Episode Details

Roughly seventy per cent of Australia is arid or semi-arid, yet the outback is far from empty: it runs on a distinctive boom-and-bust rhythm built around unpredictable rain. This episode explores why the continent is so dry, the water-saving adaptations of plants like spinifex and mulga and animals from kangaroos to burrowing frogs, and the role of fire, feral species and tens of thousands of years of Aboriginal land management in shaping this landscape.

You'll come away understanding why Australia's interior is so dry and why its soils are so old and nutrient-poor, how boom-and-bust ecology works after rain, the specific water-saving adaptations of arid-zone plants and animals, why fire and cultural burning matter so much to this landscape, and how feral species and climate change are placing new pressure on one of the most distinctive ecosystems on Earth.

Talking Science is sponsored by Kinsoft. Visit www.kinsoft.com.au

Further reading: CSIRO – research on arid zone ecology and Australian biodiversity; Australian Museum – outback and arid zone species explainers; Bureau of Meteorology – climate and rainfall variability in arid Australia; Australian Government (Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water) – Indigenous land and fire management resources.