sentences:  Travelling stock routes also provide crucial habitat and connectivity for many endangered species and ecosystems.Their length and density mean that they provide a comprehensive sample of the landscape and biodiversity of eastern Australia.Most predate the late Victorian gazetting of conservation reserves, and thus provide substantial protection to highly cleared ecosystems that were targeted for agricultural clearing in the preceding colonial period, and are therefore under-represented in the national park system (e.g., the flat land west of the Great Dividing Range).