The Fascinating Role of Gibber Pebbles | Bush Heritage Australia Skip to main content

Banded vegetation, with its intriguing ‘tiger stripe’ patterns of bare and vegetated ground, is a striking feature of arid landscapes worldwide. And guess what? These vegetation systems are thriving on Boolcoomatta Reserve!

Gibber bands at Boolcoomatta Reserve
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Gibber bands at Boolcoomatta Reserve. By Ida Gaulke

In an exciting collaboration with Monash University’s Geomorphology Lab, a recent study explored the fascinating role of gibber pebbles (those quartz and iron-oxide pebbles strewn on the Earth’s surface) in banded vegetation. 

Taking a drone to the skies, researchers captured high-resolution images and mapped the surface in 3D. This was the first time that such large-scale data has been obtained for these vegetation systems, allowing for a much more detailed and robust understanding than previously possible. 

The team then devised algorithms to analyse the maps and examine how features such as vegetation density, gibber surface concentration, and local slope change through and between the vegetated bands. 

The role gibber plays in these systems began to emerge.

They revealed that gibber is concentrated in the bare inter-band zones where vegetation is minimal. This finding bolsters previous work in non-banded vegetation communities, which suggests that gibber works like a natural mulch, limiting vegetation growth in these regions by reducing surface moisture. This preserved the unique, heterogeneous landscape that species such as the critically endangered Plains-wanderer call home.

They also found that gibber acts as a protective blanket, armouring hillslopes against erosion and possibly preserving an ancient, relic landscape that formed under a different climate regime.

Moreover, the study was able to demonstrate that vegetation density across the surveyed sites is now within the ideal range for the Plains-wanderer, thanks to 19-years of dedicated habitat restoration efforts by Bush Heritage. In addition, removing livestock and feral management has allowed these remarkable ecosystems to bounce back, showcasing the power of conservation in action.

This is more than research – it’s a celebration of nature’s resilience and all its stripes!

Close-up of gibber pebbles
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Close-up of gibber pebbles. By Ida Gaulke