Cape York Peninsula tropical savanna facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Cape York Peninsula tropical savanna
Coleman River (Queensland)
Map of the Cape York Peninsula tropical savanna ecoregion.
Ecology
Realm	Australasian
Biome	tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands
Borders	Carpentaria tropical savanna, Einasleigh Uplands savanna, and Queensland tropical rain forests
Geography
Area	121,160 km2 (46,780 sq mi)
Country	Australia
States	Queensland and Torres Strait Regional Authority
Conservation
Conservation status	Relatively stable/intact
Protected	35,713 km² (29%)

Cape York Peninsula Queensland
The interim Australian bioregions, with Cape York Peninsula in red
Area	122,564.57 km2 (47,322.4 sq mi)
Localities around Cape York Peninsula: Gulf of Carpentaria Torres Strait Pacific Ocean Gulf of Carpentaria Cape York Peninsula Pacific Ocean Gulf Plains Einasleigh Uplands Wet Tropics

The Cape York Peninsula tropical savanna is a tropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands ecoregion in northern Australia. It occupies the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, mainland Australia's northernmost point. It is coterminous with the Cape York Peninsula (code CYP), an interim Australian bioregion.

Geography

The ecoregion covers the northern portion of the Cape York Peninsula, along with the adjacent Torres Strait Islands. It is bounded by the Carpentaria tropical savanna ecoregion to the southwest, Einasleigh Uplands savanna to the south, and Queensland tropical rain forests to the southeast.

The west of the region is dominated in the south by an extensive Tertiary sand sheet dissected by the drainage systems of the Holroyd Plain, the Tertiary laterite of the Weipa Plateau, and the low rises of Mesozoic sandstones, while the northern section consists of the Weipa Plateau together with extensive coastal plains along the Gulf of Carpentaria. To the east lie aeolian dunefields. Along the eastern margin, the geology of the Coen-Yambo Inlier is complex, with volcanic, metamorphic and acid intrusive rocks. The subregion of the Battle Camp Sandstones, formed from deeply dissected plateaus, lies in the south of the region, with the Laura Lowlands, composed of sands and silts, and colluvial and alluvial clays, lying adjacent.

Climate

The climate is tropical, humid or maritime, with rainfall varying from 1000 mm to 1600 mm, including some high-rainfall areas at high altitudes.

Flora

The vegetation mainly consists of woodlands, heathlands, sedgelands, vine forests (including both semi-deciduous vine forests on the eastern ranges and deciduous vine thickets on western slopes). Mangrove forests are found in the north east and along the estuaries on the coasts.

Subregions

In the IBRA system, Cape York Peninsula (CYP) has nine sub-regions:

Protected areas

Protected areas in the ecoregion include Alwal National Park, Binirr National Park, Cape Melville National Park, Jack River National Park, Jardine River National Park, Kulla National Park, Lakefield National Park, Olkola National Park, Oyala Thumotang National Park, and Wuthathi (Shelburne Bay) National Park.