The terrain is generally low, and the vegetation varies with the underlying geology, which consists mostly of recent alluvial, aeolian, and marine sediments over cretaceous strata. This is a very dry region with less than 250mm of rainfall per year.
Low samphire and saltbush shrublands cover the saline alluvial plains, snakewood (Acacia xiphophylla) scrublands cover the clay flats, Bowgada (Acacia ramulosa) low woodland covers sandy ridges and plains, red sand dune fields are interspersed or overlain with tree to shrub steppe over hummock grasslands, and Acacia startii/A. bivenosa shrublands cover limestone outcrops in the north. Other trees in the area include limestone wattle (Acacia sclerosperma) with an undergrowth of dead finish (Acacia tetragonophylla). The sheltered embayments and extensive tidal flats along the coast support mangroves.
Thackway, R and I D Cresswell (1995) An interim biogeographic regionalisation for Australia : a framework for setting priorities in the National Reserves System Cooperative Program Version 4.0 Canberra : Australian Nature Conservation Agency, Reserve Systems Unit, 1995. ISBN0-642-21371-2
Kendrick, Peter and Roland Mau (2002). "Carnarvon 1 (CAR1 - Cape Range subregion)". A Biodiversity Audit of Western Australia’s 53 Biogeographical Subregions in 2002. Department of Conservation and Land Management, Government of Western Australia. [2]
Desmond, Anthony and Alanna Chant (2001). "Carnarvon 2 (CAR2 – Wooramel subregion)". A Biodiversity Audit of Western Australia’s 53 Biogeographical Subregions in 2002. Department of Conservation and Land Management, Government of Western Australia. [3]
^Eric Dinerstein, David Olson, et al. (2017). An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm, BioScience, Volume 67, Issue 6, June 2017, Pages 534–545; Supplemental material 2 table S1b. [1]
^Western Australia. Dept. of Environment and Conservation. (2007)Shark Bay terrestrial reserves and proposed reserve additions : draft management plan 2007 Department of Environment and Conservation ; Conservation Commission of Western Australia. Bentley, W.A.: Dept. of Environment and Conservation. pages 37-39 section Bioregions and Figure 4: IBRA sub-regions of the Shark Bay Area (map)