Southwest Australia is a region increasingly recognised for its high levels of biodiversity and endemism, and is recognized as one of the world's top 25 'biodiversity hotspots' based largely on its highly diverse and endemic flora. Plant Life on the Sandplains in Southwest Australia has been assembled with current research and understanding about the southwestern Australian flora, the greatest richness of which is on the sandplain, especially on the most nutrient-impoverished soils. To be able to conserve threatened species, the animals that depend upon them, and the habitats they live in, we need to understand their functioning in the past and present, to protect them for the future. This is an update of Kwongan: Plant Life of the Sandplain (Pate & Beard, 1984) and demonstrates how much knowledge and understanding has been gained in the past thirty years. The profound Aboriginal knowledge of kwongan is also included in this beautifully illustrated book.