Lesueur National Park

Lesueur National Park
Blossom of the Blancoa canescens
Coordinates: 30 ° 8 ′ 4 ″  S , 115 ° 6 ′ 2 ″  O
Location:	Western Australia , Australia
Specialty:	Table Mountain, Bushland
Next city:	200 kilometer (s) from Geraldton
Surface:	2,699 km²
Founding:	1992

The Lesueur National Park is a 2,700 km² national park on the west coast of the Australian state of Western Australia . Together with the Stirling Range and Fitzgerald River National Park , it is one of the most important protected areas for flora and fauna in southwest Australia. The park is about 210 km north of Perth and 100 km south of Geraldton, Australia .

history

In June 1801, coming from the south, the French ship Naturaliste sailed along the coast. Past Jurien Bay one saw two conspicuous table mountains . One was named Mount Lesueur in honor of Charles-Alexandre Lesueur , an explorer, naturalist and botanist aboard the Naturaliste , and the other Mount Peron .

The next record in which the mountain is mentioned is from Captain George Gray , who crossed the area by land with five others. Her ship sank near Kalbarri .

By James Drummond in 1850 was the first botanist in the area, explore the plant world and to describe. In the following years, when the area north of Perth was opened up for agriculture, the area around Mount Lesueur was excluded because it was unsuitable for livestock due to the rocky landscape and a multitude of poisonous plants. The area has therefore been spared human interference.

The national park was officially opened on January 24, 1992.

geography

The old sedimentary rocks of the Lesueur-Cockleshell Gully have been folded several times in the history of the earth by a series of faults . Numerous ditches and cracks emerged from these folds, which today represent an important retreat for many animals and plants. Mount Lesueur itself, an almost circular table mountain, is the relic of a long-lasting erosion of the surrounding laterite plain . To the west of the park are sand dunes , swamps, and low limestone hills .

Flora and fauna

The laterite plain surrounding Mount Lesueur is mainly covered with bushland , also called "kwongan" by the Aborigines . The bushland, monotonous at first glance, is only one meter high and is home to a greater biodiversity than any other type of vegetation in Western Australia. Up to 80 species of plants can be found on ten square meters , but a few hundred meters further, another species community determines the picture. Such diversity is comparable to that of tropical rainforests .

The diversity of animal species is due not least to the diversity of plant species. Around 200 of the 820 plant species are under special protection. These include very original species that have survived in microhabitats over the past million years with numerous climatic changes. For example, Kingia australis , Hakea megalosperma and Conostylis androstemma thrive on the southern slopes of Mountlesenur, an area with moderate solar radiation and moist sea air .

Web links

• Official site of the park (English)
• Management Plan 1995 - 2005 (English, pdf; 684 kB)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Official website of the park. DEC , accessed June 26, 2009 . 
2. ↑ Management Plan 1995 - 2005. (pdf; 701 kB) (No longer available online.) DEC , 1995, p. 1 , archived from the original on July 30, 2008 ; accessed on June 26, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.