Wattles of the Pilbara (Bush Books Series)

The Pilbara is an area of about 200,000 square kilometres in the arid zone of north-west Western Australia.  There are more than 80 species of wattle in the Pilbara in addition to many varieties, subspecies and hybrids.  Wattles occur in most Pilbara ecosystems and they are important in nature conservation, as well as mine-site and  other land-rehabilitation programmes.  Some also provide a source of fodder for the pastoral industry, especially during drought times.  Others have ethno-botanical and cultural significance to the Indigenous people of the region.  The vegetation of the Pilbara is a tree or shrub steppe where wattle and spinifex are the dominant elements.