The Lake Sylvester System comprises a system of ephemeral lakes on the Barkly Tableland of the Northern Territory

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...

 of Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 about 180 km north-east of Tennant Creek

Tennant Creek, Northern Territory

Tennant Creek is a town located in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is the fifth largest town in the Northern Territory and it is located on the Stuart Highway, just south of the intersection with the western terminus of the Barkly Highway....

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Description

The whole Sylvester system consists of Lakes de Burgh, Sylvester and Corella, with an unnamed basin to their west, linked by a network of interconnected wetlands. It includes two semi-permanent freshwater billabongs. Corella, de Burgh and Sylvester are ephemeral freshwater lakes which are seasonally inundated, sometimes retaining water for over a year after substantial flooding. At normal capacity the lakes are separate water bodies, though in wetter years they can fill and become connected. During exceptional flood events all water bodies in the system can merge to form a single lake with an area of up to 2000 km². The lake system lies on deep-cracking grey clay soils that support open shrubland

Shrubland

Shrubland, scrubland, scrub or brush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity...

s and savanna

Savanna

A savanna, or savannah, is a grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of C4 grasses.Some...

 woodland

Woodland

Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...

s with scattered Coolibahs

Eucalyptus coolabah

Eucalyptus coolabah is a eucalypt of riparian zones and is found throughout Australia from arid inland to coastal regions. The plant is commonly called coolibah or coolabah, the name being a loanword from the Indigenous Australian Yuwaaliyaay word, gulabaa.Propagation is dependent on periods of...

, tussock grasslands and mats of aquatic plants. The land forms part of the Brunette Downs pastoral lease

Pastoral lease

A pastoral lease is Crown land that government allows to be leased, generally for the purposes of farming.-Australia:Pastoral leases exist in both Australian commonwealth law and state jurisdictions....

 operated by the Australian Agricultural Company

Australian Agricultural Company

The Australian Agricultural Company is a company which serves to improve beef cattle production through responsible natural resource and land use...

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Birds

Some 2262 km² of the lake system and its surrounds has been identified as a by BirdLife International

BirdLife International

BirdLife International is a global Partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources...

 as an Important Bird Area

Important Bird Area

An Important Bird Area is an area recognized as being globally important habitat for the conservation of bird populations. Currently there are about 10,000 IBAs worldwide. The program was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife International...

 (IBA) because it has supported breeding colonies of the Letter-winged Kite

Letter-winged Kite

The Letter-winged Kite is a small, rare and irruptive Australian raptor with a core range in central Australia. The adult is a small and graceful, predominantly pale grey and white, raptor with black shoulders and red eyes...

s and over 1% of the world populations of Plumed Whistling-Ducks, Grey Teal

Grey Teal

The Grey Teal, Anas gracilis is a dabbling duck found in open wetlands in New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands....

s, Hardhead

Hardhead

The Hardhead, Aythya australis, is the only true diving duck found in Australia. Hardheads are common in the south-east of Australia, particularly in the Murray-Darling Basin, but also in the wetter country near the coasts. They are moderately nomadic in normal years, but disperse widely in times...

s, Little Black Cormorant

Little Black Cormorant

The Little Black Cormorant is a member of the cormorant family of seabirds. It is common in smaller rivers and lakes throughout most areas of Australia and northern New Zealand. It is around sixty centimetres long, and is all black with blue-green eyes.-References: Database entry includes...

s, Australian Pelican

Australian Pelican

The Australian Pelican is a large water bird, widespread on the inland and coastal waters of Australia and New Guinea, also in Fiji, parts of Indonesia and as a vagrant to New Zealand.-Taxonomy:...

s, Straw-necked Ibis

Straw-necked Ibis

The Straw-necked Ibis is a bird of the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae. It can be found throughout Australia, New Guinea, and parts of Indonesia. Adults have distinctive straw-like feathers on their neck....

es, Eurasian Coot

Eurasian Coot

The Eurasian Coot, Fulica atra, also known as Coot, is a member of the rail and crake bird family, the Rallidae. The Australian subspecies is known as the Australian Coot.-Distribution:...

s, Oriental Plover

Oriental Plover

The Oriental Plover, Charadrius veredus, also known as the Oriental Dotterel, is a medium-sized Charadriine plover closely related to the Caspian Plover.- Description :...

s, Gull-billed Tern

Gull-billed Tern

The Gull-billed Tern formerly Sterna nilotica , is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae...

s and Flock Bronzewing

Flock Bronzewing

The Flock Bronzewing , also known as the Flock Pigeon, is a species of pigeon in the Columbidae family. It is endemic to the drier parts of Australia.-References:...

s. It also provides habitat for Australian Bustard

Australian Bustard

The Australian Bustard, Ardeotis australis, is a large ground bird of grassland, woodland and open agricultural country across northern Australia and southern New Guinea. It is also commonly referred to in Central Australia as the Bush Turkey, particularly by Aboriginal people.The male is up to ...

s. When fully inundated, it may support up to a million waterbirds.