Frances Plateau (Environmental Region 1.5)
This region consists of two environmental associations. It is made up of gently undulating plains and areas of easterly trending dunes and represents and older and slightly higher land surface than the prograding beach landscapes to the west. There are two types of plain: a dune free plain with cracking clay soils and gilgai, associated with more intensive land use; and a dune covered sandy plain with duplex soils where the land use is less intensive. Remnants of low open forest or mallee cover parts of the sandy plain. The climate is characterized by a winter rainfall maximum and relatively dry summers. Annual rainfall varies from 500 mm in the north to 650 mm in the south, and temperatures range from warm to hot in summer to moderate in winter.
