The Mallee Region of Victoria

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The Mallee Region of Victoria

Location and Contents:
The Mallee region of Victoria is situated in North-West Victoria and covers an area of around 44,000 square kilometres. The region is known to be associated with the adjacent land of South Australia and New South Wales and is also recognised to join with the Wimmera and Loddon regions of Victoria. Also, because of the large area which the region covers and the diversity it beholds, it is sometimes distinguished into two sub-regions, the north and the south. Whilst 38% of the land is occupied by the public, only 1% of the remaining 62% is protected from grazing animals and only 3.04% retains native vegetation. ????????

Biomes:
The Mallee is the home of a variety of biomes: desert, aquatic (wetlands) and grassland. When joined with the Wimmera region, the area is known to hold 25% of Victoria’s wetlands, creating a home for a diverse array of fauna and flora. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-How could global warming affect the area and food production? Are there any innovations in the area to help deal with climate change and the increasing scarcity of resources? (such as covered irrigation channels, wind power, reducing carbon footprint…?)
Regional Climate & Potential Climate Change Impacts:
Being the ‘north of the divide’, the Mallee region brags of its sunny climate and hot, dry summers. In the last 15 years, average temperatures have increased by 0.4°C, while the summer and spring averages have increased by 8-9°C. There has also been a decrease in rainfall in recent times, displaying the region’s vulnerablity to climate change. The average yearly rainfall differs from about 250mm to 400mm. These changes in weather patterns are evidence of the fact that climate change is occuring. Hav...

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...). [online] Available at: http://www.malleecma.vic.gov.au/resources/salinity/4.-dryland-salinity-drivers-and-processes [Accessed 12 May. 2014].
Viridans.com, (2014). Victorian Ecosystems - Mallee. [online] Available at: http://www.viridans.com/ECOVEG/mallee.htm [Accessed 12 May. 2014].
AG Excellence, (2012). Mallee Sustainable Farming Systems Inc (MSF) - AG Excellence. [online] Available at: http://agex.org.au/groups/mallee-sustainable-farming-project-msf/ [Accessed 13 May. 2014].
Depi.vic.gov.au, (2014). DEPI - The Mallee region. [online] Available at: http://www.depi.vic.gov.au/agriculture-and-food/food-and-fibre-industries/region-overviews/mallee [Accessed 13 May. 2014].
Murray Darling Basin Authority, (2014). Irrigated Agriculture in the Mallee. [online] Available at: http://www.mdba.gov.au/sites/default/files/pubs/MDBA_IAM_Web_FA3.pdf [Accessed 14 May. 2014].

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