Atherton Tablelands
Tableland Regions
Kuranda
Mareeba
Tolga
Atherton
Yungaburra
Lake Tinaroo
Lake Eacham
Lake Barrine
Malanda
Millaa Millaa
Herberton
Ravenshoe
Chillagoe
Getting to the Tablelands
Accommodation
Activities
Tours
Hiking Tracks
Cruises
History
Aboriginal History
Markets
Flora & Fauna
Climate
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Atherton Tablelands - Flora and FaunaThe plants and animals living at the Atherton Tablelands are every bit as magical as their cousins in more prominent areas such as the Daintree Rainforest and The Great Barrier Reef. In fact, the Atherton Tablelands are included in the 1988 World Heritage Listing with these two other major tropical ecological areas. The natural beauty and fragility of the ecosystem throughout the entirety of Tropical North Queensland is one of the most pristine in the whole world, and the Atherton Tablelands is a vital part of this make up. The Waterfalls & Crater Lakes District of the Atherton Tablelands covers less than one thousandth of the Australian continent, but brims with an abundance of wildlife species far beyond its scope as a small region. Flora and fauna include:
This remarkable composition of plants and animals makes the Atherton Tablelands prime territory for bird watching and ecological activities. A vast amount of biological research is conducted throughout the region, and the list of plant and animal species, and benefits that come from the rainforest, grows larger every day. The diversity of plant form throughout the Atherton Tablelands means the type of forest you are travelling through can suddenly change from rainforest to dry scrub in the space of a few kilometres. An example of a small pocket of forest, unique to a limited area, is the Tolga Scrub. This is one of the last remaining fragments of the endangered Mabi rainforest. It once covered areas north and west of Malanda, but is now limited to only 26 hectares (65 acres) near the small town of Tolga. The scrub is 2 kilometres long and only 100 metres wide, bordered by a highway, railway line and other man-made infrastructure. Despite being the most drought resistant type of rainforest in Australia, scientists are concerned that human activity will threaten the survival of the unique Tolga scrub. Widespread clearing has resulted in several endemic plant species being listed as 'vulnerable to extinction'. The history of flora and fauna in the Atherton Tablelands stretches for millions of years into the past. From 3 million to 20,000 years ago, extensive volcanic activity occurred leaving hundreds of conical hills, flooded craters, scoria cones, lava cones, maars of irregular distribution and red soil that is excellent for agriculture. Extinct remnants of volcanos can be found near Atherton, at the Seven Sisters hills, and crater lakes are found at Lake Eacham and Lake Barrine. Scientists believe these lakes were formed approximately 12,000 years ago when molten hot magma in the centre of the earth rose to the surface and heated the water table. The intense hot steam resulting from the boiling water table was trapped underground until massive explosions facilitated its release. Huge cracks appeared in the ground and the trees that once lathed the mountainside were levelled and burnt. Eventually, over hundreds of years, water filled the craters and the trees grew back to create the tranquil lake used today by families and tourists for recreation. The lake is fed by underground springs so it retains a constant water level and is unaffected by drought. Trees surrounding the lakes grow to 55 metres high. The lakes and creeks at the Atherton Tablelands are home to a great diversity of freshwater fish. 78 of Australia’s 190 species occur in these waterways, and the most common fish family is the Rainbow Fish. Waterfalls create natural barriers to fish migration, meaning that some creeks have isolated subspecies of fish that are found nowhere else in the world. This is a phenomenon called endemism, and is of particular concern for scientists because the pollution and destruction of a single waterway can lead to the extinction of a subspecies. However, there are always exceptions to the rule, and Lake Eacham (a closed volcanic crater filled with water and isolated from all other watercourses) is the centrepiece of this unusual story. The Lake Eacham Rainbowfish (Melanotaenia eachamensis), which is very similar to the Eastern Rainbowfish, somehow found its way into the volcanic lake many hundreds of years ago. Scientists are unsure how the fish entered the waters of Lake Eacham. Unfortunately for the small brightly coloured fish, humans introduced larger native fish into Lake Eacham and these bigger fish ate the Rainbow Fish into extinction. However, it was soon revealed that hobbyists had been illegally collecting the Rainbow Fish from Lake Eacham and successfully breeding them in captivity. These private stocks of Rainbow Fish because the source for monitored breeding to reintroduce the fish to the lake. But alas, the same large fish that ate the Rainbow Fish to extinction was still living in Lake Eacham and proceeded to wipe out the new stock in the same manner as it had previously. A few years later, researchers working in Wet Tropics rivers and creeks found genetically identical versions of the Lake Eacham Rainbow Fish in the Tully, Herbert and Johnstone Rivers and Dirran Creek. How these fish entered these rivers from the closed Lake Eacham system is a mystery that scientists are still working to solve. Birdlife in the Atherton Tablelands is diverse. A small selection of birds commonly seen may be found below. Atherton Tablelands Birdwatching
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