Nature of Australia
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Nature of Australia
Студент
Группа
ЭД-133
Преподаватель
ст. преподаватель Н.Ю. Киверник
Челябинск 2013
Contents
Introduction………………………………………………
1 Geographical features of Australia………………………………………………………
- Physical geography of Australia………………………………………………………
………..5 - Relief of Australia………………………………………………………
……………………....5 - Climate……………………………………………………………
…………………………….5
2 Fauna of Australia………………………………………………………
2.1 Origins……………………………………………………………
2.2 Mammals……………………………………………………………
2.2.1 Monotremes and marcupials……………………………………………………
2.2.2 Placental mammals……………………………………………………………
2.3 Birds…………………………………………………………………
2.4 Amphibians and reptiles…………………………………………………………
2.5 Fish……………………………………………………………………
2.6 Invertebrates……………………………………………
2.7 Invasive species……………………………………………………………
3 Human impact and conservation………………………………………………
3.1 The conservation Council of Western Australia………………………………………………13
3.2 The conservation Council of South Australia…………………………………………………13
Сonclusion……………………………………………………
Literature……………………………………………………
Introduction
Australia’s unusual fauna and flora is due to the continent having been isolated for millions of years. Continental drift tore Australia away from Africa and Antarctica and sent it on a 45 million year journey northwards. The original mammal passengers on this journey were the marsupials and egg layers ( the monotremes). About 15 million years ago, as Australia drifted closer to Asia, rodents floated and bats flew over the sea to become the first placental mammal colonists. The journey north combined with global cooling to dry Australia out and give rise to its characteristic drought and fire-resistant plants.
Australian nature is extremely diverse and interesting, with a number of unique animals living in Australia.
The wildlife in Australia has evolved in isolation and so has a unique and individual appearance. This also means that the animals have adapted well to the varying and often harsh climatic differences around Australia.
Around 55 million years ago Australia belonged to Gondwana (named by Eduard Suess), which was a landmass made up of a number of "todays" countries including most contained within the "Southern Hemisphere" and a few that have moved to the "Northern Hemisphere".
It was almost completely covered in rainforest, although much of this dried out as Australia moved towards the warmer climate.
Within the Australian Animals, Australian Birds, Australian Flora and Australian Sealife sections you can find out about a selection of Australias wildlife and natural environment.
The Australian Animals section features information about a number of Australia's land animals. Some of these include dingos, koalas, kangaroos, possums and wombats, with additional information about snakes.
The Australian Birds section features information about a number of Australia's birds. These include cockatoos, emus, galahs, kookaburras and many more.
The Australian Flora section features information about a selection of Australia's fauna, including Australian Flowers, Trees and many other highlights of Australia's spectacular natural environment.
The Australian Sealife section features information about some of Australia's sea creatures and animals that live in the waters around Australia. Some of these include crocodile, dolphins, fairy penguins and seals. There is also additional information about dolphins, including an overview of 'Dolphin Language'.
Australian Nature is perhaps the most important and memorable part of a trip to Australia. It certainly makes for great photography. The wildlife is extremely diverse as is the natural landscapes which includes Gorges, Rock formations, Caves, Coral Reefs and so much more.
Animal lovers will enjoy the interactivity of dolphins, the majestic Whales, the beautiful Koalas and the unique Kangaroo, not to mention, wombats, dingos, Tasmanian Devils an so many other wonderful animals.
Plus there is an abundance of flora and birdlife too. Below are just a small selection of the many tours and activities that you can book online with Australian Explorer so that you can get up close with some of Australia's famous nature.
Although most of Australia is semi-arid or desert, it includes a diverse range of habitats from alpine heaths to tropical rainforests, and is recognised as a megadiverse country. The fungi typify that diversity; the total number that occur in Australia, including those not yet discovered, has been estimated at around 250,000 species, of which roughly 5% have been described. Because of the continent's great age, extremely variable weather patterns, and long-term geographic isolation, much of Australia's biota is unique and diverse. Approximately 85% of flowering plants, 84% of mammals, more than 45% of birds, and 89% of in-shore, temperate-zone fish are endemic. Australia has the greatest number of reptiles of any country, with 755 species.
Australian
forests are mostly made up of evergreen species, particularly eucalyptus trees
in the less arid regions, wattles replace
them in drier regions and deserts as the most dominant species. Among
well-known Australian animals are
the monotremes (the platypus a
1 Geographical features of Australia
1.1 Physical geography of Australia
Australia is a country, and an island. It is located in Oceania between the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean. It is the sixth largest country in the world with a total area of 7,686,850 square kilometers (2,967,909 sq. mi) (including Lord Howe Island and Macquarie Island), making it slightly smaller than the 48 states of the contiguous United States and 31.5 times larger than the United Kingdom.
The Australian mainland has a total coastline length of 35,876 km (22,292 mi) with an additional 23,859 km (14,825 mi) of island coastlines. There are 758 estuaries around the country with most located in the tropical and sub-tropical zones. Australia claims an extensive Exclusive Economic Zone of 8,148,250 square kilometres (3,146,057 sq. mi). This exclusive economic zone does not include the Australian Antarctic Territory. Australia has the largest area of ocean jurisdiction of any country on earth. It has no land borders. The northernmost points of the country are the Cape York Peninsula of Queensland and the Top End of the Northern Territory.
The western half of Australia consists of the Western Plateau, which rises to mountain heights near the west coast and falls to lower elevations near the continental centre. The Western Plateau region is generally flat, though broken by various mountain ranges such as the Hamersley Range, the MacDonnell Ranges, and the Musgrave Range. Surface water is generally lacking in the Western Plateau, although there are several larger rivers in the west and north, such as the Murchison, Ashburton, and Victoria river.
The Eastern Highlands, or Great Dividing Range, lie near the eastern coast of Australia, separating the relatively narrow eastern coastal plain from the rest of the continent. These Eastern Australian temperate forests have the greatest relief, the most rainfall, the most abundant and varied flora and fauna, and the densest human settlement.
1.2 Relief of Australia
Australia is the lowest, flattest, and oldest continental landmass on Earth and it has had a relatively stable geological history. Geological forces such as tectonic uplift of mountain ranges or clashes between tectonic plates occurred mainly in Australia's early history, when it was still a part of Gondwana. Its highest peak is Mount Kosciuszko at 2,228 metres (7,310 ft), which is relatively low in comparison to the highest mountains on other continents. Erosion has heavily weathered Australia's surface.
Australia is situated in the middle of the tectonic plate, and therefore
currently has no active volcanism. Minor earthquakes which produce no
damage occur regularly, while major earthquakes measuring greater than
magnitude 6 occur on average every five years. The terrain is mostly low plateau with
deserts, rangelands and a fertile plain in the southeast. Tasmania and
the Australian Alps do not contain
any permanent icefields or glacier
1.3 Climate
By far the largest part of Australia is arid or semi-arid. A total of 18% of Australia's mainland is desert. Only the south-east and south-west corners have a temperate climate and moderately fertile soil. The northern part of the country has a tropical climate: part is tropical rainforests, part grasslands, and part desert.
Rainfall is highly variable, with frequent droughts lasting several seasons thought to be caused in part by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. Occasionally a dust storm will blanket a region or even several states and there are reports of the occasional large tornado. Rising levels of salinity and desertification in some areas is ravaging the landscape.
Australia's tropical/subtropical location and cold waters off the western coast make most of western Australia a hot desert with aridity, a marked feature of the greater part of the continent.
2 Fauna of Australia
The fauna of Australia consists of a huge variety of animals; some 83% of mammals, 89% of
reptiles, 90% of fish and insects and 93% of amphibians that
inhabit the continent are endemic to Australia. This
high level of endemism can be attributed to the continent's long geographic
isolation, tectonic stability,
and the effects of an unusual pattern of climate change on the soil
and flora over geological time.
A unique feature of Australia's fauna is the relative scarcity of native placental mammals.
Consequently the marsupials—a group
of mammals that raise their young in a pouch,
including the macropods, possums and dasyuromorphs—occupy
many of the ecological niches placental
animals occupy elsewhere in the world. Australia is home to two of the
5 known extant species of monotremes and
has numerous venomousspecies, which
include the Platypus, spiders, scorpio
The settlement of Australia by Indigenous Australians between 48,000 and 70,000 years ago (research in 2011 using DNA suggesting an arrival around 50,000 years ago), and by Europeans from 1788, has significantly affected the fauna. Hunting, the introduction of non-native species, and land-management practices involving the modification or destruction of habitats have led to numerous extinctions. Some examples include the Paradise Parrot, Pig-footed bandicoot and the Broad-faced Potoroo. Unsustainable land use still threatens the survival of many species. To target threats to the survival of its fauna, Australia has passed wide-ranging federal and state legislation and established numerous protected areas.
2.1 Origins
Both geologic and climatic events helped to make Australia's fauna unique. Australia was once part of the southern supercontinent Gondwana, which also included South America, Africa, India and Antarctica. Gondwana began to break up 140 million years ago (MYA); 50 MYA Australia separated from Antarctica and was relatively isolated until the collision of the Indo-Australian Plate with Asia in the Miocene era 5.3 MYA. The establishment and evolution of the present-day fauna was apparently shaped by the unique climate and the geology of the continent. As Australia drifted, it was, to some extent, isolated from the effects of global climate change. The unique fauna that originated in Gondwana, such as the marsupials, survived and adapted in Australia.
After the Miocene, fauna of Asian origin were able to establish themselves in Australia. The Wallace Line—the hypothetical line separating the zoogeographical regions of Asia and Australasia—marks the tectonic boundary between the Eurasian and Indo-Australian plates. This continental boundary prevented the formation of land bridges and resulted in a distinct zoological distribution, with limited overlap, of most Asian and Australian fauna, with the exception of birds. Following the emergence of the circumpolar current in the mid-Oligocene era (some 15 MYA), the Australian climate became increasingly arid, giving rise to a diverse group of arid-specialised organisms, just as the wet tropical and seasonally wet areas gave rise to their own uniquely adapted species.
2.2 Mammals
Australia has a rich mammalian fossil history, as well as a variety of extant mammalian species, dominated by the marsupials. The fossil record shows that monotremes have been present in Australia since the Early Cretaceous 145–99 MYA, and that marsupials and placental mammals date from the Eocene 56–34 MYA, when modern mammals first appeared in the fossil record. Although marsupials and placental mammals did coexist in Australia in the Eocene, only marsupials have survived to the present. The placental mammals made their reappearance in Australia in the Miocene, when Australia moved closer to Indonesia, and bats and rodents started to appear reliably in the fossil record. The marsupials evolved to fill specific ecological niches, and in many cases they are physically similar to the placental mammals in Eurasia and North America that occupy similar niches, a phenomenon known as convergent evolution. For example, the top predator in Australia, the Tasmanian Tiger, bore a striking resemblance to canids such as the Gray Wolf;[citation needed] gliding possums and flying squirrels have similar adaptations enabling their arboreal lifestyle;[citation needed] and the Numbat and anteaters are both digging insectivores. For the most part, mammals are not a highly visible part of the faunal landscape, as most species are nocturnal and many arboreal. Furthermore, there are few extant large ground-dwelling species.
2.2.1 Monotremes and marcupials
Two of the five living species of monotreme occur in Australia: the Platypus and the Short-beaked Echidna. The monotremes differ from other mammals in their methods of reproduction; in particular, they lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young. The Platypus—a venomous, egg-laying, duck-billed amphibious mammal—is considered to be one of the strangest creatures in the animal kingdom. When it was first presented by Joseph Banks to English naturalists it was thought to be so strange that it was a cleverly created hoax. The Short-beaked Echidna is similarly strange, covered in hairy spikes with a tubular snout in the place of a mouth, and a tongue that can move in and out of the snout about 100 times a minute to capture termites.
Australia has the world's largest and most diverse
range of marsupials. Marsupials are
characterised by the presence of a pouch in which they rear their young. The
carnivorous marsupials—order Dasyuromorphia—are
represented by two surviving families: the Dasyuridae with
51 members, and the Myrmecobiidae with the numbat as its sole surviving
member. The Tasmanian Tiger was the largest Dasyuromorphia and the last
living specimen of the family Thylacinidae died in captivity in 1936. The
world's largest surviving carnivorous marsupial is the Tasmanian
Devil; it is the size of a small dog and can hunt, although it is
mainly a scavenger. It became extinct on the mainland some 600 years
ago, and is now found only in Tasmania. There
are four species of quoll, or native cat,
all of which are threatened species. The remainder of the Dasyuridae
are referred to as 'marsupial mice'; most weigh less than 100 g. There
are two species of Marsupial Mole—order Notoryctemorphia—
The bandicoots and bilbies—
Herbivorous marsupials are classified in the order Diprotodontia,
and further into the suborders Vombatiformes and Ph
The Phalangerida includes
six families and 26 species of possum and
three families with 53 species of macropod.
The possums are a diverse group of arboreal marsupials and vary in size
from the Little Pygmy Possum,
weighing just 7 g, to the cat-sized Common
Ringtail and Brushtail possums
The macropods are divided into three families: the Hypsiprymnodontidae,
with the Musky Rat-kangaroo as its only member; the Potoroidae,
with 11 species; and the Macropodidae,
with 45 species. Macropods are found in all Australian environments
except alpine areas. The Potoroidae include the bettongs, potaroos and
rat-kangaroos, small species that make nests and carry plant material
with their tails. The Macropodiae include kangaroos, wallabies a
2.2.2 Placental mammals
Australia has indigenous placental mammals from two orders: the bats—order Chiroptera—represented by six families; and the mice and rats—order Rodentia, familyMuridae. Bats and rodents are relatively recent arrivals to Australia; bats are present in the fossil record only from as recently as 15 MYA, and probably arrived from Asia.[citation needed] There are only two endemic genera of bats, although 7% of the world's bats species live in Australia.[citation needed] Rodents first arrived in Australia 5–10 MYA, undergoing a wide radiation to produce the species collectively known as the 'old endemic' rodents. The old endemics are represented by 14 extant genera.[citation needed] A million years ago, the rat entered Australia from New Guinea and evolved into seven species of Rattus, collectively called the 'new endemics'.
Since human settlement many placental mammals
have been introduced to Australia and are now feral. The
first animal introduced to Australia was the dingo. Fossil
evidence suggests that people from the north brought the dingo to Australia
about 5000 years ago. When Europeans settled Australia they intentionally
released many species into the wild including the red
fox, brown hare, and theEuropean
rabbit. Other domestic species have escaped and over time have produced
wild populations including the cat, fallow
deer, red deer, sambar
deer, rusa deer, chital, hog
deer, horse, donkey,pig, goat,
Forty-six marine mammals from the order Cetacea are found in Australian coastal waters. Since the majority of these species have global distribution, some authors do not consider them to be Australian species. There are nine species of baleen whale present, including the Humpback Whale. There are 37 species of toothed whale, which include all six genera of the family Ziphiidae, and 21 species ofoceanic dolphin, including the Australian Snubfin Dolphin, a species first described in 2005. Some oceanic dolphins, such as the Orca, can be found in all waters around the continent; others, such as theIrrawaddy Dolphin, are confined to the warm northern waters. The Dugong is an endangered marine species that inhabits the waters of north-eastern and north-western Australia, particularly the Torres Strait. It can grow up to 3 m long and weigh as much as 400 kg. The dugong is the only herbivorous marine mammal in Australia, feeding on sea grass in coastal areas. The destruction of sea grass beds is a threat to the survival of this species. Eleven species of seal—family Pinnipedia—live off the southern coast.
2.3 Birds
Australia and its territories are home to around 800 species of bird; about 350 of these
are endemic to the zoogeographic region that covers Australia, New Guinea
and New Zealand. The fossil record of birds in Australia is patchy;
however, there are records of the ancestors of contemporary species
as early as the Late Oligocene. Birds
with a Gondwanan history include the flightlessratites (the Emu and
The passerines of Australia,
also known as songbirds or perching birds, include wrens, robins,
Relatively recent colonists from Eurasia are swallows, lar
About 200 species of seabird live on the Australian coast, including many species of migratory seabird. Australia is at the southern end of the East Asian-Australasian flyway for migratory water birds, which extends from Far-East Russia and Alaska through Southeast Asia to Australia and New Zealand. About two million birds travel this route to and from Australia each year. One very common large seabird is the Australian Pelican, which can be found in most waterways in Australia. TheLittle Penguin is the only species of penguin that breeds on mainland Australia.
2.4 Amphibians and reptiles
Australia has four families of native frogs and one
introduced toad, the Cane
Toad.[80] In 1935 the Cane Toad was introduced to
Australia in a failed attempt to control pests in sugarcane crops.
It has since become a devastating pest, spreading across northern Australia.
As well as competing with native insectivores for food, the Cane Toad
produces a venom that is toxic to native fauna, as well as to humans. The Myobatrachidae,
or southern frogs, are Australia's largest group of frogs, with 112 species
classified into anywhere from 17 to 22 genera. A notable member of this
group is the colourful and endangered Corroboree
Frog. The tree frogs, from family
Hylidae, are common in high rainfall areas on the north and east coasts; there
are 77 Australian species from three genera. The 18 species from two
genera of the Microhylidae frogs are
restricted to the rainforests of northern Australia and nearby habitats; the
smallest species, theScanty Frog,
is from this family.[citation
needed] There is a single species from the world's dominant frog
group, family Ranidae — the Australian
Wood Frog — which only occurs in the Queensland rainforests. As
elsewhere, there has been a precipitous decline
in Australia's frog populations in recent years. Although the full
reasons for the decline are uncertain, it can be at least partly attributed
to the fatal amphibian fungal disease chytr
Australia has two species of crocodile. The Saltwater Crocodile, known colloquially as the "salty," is the largest living crocodile species; reaching over 7 m, and weighing over 1,000 kg, they can and do kill people. They live on the coast and in the freshwater rivers and wetlands of northern Australia, and they are farmed for their meat and leather. Freshwater Crocodiles, found only in northern Australia, are not considered dangerous to humans.
The Australian coast is visited by six species of sea turtle: the Flatback, Green Sea, Hawksbill, Olive Ridley, Loggerhead and the Leatherback Sea Turtles; all are protected in Australian waters. There are 29 species of Australian freshwater turtles from eight genera of family Chelidae. The Pig-nosed Turtle is the only Australian turtle not of that family. Australia is the only continent without any living species of land tortoise.
Australia is the only continent where venomous snakes outnumber their non-venomous cousins. Australian snakes belong to seven families. Of these, the most venomous species, including the Fierce Snake, Eastern Brown Snake, Taipan and Eastern Tiger Snake are from the family Elapidae. Of the 200 species of elapid, 86 are found only in Australia. Thirty-three sea snakes from family Hydrophiidae inhabit Australia's northern waters; many are extremely venomous. Two species of sea snake from the Acrochordidae also occur in Australian waters. Australia has only 11 species from the world's most significant snake familyColubridae; none are endemic, and they are considered to be relatively recent arrivals from Asia. There are 15 python species and 31 species of insectivorous blind snake.
There are more than 700 species of lizards in Australia with representatives of five families. There are >130 species in 20 genera of gecko found throughout the Australian continent. The Pygopodidae is a family of limbless lizards endemic to the Australian region; all 39 species from seven genera occur in Australia. TheAgamidae or Dragon lizards are represented by 70 species in 14 genera, including the Thorny Devil, Bearded Dragon and Frill-necked Lizard. There are 30 species of monitor lizard, family Varanidae, in Australia, where they are commonly known as goannas. The largest Australian monitor is the Perentie, which can reach up to 2 m in length. There are 389 species of skink from 38 genera, comprising about 50% of the total Australian lizard fauna; this group includes the blue-tongued lizards.
2.5 Fish
More than 4,500 species of fish inhabit Australia's
waterways; of these, 90% are endemic. However, because of the relative
scarcity of freshwater waterways, Australia has only about 300 species
of freshwater fish. Two families of freshwater fish have ancient origins:
the arowana or bonytongues, and the Queensland
Lungfish. The Queensland Lungfish is the most primitive of the lungfish,
having evolved before Australia separated from Gondwana. One of the smallest
freshwater fish, peculiar to the southwest of Western Australia, is
the Salamanderfish, which can survive
desiccation in the dry season by burrowing into mud. Other families with
a potentially Gondwanan origin include the Retropinnidae, Galaxiidae,
Several exotic freshwater fish species, including Brown, Brook and Rai
Most of Australia's fish species are marine. Groups
of interest include the moray eels and squirrelfish, as
well as the pipefish and seahorses,
Sharks inhabit all the coastal waters and estuarine habitats of Australia's coast. There are 166 species, including 30 species of requiem shark, 32 of catshark, six of wobbegong shark, and 40 of dogfish shark. There are three species from the family Heterodontidae: the Port Jackson shark, the zebra bullhead shark and the crested bullhead shark. In 2004, there were 12 unprovoked shark attacks in Australia, of which two were fatal. Only 3 species of shark pose a significant threat to humans: the bull shark, the tiger shark and the great white shark. Some popular beaches in Queensland and New South Wales are protected by shark netting, a method that has reduced the population of both dangerous and harmless shark species through accidental entanglement. The overfishing of sharks has also significantly reduced shark numbers in Australian waters, and several species are now endangered. A megamouth shark was found on a Perth beach in 1988; very little is known about this species, but this discovery may indicate the presence of the species in Australian coastal waters.
2.6 Invertebrates
Of the estimated 200,000 animal species in Australia, about 96% are
invertebrates. While the full extent of invertebrate diversity is uncertain,
90% of insects and molluscs are
considered endemic. Invertebrates occupy many ecological niches and
are important in all ecosystems as decomposers, pollinators, and food
sources. The largest group of invertebrates is the insects, comprising
75% of Australia's known species of animals. The most diverse insect
orders are the Coleoptera, with 28,200
species of beetles and weevils, the Le
Australia has a wide variety of arachnids, including 135 species of spider that are familiar enough to have common names. There are numerous highly venomous species, including the notorious Sydney funnel-web and redback spiders, whose bites can be deadly. There are thousands of species of mites and ticks from the subclass Acari. Australia also has eight species of pseudoscorpion and nine scorpion species.
In the Annelida (sub)class Oligoc
The large family Parastacidae includes 124 species of Australian freshwater crayfish. These include the world's smallest crayfish, the swamp crayfish, which does not exceed 30 mm in length, and the world's largest crayfish, the Tasmanian giant freshwater crayfish, measuring up to 76 cm long and weighing 4.5 kg. The crayfish genus Cherax includes the common yabby, in addition to the farmed species marron and Queensland red claw. Species from the genus Engaeus, commonly known as the land crayfish, are also found in Australia. Engaeus species are not entirely aquatic, because they spend most of their lives living in burrows. Australia has seven species of freshwater crab from the genus Austrothelphusa. These crabs live burrowed into the banks of waterways and can plug their burrows, surviving through several years of drought. The extremely primitive freshwater mountain shrimp, found only in Tasmania, are a unique group, resembling species found in the fossil record from 200 MYA.
A huge variety of marine invertebrates are found in
Australian waters, with the Great
Barrier Reef an important source of this diversity. Families include
the Porifera or sea sponges, the Cnidaria (
2.7 Invasive species
Introduction of exotic fauna in Australia by design,
accident and natural processes has led to a considerable number of invasive, feral and pest sp
Costly, laborious and time-consuming efforts at control of these species has met with little success and this continues to be a major problem area in the conservation of Australia's biodiversity.
3 Human impact and conservation
For at least 40,000 years, Australia's fauna played an integral role in the traditional lifestyles of Indigenous Australians, who exploited many species as a source of food and skins. Vertebrates commonly harvested included macropods, opossums, seals, fish and the Short-tailed Shearwater, most commonly known as the Muttonbird. Invertebrates used as food included insects such as the Bogong moth and larvae collectively called witchetty grubs and molluscs. The use of fire-stick farming, in which large swathes of bushland were burnt to facilitate hunting, modified both flora and fauna — and are thought to have contributed to the extinction of large herbivores with a specialised diet, such as the flightless birds from the genus Genyornis. The role of hunting and landscape modification by aboriginal people in the extinction of the Australian megafauna is debated.
The impact of Aborigines on native species populations is widely considered to be less significant than that of the European settlers, whose impact on the landscape has been on a relatively large scale. Since European settlement, direct exploitation of native fauna, habitat destruction and the introduction of exotic predators and competitive herbivores has led to the extinction of some 27 mammal, 23 bird and 4 frog species. Much of Australia's fauna is protected by legislation. The federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 was created to meet Australia's obligations as a signatory to the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity. This act protects all native fauna and provides for the identification and protection of threatened species. In each state and territory, there is statutory listing of threatened species. At present, 380 animal species are classified as either endangered or threatened under the EPBC Act, and other species are protected under state and territory legislation. More broadly, a complete cataloguing of all the species within Australia has been undertaken, a key step in the conservation of Australian fauna and biodiversity. In 1973, the federal government established theAustralian Biological Resources Study (ABRS), which coordinates research in the taxonomy, identification, classification and distribution of flora and fauna. The ABRS maintains free online databases cataloguing much of the described Australian flora and fauna. Impacts such as the illegal setting of traps in rivers affect animals such as the Australian platypus, along with lack of awareness each year an average of 2–5 Australians lose their lives to what is presumed a safe creature. The key is understanding of Australia's diverse wildlife and fauna; what seems safe is often deadly.
Many of Australia's ecoregions, and the species within
those regions, are threatened by human activities and introduced animal, chromis
Climate change has become an increasing concern in Australia in recent years, and protection of the environment is a major political issue. In 2007, the First Rudd Government signed the instrument of ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. Nevertheless, Australia's carbon dioxide emissions per capita are among the highest in the world, lower than those of only a few other industrialised nations. Rainfall in Australia has slightly increased over the past century, both nationwide and for two quadrants of the nation, According to the Bureau of Meteorology's 2011 Australian Climate Statement, Australia had lower than average temperatures in 2011 as a consequence of a La Niña weather pattern, however, "the country's 10-year average continues to demonstrate the rising trend in temperatures, with 2002–2011 likely to rank in the top two warmest 10-year periods on record for Australia, at 0.52 °C above the long-term average". Water restrictions are frequently in place in many regions and cities of Australia in response to chronic shortages due to urban population increases and localised drought. Throughout much of the continent, major flooding regularly follows extended periods of drought, flushing out inland river systems, overflowing dams and inundating large inland flood plains, as occurred throughout Eastern Australia in 2010, 2011 and 2012 after the 2000s Australian drought.
3.1 The conservation Council of Western Australia
The Conservation Council of Western Australia is the umbrella body for conservation groups and organisations in Western Australia. It has been the co-ordinator, publisher and guiding body for issues of woodchipping in the South West of Western Australia, the logging of old growth forests, as well as providing input into government processes involved with all aspects of environmental protection and conservation.
Its origins were closely related to the Perth based - Environment Centre of W.A., and the development and success of the environmental movement also saw subsequent development of the regional environment centres in Denmark, Albany, Margaret River and Busselton.
In 1981 the council was involved in a class action regarding the mining in the Jarrah forests in the United States against bauxite miners Reynolds and Alcoa, the complaint was lodged with U.S. Federal District Court in Pittsburgh, Pennsyilvania.
Notable member groups of the council have included the Campaign to Save Native Forests, South West Forests Defence Foundation, West Australian Forest Alliance, and Great Walk Networking. Smaller, more transient single-purpose protest groups have found the council a positive custodian and advocate over the thirty years of its activities. Some groups are no longer current but their impact on the process of conservation and preservation in Western Australia have been significant in raising public awareness of issues.
3.2 The conservation Council of South Australia
The Conservation Council of South Australia is an environmental organisation that aims to develop the green movement’s blueprint for environmental action in South Australia, by focusing on water, planning, waste, biodiversity, coast and marine, and energy.
3.3 The Australian Greens
The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, is an Australian green political party. The party was formed in 1992 and is today a confederation of eight state and territory parties. Other thanenvironmentalism the party cites four core values: ecological sustainability, social justice, grassroots democracy and peace and non-violence.
Party constituencies can be traced to various origins – notably the early environmental movement in Australia and the formation of the United Tasmania Group (UTG), one of the first green parties in the world, but also the nuclear disarmament movement in Western Australia and sections of the industrial left in New South Wales. Co-ordination between environmentalist groups occurred in the 1980s withvarious significant protests. Key people involved in these campaigns included the party's former leader Bob Brown and current leader Christine Milne who went on to contest and win seats in the Tasmanian Parliament and eventually form the Tasmanian Greens.
Currently, the Greens party have nine senators and one member in the lower house, 24 elected representatives in state and territory parliaments, more than 100 local councillors and close to 10,000 party members.
At the 2010 federal election the Greens received a four percent swing to finish with 13 percent of the vote in the Senate, a first for any Australian minor party. The Senate vote throughout the states was between 10 and 20 percent. The Greens won a seat in each of the six states at the election, again a first for any Australian minor party, which brought the party to a total of nine senators from July 2011 and gave the Greens the sole balance of power in the Senate. The Greens also won their first House of Representatives seat at a general election, the seat of Melbourne with candidate Adam Bandt. The Greens support a minority Labor government in the A.C.T. Legislative Assembly and govern in formal Coalition with Labor in Tasmania.
Сonclusion
Australia is an only country of the world, occupying territory of unit of the same name mainland, and also о. Tasmania and adherent islands. A country is located in south and east hemispheres, is washed seas Quiet and Indian oceans. Australia lies on the opposite to Middle East side of Earth. This country is a motherland of many unique plants and animals. From the enormous sizes and unique geographical location, a country possesses the wide variety of climatic terms - from subequatorial districts in the north to moderate marine on a south. Hot and the moist north areas of country are replaced by semideserted by tropical central districts, and south and south-east coasts behave already to the zone of субтропиков, with a pleasant enough warm climate. Tasmania is the most "cold" area of country with a temperate climate, but also here are enough areas primely suitable for rest.
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