is broadly consistent across most of south east Australia.

A simple vertical bar is the most common motif in Victorian rock art. Other common forms are human figures, lines, dots and hands. Pictures of animals are rare.

The human figures are mostly stick figures, either with an elongated body or wearing a simple head dress. The hands are generally stencils or prints, although a few are painted.

The engravings take the form of sinuous finger marks or scratched lines. The finger marks often appear in dense overlapping sets, while the scratched engravings tend to occur in small clusters.

The two styles occur across the southern half of Australia in most areas where there are suitable caves.

How old is Aboriginal rock art?

No Victorian rock art has been firmly dated. Circumstantial evidence suggests that the finger markings belong to a tradition that began during the last Ice Age, more than 10,000 years ago.

The scratched engravings maybe more recent, but they are still probably at least 5000 years old. The age of the earliest paintings is unknown.

But white paintings often overlay red paintings, so the white ones must be more recent.

A red painting of what could be a thylacine (or Tasmanian tiger) at Mount Pilot in north east Victoria may be at least 3000 years old, because thylacines are thought to have been extinct on mainland Australia since that time.

Why is Aboriginal rock art important?

Rock art is one of the few traces of pre-contact Aboriginal society that does not directly relate to the society's economic needs.

It gives us a valuable glimpse of the aesthetics, psychology and spirituality of the artists and their cultures.

Rock art places are particularly significant as an important link for Aboriginal people today with their culture and their past.

Is Aboriginal rock art under threat?

Rock paintings are particularly prone to natural erosion because they are found on exposed surfaces. Many art motifs may be destroyed unless they are protected.

Most are located in remote areas, so they are difficult to monitor and protect from weathering and vandalism. First Peoples - State Relations records the location, dimensions and condition of Aboriginal rock art places.

The aim is to have a permanent written and photographic record of this important part of the heritage of all Australians.

Management works around Aboriginal rock art, such as drainage, fencing, graffiti removal and visitor control, help preserve the places for future generations.

Are Aboriginal rock art places protected?

The law protects all Aboriginal cultural places and artefacts in Victoria. It is illegal to disturb or destroy an Aboriginal place.

Artefacts should not be removed from site.

What if you find an Aboriginal rock art place?

Do not disturb the place or remove any material. Check whether the art has the typical characteristics of Aboriginal rock art.

If it does, record its location, write a brief description of its condition, and sketch or photograph the artwork. Note whether it is under threat of disturbance.

Please help to preserve Aboriginal cultural places by reporting their presence to First Peoples - State Relations.

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Fact sheet: Aboriginal rock art | First Peoples - State Relations

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red or white motifs are found on the rear wall of a rock shelter the motifs are usually less than 200 millimetres in width the art is made up of small numbers of simple line shapes, with denser concentrations at the larger places some places have hand stencils or prints

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does it exist because of cyclones filled ditches   

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does it exist because of cyclones filled ditches   

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couldn't find any thing but the other question with sokage since cyclones can  make floods the water will be absorbed into the dirt technically is sort of true but not ditches just the dirt sucks the water and somtimes under the dirt is where it gose

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this is not included

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the places are spaced out across australia  

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the places are spaced out across australia  

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port hedland, mount isa and alice springs for e.g of desert
hobart like nz
everywhere else e.g of the rest of australia

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copy and posting facts to save time but in finale product it will be in different wording

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green done
red incompleat
purple other
yellow IMPORTANT

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bilby(food e.g insects, fruit)

https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedspeciesapp/profile.aspx?id=20189#:~:text=Bilbies%20are%20nocturnal%20omnivores%20that,fungi%2C%20and%20very%20small%20animals.

kangaroo( getting needed moisture from their seed diet)

https://www.desertmuseum.org/kids/oz/long-fact-sheets/krat.php
Kangaroo Rat Fact Sheet - Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum)

snake(they absorb it some will live there full life not even drinking once )

http://wildliferemovalusa.com/snakedrink.html

koala(eucalyptus leaves have lots of water so they eat them and lick trees when there is rain

https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/how-koalas-drink-1.5555557#:~:text=A%20new%20study%20describes%20koala,that%20make%20up%20their%20diet.)

lizards
(absorb it and thorny delves cover them self in wet sand the water collets on the and flows to there mouth)

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2111237-desert-lizard-can-sip-water-from-sand-through-its-feet-and-back/#:~:text=In%20nature%2C%20these%20lizards%20often,thorny%20lizards%2C%E2%80%9D%20Comanns%20says.

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Animal Fact Sheet: Merriam's Kangaroo Rat

Identifying Features

Kangaroo rats have long tails and big hind feet with four toes. They have large heads with big eyes and small ears. They are a sandy brown color with a white underbelly.

Adaptations

The kangaroo rat is almost perfectly adapted to life in the desert. They can survive without ever drinking any water, getting needed moisture from their seed diet. They have excellent hearing and can even detect the silent sound of an owl approaching. Their large back legs enable them to jump up to 9 feet (2.75m) in one jump in order to escape predators.

Habitat

Kangaroo rats inhabit a variety of desert niches. These can include open desert scrub, open grasslands, washes, sandy soils or creosote flats.

Range

Kangaroo rats are found in the drier regions of the western and southwestern U.S.

Wild Status

The kangaroo rat is not endangered. Its status in the wild is good right now.

Diet

Kangaroo rats eat seeds from a variety of desert grasses as well as mesquite beans. On occasion, some kangaroo rats will eat green vegetation and some insects.

Predators

Unfortunately for the kangaroo rat, it has many predators. There are many creatures out there who would like to make a tasty meal out of this small creature. Owls, snakes, bobcats, foxes, badgers, coyotes, ringtail, and your cat or dog are just a few.

Home

Kangaroo rats generally live in underground burrows which they have excavated themselves. Often times the burrow is at the base of a shrub or bush. It spends most of its day underground sleeping, and comes out to feed at night when it is cooler.

Life Span

The life span of a wild kangaroo rat is not very long, only 2-5 years.

Size

Depending on the subspecies, kangaroo rats can weigh up to 4.5 ounces (128 g). Their body length can be 3.5 to 5.5 inches (8 -14 cm) and their tail can be 5.5 to 6.5 inches long (14-16 cm).

Quick Facts

Kangaroo rats have pouches, but not for carrying their babies. Their pouches are on the outside of their cheeks and are used for carrying seeds back to their burrows.

Kangaroo Rats don't sweat or pant like other animals to keep cool because that would cause them to lose water from their bodies.

Comparison

Compare with the Spinifex Hopping Mouse of the Australian Desert.

Copyright 2008, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

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Kangaroo rats have long tails and big hind feet with four toes. They have large heads with big eyes and small ears. They are a sandy brown color with a white underbelly. The kangaroo rat is almost perfectly adapted to life in the desert.