Current view: Text account
Site description (2008 baseline):
Site location and context
The Clarke Range IBA comprises three management areas: Eungella National Park, and Cathu and Crediton State Forests. The IBA is based on the Eungella Honeyeater, whose world distribution is from Crediton in the south to Finch Hatton in the east and Cathu State Forest in the north. The IBA could be extended to include additional areas of lower altitude forest remnants and corridors in adjacent farmland and smaller areas of state land. Eungella National Park extends 35 km along the Clarke Range overlooking the Pioneer Valley West of Mackay in Central Queensland. Eungella's northern side is largely inaccessible with high and rugged ridges, but its southern borders can be easily reached by road. The park contains the high peaks of Mount Dalrymple (1277 metres), Mount Williams (1244 metres) and Mount David (1244 metres). Most of the park is wilderness dissected by gorges. About 64,000 hectares is rainforest with the remainder being tall and open eucalypt woodland. Open eucalypt woodland grows on Dicks Tableland in the north-western part of the park. Rainforest trees, flowering bottlebrush and tall river she oaks occur along Broken River. Rainforest is also be found in the Finch Hatton Gorge. This isolated mountain refuge lies close to the boundary between subtropical and tropical rainforests and supports species from both vegetation types. Eungella is one of Queensland's most ecologically diverse parks with 860 plant species, including many close to their distributional limit.
Clarke Range supports populations of many rainforest taxa that have been isolated from other rainforest patches to the north and south for so long that they are now considered distinct subspecies. These include White-throated Treecreeper and Brown Gerygone. Other isolated populations include those of Powerful Owl and Brown Thornbill, which are the northern limits of their range, and Glossy Swiftlet, White-rumped Swiftlet and Large-billed Gerygone, which occur no further south. Glossy Black-Cockatoo may have been present in the area only since the 1960s (Garnett et al. 2000). Two records of the vulnerable Red Goshawk in the EPA database (EPA 2008); and 16 records of the biome-restricted Yellow Honeyeater, seven records of the biome-restricted White-browed Robin and two records of the near threatened Australian Bustard in 280 Atlas of Australian Birds surveys conducted from 1998 to 2008 (Atlas of Australian Birds database).
Non-bird biodiversity: 860 plant species have been recorded in the national park, including plants on the edge of their distribution such as the Eungella satinash and Sydney blue gum. An endemic gastric brooding frog is now extinct.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Logging practices in the State Forests must consider the ecological requirements of Eungella Honeyeater.
IBA includes the Eungella National Park and Cathu and Crediton State Forests.
Queensland State Government with management the responsibility of QPWS and Queensland State Forests.
Thanks to Allan Briggs (BA Capricornia) as compiler with assistance from Marg Andrews.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Clarke Range (Australia). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/clarke-range-iba-australia on 23/11/2024.
