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The Great Sandy-Tanami Deserts ecoregion supports the richest desert life in Australia and contains the most diverse group of desert reptiles in the world. Many species are endemic. This Global 200 ecoregion is made up of these terrestrial ecoregions: Central Ranges xeric scrub; Gibson desert; Great Sandy-Tanami desert It’s huge, hot, dry, and salty, and most people think of it as a barren wasteland. But despite this reputation, the Great Sandy-Tanami Deserts support abundant wildlife. The plants and animals found here have adapted well to the difficult conditions. The ecoregion supports the richest lizard community in the world, with many species found nowhere else.
The Great Sandy Desert stretches inland from the Indian Ocean, running into the Tanami Desert to the east and the Gibson Desert to the south. The sandy plateaus are dotted with salt marshes and dry lake beds. Lines of ancient sand dunes rise more than 30 feet (9 m) into the air, and some of them are still growing. Rough, dry grasses and low-lying bushes crisscross the landscape. The dryness of the landscape belies the fact that the ecoregion receives more rainfall than many other deserts. Even the driest parts get at least 10 inches (25 cm) of rain a year, and some small streams flow with fresh water after heavy rains. But intense heat evaporates the moisture almost as quickly as it falls. The spectacular Livistonia palm is one of the few plants that thrive in the Great Sandy-Tanami Deserts. Desert and white treefrogs, sandy burrowing frogs, desert spadefoot toads, and metallic toadlets also do well with very little water. Rock wallabies and red kangaroos have more than enough space to hop about, while marsupial moles find plenty of places to dig burrows. The little red antechinus, a small predatory marsupial, is endemic. Night skies are filled with yellow-bellied sheathtail and lesser long-eared bats. Many birds color the ecoregion as they fly about, including budgerigars, white-fronted honeyeaters, variegated fairywrens, red-backed kingfishers, and Port Lincoln parrots. Large, ostrich-like emus dash across the hot, dry ground. The rocks strewn across the terrain and crevices provide shelter for many reptiles, including womas and red dragons. Little spotted snakes and desert death adders glide easily through the sand.
The suppression of naturally occurring fires, feral animals that kill or out-compete native wildlife, and overgrazing by livestock pose threats to this ecoregion.
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