Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park Research Articles

From Bus Driver Dreaming to Tjukurpa

Separated from the surrounding landscape by walls, wiltjas and fences, with strategically framed views back to the rock, the Uluru-Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre offers opportunities for tourists to learn about Anangu understandings of place. Historically, this information has been conveyed through interpretations located in situ within the landscape of the national park or through the narrative of the organised tour. What then is the role of a museum space in a national park? Why go inside to understand what is outside? To investigate these questions, this paper looks outside the discourses of museology and architecture, the orthodox methods for analysing the ‘typology’ of the cultural centre, and instead traces the development of the Centre within the spatial history of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. This analysis offers an alternative reading, revealing the Centre as a place of mediation and control, strategically located between landscape and tourist and Ananguand tourist. Further while the Centre fulfills a role in promoting Aboriginal culture, Anangu voices remain filtered through the display techniques of the museum. It is only through the introduction of Anangu tours that the museological driven interior is linked with the Tjurkapa of the exterior.

Ants of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park in arid Australia: Diversity, faunistic composition and habitat associations

Inland Australia supports by far the world's most diverse arid-adapted ant fauna, but there are no published studies of regional ant faunas from the central arid zone. Here we describe the ants collected by pitfall trapping at 22 sites in World Heritage-listed Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park (300 mm mean annual rainfall), representing all major vegetation types from spinifex grasslands to eucalypt woodlands. A total of 154 (mostly undescribed) ant species from 26 genera were recorded, with the richest genera being Melophorus (30 species), Monomorium (26), Iridomyrmex (18) and Camponotus (12). The pattern of species accumulation suggests that many more species remain to be collected from the Park, and we estimate that the total fauna consists of around 300 species. The most abundant ants were species of Iridomyrmex (collectively contributing 76% of all ants collected), as is the case throughout arid Australia. Species of Monomorium and Melophorus were also highly abundant. No exotic species were recorded. Ant species composition was strongly related to vegetation type, with a particular distinction between the various grasslands on one hand, and woodlands on the other. Unexpectedly, species richness was higher in structurally simple spinifex grasslands than in eucalypt woodlands. The woodland fauna lacks many taxa characteristic of such habitats in similarly arid regions of southern Australia, which we attribute to remoteness and small patch size. Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park supports an extremely diverse ant fauna, but surveys of other areas are required for an improved understanding of patterns of ant biodiversity in Australia's central arid zone.

Mortality rates of desert vegetation during high‐intensity drought at Uluru‐Kata Tjuta National Park, Central Australia

AbstractPrecipitation variability and heatwaves are expected to intensify over much of inland Australia under most projected climate change scenarios. This will undoubtedly have impacts on the biota of Australian dryland systems. However, accurate modelling of these impacts is presently impeded by a lack of empirical research on drought/heatwave effects on native arid flora and fauna. During the 2018–2021 Australian drought, many parts of the continent's inland experienced their hottest, driest period on record. Here, we present the results of a field survey in 2021 involving indigenous rangers, scientists and national parks staff who assessed plant dieback during this drought at Uluru‐Kata Tjuta National Park (UKTNP), central Australia. Spatially randomized quadrat sampling of eight common and culturally important plants indicated the following plant death rates across UKTNP (in order of drought susceptibility): desert myrtle (Aluta maisonneuvei subsp. maisonneuvei) (91%), yellow flame grevillea (Grevillea eriostachya) (79%), Maitland's wattle (Acacia maitlandii) (67%), waxy wattle (A. melleodora) (65%), soft spinifex grass (Triodia pungens) (53%), mulga (A. aneura) (42%), desert oak (Allocasuarina decaisneana) (22%) and quandong (Santalum acuminatum) (0%). The sampling also detected that seedling recruitment was absent or minimal for all plants except soft spinifex, while a generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) indicated two‐way interactions among species, plant size and stand density as important predictors of drought survival of adult plants. A substantial loss of biodiversity has occurred at UKTNP during the recent drought, with likely drivers of widespread plant mortality being extreme multi‐year rainfall deficit (2019 recorded the lowest‐ever annual rainfall at UKTNP [27 mm]) and record high summer temperatures (December 2019 recorded the highest‐ever temperature [47.1°C]). Our findings indicate that widespread plant death and extensive vegetation restructuring will occur across arid Australia if the severity and frequency of droughts increase under climate change.

Closing the climb: refusal or reconciliation in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park?

ABSTRACT The Uluru Climb, located within Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Australia, was permanently closed to tourists on the 26 October 2019 after decades of controversy. Determined by a unanimous vote of the Anangu majority Board of Management, news of the Climb’s closure quickly captured popular, political and media attention, not all of which was positive. Drawing on two periods of fieldwork – the first in November 2012 (n = 68 interviewees) and the second in May 2019 (n = 62 interviewees) – this paper discusses visitor responses to the Climb both in terms of the ongoing coloniality evident in discourses of nationalism and individual rights and the possibility of the transformation of such views via a range of emotional and affective engagements. We highlight the prevalence of feelings of ownership, empathy and shame in the deployment of a range of views on the Climb and other cultural restrictions, as well as their political implications in the context of contemporary Australian settler-colonialism. In so doing, we position an ethic of relationality as key to the mobilisation of feelings, emotions and affects necessary to transform the outlook of visitors in the context of ongoing reconciliation debates between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians.

In the shadow of an iconic inselberg: Uluru's shadow influences climates and reptile assemblage structure at its base

Uluru is the more famous of the two namesake inselbergs found in Uluru Kata-Tjuta National Park (UKTNP). Uluru is roughly 10 km around its base, stands nearly 350 m tall, and can cast a shadow more than a kilometre long during the early morning and late afternoon hours. Additionally, there are many areas near the base of Uluru that receive nearly continuous shade throughout the day, which may also mean that these places could be buffered against extreme temperatures. This study investigated Uluru's influence on the climate at various distances from its base, and simultaneously assessed if the structure of the reptile community was related to the observed climatic variation. We used iButton data loggers to record the temperature and relative humidity at 26 sample locations surrounding Uluru. We used ArcGIS to map the path of Uluru's shadow and to determine when and how long data loggers recorded in and out of Uluru's shading influence. We found that the temperature and relative humidity were strongly influenced by Uluru's shadow, and that reptile assemblages were strongly correlated with the amount of time a sampled site was influenced by Uluru's shadow.

Returning Uluru

ABSTRACT Uluru, once known as Ayer’s Rock, is one of Australia’s most well-known natural phenomena. A World Heritage Site, it is listed for its cultural and natural heritage attributes. Until recently it had been visited by more than 300,000 people annually, many of whom climbed the rock, despite the expressly stated wishes of the Traditional Owners that they should not. In November 2017, the Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park authority decided to permanently close the Uluru climb and remove the climb infrastructure, which included a series of 134 posts cemented into the rock and linked by chain, with a cairn at the summit. This paper details the conservation processes and remediating materials considered, then the methods employed to remove this infrastructure safely. Technical requirements included leaving no visible evidence of the posts, avoiding or minimising any damage to the rock surface, and providing a long-lasting in-fill solution that would blend into the rock surface, on the basis that the rock would never be climbed again. The logistics of a site which is some 470 km from the nearest town, has no facilities, and where the surface temperature can reach 60–70°C in mid summer, determined the removal of the evidence of human intervention on the rock site of Uluru. The broader context of Uluru’s recent history and its hand-back to the traditional owners is also discussed.

Up close and personal: Using high engagement techniques to study Chinese visitors' landscape perceptions

Given the well-documented increase in Chinese outbound tourists, it is no surprise that the Chinese market continues to attract considerable scholarly interest. Previous studies have been primarily quantitative, using methods and instruments administered prior to and/or immediately after visitation. While useful, such approaches may struggle to capture the complex cultural attributes of the Chinese market. Accordingly, this paper proposes the adoption of high-engagement (HE) methods, namely Accompanied Walk and Visitor Employed Photography (VEP), as additional in-situ techniques for studying Chinese visitors. Drawing on fieldwork conducted at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, this paper details the procedures of using HE approaches to collect data. An insider positionality and triangulation of data from multiple techniques are particularly useful for unravelling cultural nuances. The strengths of each method in obtaining quality data from Chinese tourists are discussed, together with strategies for overcoming challenges encountered in the field.

An assessment of thermal preference of two species of Knob-tailed Geckos, Nephrurus levis and N. laevissimus, at Uluru Kata-Tjuta National Park

An assessment of thermal preference of two species of Knob-tailed Geckos, Nephrurus levis and N. laevissimus, at Uluru Kata-Tjuta National Park

A Journey to the Heart: Affecting Engagement at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park

This paper examines how Indigenous cultures and their connections to country are presented to the public in protected areas through a textual analysis of interpretive signage. In protected areas, different representational tropes are used to interpret colonial/settler, natural heritage and Indigenous landscapes and places. This paper begins by exploring the extent to which these contrasting interpretive strategies signify to visitors a hierarchy of place value in protected areas. It then asks whether the signage at Indigenous places alienates contemporary communities from country and history through a distant and detached view of culture, authorised via the template of scientific objectivity. These questions will be explored through an account that concludes with a consideration of the affective registers afforded to visitors within the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.

Diet of mala (Lagorchestes hirsutus) at Uluru–Kata Tjuta National Park and comparison with that of historic free-ranging mala in the Tanami Desert: implications for management and future reintroductions

Lack of information regarding the ecology of threatened species may compromise conservation efforts. Mala, a small macropod that historically inhabited a vast area of arid Australia, became extinct in the wild in 1991. Although dietary studies were completed before their disappearance from the Tanami Desert, no such work was conducted in the southern Northern Territory before mala became extinct in this part of its former range. The reintroduction of mala to Uluru–Kata Tjuta National Park provided an opportunity for dietary analysis of faecal pellets. Results show that mala foraged a wide variety of plant species, although grasses and supplementary food comprised the bulk of the diet. Neither the average percentage of Poaceae, Triodia in particular, nor supplementary food found in pellet samples was correlated with rainfall. Niche breadth analysis showed a narrow dietary range for both the Tanami and Uluru studies. Mala at both locations selected similar types of plants, plant parts, and several of the same species. Results suggest that food species Aristida holathera and Eragrostis eriopoda should be monitored to assist in determining the carrying capacity of the Uluru enclosure. A botanically diverse reintroduction site supporting Eragrostis, Aristida and Triodia appears to be most suitable for mala.

Surfacing behaviour and ecology of the marsupial mole (Notoryctes typhlops) at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park

Little is known about the distribution and ecology of the cryptic and unique marsupial mole. In this paper we report on the habitat preferences and surfacing behaviour of marsupial moles on the basis of surface sign surveys conducted in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and Ayers Rock Resort over a 12-month period by Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park staff and traditional owners. A key aim of the study was to assess the potential viability of using surface sign as a rapid, non-intrusive alternative to traditional survey methods. We found that surfacing occurred widely across the study area, but that it was highly variable both across survey sites and over time. Significant relationships existed between surface sign counts and environmental variables, including fire age, timing of significant rainfall events, presence of infrastructure and the cumulative rainfall received in the preceding three months. We concluded that the use of marsupial mole surface sign is likely to be a useful method for monitoring the distribution, abundance and habitat requirements of this cryptic species.

Habitat use and ecological observations of the Ooldea dunnart (Sminthopsis ooldea) at Uluru–Kata Tjuta National Park, Northern Territory

The Ooldea dunnart (Sminthopsis ooldea) is a small (10–11 g) and poorly known dasyurid marsupial that is endemic to the central and western arid regions of Australia. Surveys carried out at Uluru–Kata Tjuta National Park, Northern Territory, from 1994 to 2010 yielded 37 captures of this elusive species, providing novel insights into its biology. Most captures were made in pitfall traps, with spring breeding confirmed by the presence of pregnant or lactating females during October and November. Animals were captured in mallee and mulga woodland and spinifex (Triodia spp.) dominated dune fields and sand plains. Capture rates were variable in most habitat types, but were relatively consistent in one site dominated by mulga (Acacia aneura). Although we found no consistent association between captures of S. ooldea and prior rainfall, fewest animals were captured in the two wettest years of the study. Ooldea dunnarts showed no clear response to fire. We suggest that mulga is a key habitat for S. ooldea, but also that the demography of this species may be shaped by biotic and/or abiotic factors that remain to be fully elucidated.

The effect of patch area on birds in central Australian mulga (Acacia aneura) woodland of different times-since-fire.

It is often assumed that a fine-scaled mosaic of different times-since-fire supports greater biodiversity than a coarsescaled mosaic — the fire mosaic hypothesis. A potential mechanism of the fire mosaic hypothesis is the effect of area on species diversity. We investigated the effect of patch area on bird communities in mulga (Acacia aneura) woodland in central Australia. The study was conducted at Uluru Kata-Tjuta National Park using 55 fixed-area sites classified to the time since last fire: burnt 2002; burnt 1976 and long unburnt. Birds were surveyed in the winter and spring of 2005 and 2006. Of 20 key species, two showed a positive density-area effect (i.e. higher density in larger patches). Patch area did not affect total bird density or species richness. However, species turnover (ß-diversity) was greater in large patches in the burnt 2002 treatment than it was in small patches. There was no effect of patch area on the composition of the bird communities in any of the time-since-fire classes. We concluded that patch area did affect the distribution of some birds in mulga woodland. However, patch area was not a mechanism of the fire mosaic hypothesis because the effects of patch size tended to increase avian diversity in larger patches rather than small.

Population dynamics of Dasycercus blythi (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae) in central Australia: how does the mulgara persist?

Context Central Australia has been a graveyard for native mammals, with many small and medium-sized species becoming extinct or persisting in reduced geographical ranges in this region since the advent of European settlement. Species in the critical weight range (35–5500 g) have been affected most dramatically. Aims We compared the dynamics of two geographically distant populations of a medium-sized surviving desert mammal, the brush-tailed mulgara (Dasycercus blythi, ~100 g), and tested the hypothesis that this species’ persistence can be explained by its demographic plasticity. Methods Paired sampling grids, each 31.5 ha, were set up in the Tanami Desert on the northern edge of the species’ geographical range and near Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park (UKTNP) on the southern boundary. Animals were live-trapped every 3 months between 1992 and 1995, and estimates made of population size, residency, reproduction, bodyweight and tail width; the latter was used as an index of condition. Key results The UKTNP site supported a larger population of D. blythi than did the Tanami Desert site. In both areas, the population fluctuated annually, declining during the breeding season (June to October) and increasing again following the influx of juveniles in spring. Females had one litter per year, with a median and maximum litter size of six; births in the Tanami occurred in July, at least a month earlier than they did at UKTNP. Bodyweights and tail widths peaked before breeding and then declined until spring, with animals retaining better body condition in the Tanami than at UKTNP. In both regions, individuals were resident for 1–2 years; daughters remained near their mother’s home range but males moved to other areas. Conclusions The results provided little support for our initial expectation that populations of D. blythi would behave differently in disparate parts of the species’ geographical range, and suggested instead that this mulgara exhibits a predictable life history, with limited demographic flexibility. Implications The persistence of D. blythi in central Australia is most likely a result of its striking flexibility in use of food resources, its ability to enter torpor and to tolerate large declines in bodyweight and condition, and its propensity to dig deep burrows. We suggest that these attributes buffer mulgaras from the impacts of introduced predators that have contributed to extinctions of other medium-sized marsupials, and from climatic and resource uncertainties that shape the dynamics of many smaller desert mammals.

“Thinking outside the gunnels”: considering natures and the moral terrains of recreational canoe travel

This article draws upon geographic approaches to ethics to outline an approach for envisioning enhanced responsibility amid the multiple natures of recreational canoe travel and, by extension, to argue for the consideration and practice of outdoor leisure as a moral space. This article begins by introducing the “nature of canoeing,” a perceived and physical leisure–wilderness space that holds popular currency as a mechanism for social change. A diverse literature illustrates objections to this hegemonic nature of canoeing and, beneficial to my aims, highlights the multiplicity of natures embedded within a canoescape. To service the envisioning of responsibility amid multiple canoeing natures, I articulate the conceptual and theoretical underpinnings of an ongoing research project, namely a relational approach to responsibility couched with the geographical metaphor moral terrain, which follows from Figueroa and Waitt (Cracks in the mirror: (Un)covering the moral terrains of environmental justice at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. Ethics, Place and Environment, 11(3), 327–349). These abstractions are exemplified with narratives derived from my encounters as researcher-canoeist within a particular Arctic riverscape.

The effect of fire on birds of mulga woodland in arid central Australia

The principal ecosystem driver in arid Australia is unpredictable rainfall, but it is hypothesised that fire also plays an important role in determining the distribution of animals. We investigated the effect of fire on birds in mulga (Acacia aneura) woodland in the central Australian arid zone. The study was conducted at Uluru–Kata Tjuta National Park using 63 sites classified into one of three time-since-fire classes: burnt 2002; burnt 1976; and long-unburnt. Birds were sampled in the winter and spring of 2005 and 2006 and vegetation structure was measured at all sites. Vegetation structure varied with time-since-fire. The burnt 2002 treatment was an early seral stage of mulga woodland and effectively a grassland. The burnt 1976 and long-unburnt treatments were both woodland, but the long-unburnt treatment had greater canopy cover and height. The bird community in the burnt 2002 treatment was characterised by granivores, whereas that in the burnt 1976 and long-unburnt treatments was characterised by foliar insectivores. All species showed monotonic responses to time-since-fire (i.e. none were at significantly highest density in the burnt 1976 treatment). Fire in mulga woodland changed the vegetation structure and consequently also changed the composition of the bird communities.

Tourist behaviour, local values, and interpretation at Uluru: ‘The sacred deed at Australia’s mighty heart’

This paper explores issues relating to multiple and changing values and uses of desert landscapes in the context of tourism at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park (UKTNP), co-managed by Aboriginal people and the Australian Government agency Parks Australia. More than 400,000 people visit the park each year, drawn mostly by the massive red monolith. To the local Aboriginal people, Anangu, this rock is Uluru, a complex of places with great spiritual importance. Since co-management, UKTNP has become a symbol of the reconciliation process between Aboriginal and settler Australians. Climbing the rock is a popular activity. Aboriginal co-managers ask visitors not to climb Uluru but rather to learn about their culture and home through their eyes. Park management aims to discourage climbing. This research investigated how visitors respond to the Anangu request not to climb, and why some climb while others do not. We argue that spatial and experiential aspects of the park support climbing at the expense of participation in other activities more attuned to Aboriginal understandings of landscape at Uluru.

Cracks in the Mirror: (Un)covering the Moral Terrains of Environmental Justice at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park

The authors’ aim is to provide a more complete picture of a non-anthropocentric relational ethics by addressing the failure to account for environmental justice. They argue that environmental ethics is always more than how discourses are layered over place, by situating moral agency through the body's affective repertoire of being-in-the-world. Empirical evidence for their argument is drawn from self-reflexive accounts of young Americans travelling to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Northern Territory, Australia as part of a study-group. These reflexive travel narratives illustrate the dilemmas that even well-prepared visitors have in negotiating moral pathways invoked by the policy of reconciliation.

Fissures in the rock: rethinking pride and shame in the moral terrains of Uluru

Joint management strategies of national parks are extending the pedagogical arm of reconciliation. We explore how this process is operating in Uluru–Kata Tjuta National Park. Through our concept of moral terrains, we examine whether the embodied knowledge derived from travelling, witnessing, climbing, walking, touching and being touched by Uluru opens moral gateways between indigenous and non‐indigenous people. Our argument relies upon ethnographic materials derived from semi‐structured interviews conducted around photographs taken by recently returned non‐indigenous metropolitan Australians. Our results explore how moral gateways are either opened or closed through the emotions of pride and shame.

Cultural Landscape Interpretation: The Case of the Sorry Rock Story at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park

At Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park complex negotiations take place in presenting and interpreting the cultural landscape for tourists. The joint management philosophy of the Park means that interpretive outcomes are the result of regular dialogue between Anangu, the traditional owners of the Park, and Park management. This paper focuses on research associated with the management and presentation of an emerging story in the Uluru landscape, known as the ‘sorry rocks’. Each year several hundred people return rocks and sand removed from the Park. Many of these returns are accompanied by letters of apology. For Anangu and Park staff, the sorry rocks have become a management issue and an interpretive challenge. The sorry rock story is an example of an interpretive context that crosses multiple cultures and interpretation mediums. There are many pieces to the puzzle and as more is learnt about the sorry rock phenomenon the more complex the issues become. Through the experience of this research, the paper seeks to explore more broadly the issues surrounding interpretation practice in cultural landscapes and cross-cultural settings.