Research at Fowlers Gap

Research at Fowlers Gap

Over 70% of Australia falls within the arid zone, which, due to its harshness, remains less than well understood. Fowlers Gap presents a unique opportunity to study the outback and understand its mysteries from the outside-in.

The University of New South Wales Sydney holds a perpetual lease to the station and plays host to many of its own researchers, as well as those from other institutions from Australia and around the world. The station is a base for understanding the physical and ecological processes that define the arid zone, and the behaviour and evolution of the organisms that call it home.

Research opportunities at Fowlers Gap include a look at restoring arid zone ecosystems, geology, hydrology, and how these systems have been changed by pastoralism, with the site itself remaining an important station for its neighbouring and visiting communities. We are taking a Strategic Adaptive Management (SAM) approach to managing, understanding and appreciating the ecological and social dimensions of this landscape. The best way to demonstrate future opportunities, though, is by looking at our current ones.

Some of our current research projects include:

• Singing and breeding behaviour of wild zebra finches

• Impact of grazing on vegetation and mammal communities in Australia’s arid rangelands

• The Australian Acoustic Observatory (A2O)

• Behavioural ecology of the short‐beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) in the arid zone of Fowlers Gap

You can read more about these projects and others in our 2021 Research Report.