Edgbaston Reserve - Bush Heritage Australia

Established: 2008
Area: 8,074 ha
Location: Central Qld, 140km NE of Longreach
Custodians: Innigai people

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Sometimes, the more we learn about a Bush Heritage property, the more we realise just how little we know about Australia’s wild places.

That’s definitely true of Edgbaston Reserve, home to what scientists have called the most significant natural springs for global biodiversity in the entire Great Artesian Basin.

Galahs in open gidyea woodland on Edgbaston. Photo Wayne Lawler / EcoPix.

Fed by water travelling hundreds of kilometres beneath a dry, arid environment, these isolated springs have given rise to the evolution of more than two dozen species found nowhere else on the planet.

Two nationally threatened fish – the Red-finned Blue-eye and Edgbaston Goby – eleven types of snail, one small crustacean, one flatworm, one spider and a species of dragonfly reside exclusively in the spring-fed pools at Edgbaston.

Sunset over an artesian spring on Edgbaston. Photo Wayne Lawler / EcoPix.

The reserve’s flora is also exceptional. Surveys have revealed that Edgbaston is home to 15 newly discovered plants, many yet to be named.

Given its small size, Edgbaston is surprisingly diverse, spanning the Mitchell Grass Plains and Desert Uplands, Edgbaston protects 27 regional ecosystems, including two listed as 'endangered' and six as ‘of concern’.

All this has been protected thanks to the generosity of our supporters.

What this reserve protects

In addition to its endangered fish, Edgbaston protects a number of plant species that are found nowhere else in the world. Some of these are completely new to science, such as the endangered tall pipewort. Edgbaston also protects these significant species and communities:

Animals

Red-finned Blue-eye (endangered fish), Edgbaston Goby (vulnerable fish), Squatter Pigeon, Brolga, Australian Bustard, Black-headed Python

Plants

Aloe Pipewort (endangered), Blue Devil (endangered), Regal Bassia (vulnerable), Watermilfoil, Spring grass.

Vegetation communities

Artesian springs community (endangered), Spinifex hummock grassland, Cane grass grassland, Mitchell grass grassland, Microcybe wattle shrubland.

Bustard in colourful native grassland, Edgbaston Reserve. Photo Wayne Lawler / EcoPix.

What we’re doing

Gambusia fish at Edgbaston springs

Work to control invasive Gambusia (mosquito fish), which feed on small fish, invertebrates and fish eggs, will help the survival of both the Edgbaston Goby and the Red-finned Blue-eye.

Control of this noxious species will also help the endangered springs communities – which includes everything from snails to spiders and aquatic plants – from suffering further degradation.

Edgbaston Gobies in springs on the reserve.

Controlling feral pigs is another management priority at Edgbaston – feral pigs can trample and churn up a wetland spring in just one feeding session.

We're also working hard to restore and look after the Lake Mueller wetlands and springs basin. In flood this basin provides habitat for raptors, ducks, shorebirds, waders and large numbers of brolgas.

A fight for survival

In 1990 the Edgbaston Springs surprised the world when they revealed the presence of a tiny blue-eye type of fish with striking red fins – the nationally threatened Red-finned Blue-eye.

Found in just a few shallow springs fed by underground aquifers on Edgbaston Reserve, the Red-finned Blue-eye is one of Australia's tiniest and most threatened freshwater fish.

Our ecologists have been busy protecting the Red-finned Blue-eye from its biggest threat, an invasive fish introduced into Australia in the 1930s in an ill-considered attempt to control mosquitoes. The larger mosquito fish harasses and excludes the native fish from their habitat, rapidly eradicating Red-finned Blue-eyes from the springs.

We're now working to isolate important springs with barriers to prevent invasive mosquito fish from entering the springs during times of flooding. We're also expanding our onsite captive breeding capabilities and supporting captive breeding partners including Australia New Guinea Fishes Association.

Red-finned Blue-eye

History and cultural values

Brolgas gather on Edgbaston after rain. Photo Wayne Lawler / EcoPix.

Little is known about the Aboriginal cultural heritage of Edgbaston but it's likely that the Lake Mueller wetlands and springs were and still are significant food and water sources.

To learn more about the reserve's Aboriginal heritage we'll team up with local Indigenous people to carry out important survey and assessment work.

Edgbaston also has a pastoral history dating back well over 100 years, when the region was established as Aramac Station.

Edgbaston Reserve was acquired in 2008 with the help of the Australian Government and The Nature Conservancy. We'd also like to acknowledge The Nature Conservancy's David Thomas Challenge and Desert Channels Queensland, through funding from the Australian Government's Caring for Our Country program, for their generous support of this work.

Species on Edgbaston

Echidna

Kangaroos

Red-finned Blue-eye

Brolgas

Edgbaston Goby

Bowerbirds

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