Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage values
The Wet Tropics of Queensland was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1988. The World Heritage criteria against which the Wet Tropics of Queensland was listed remain the formal criteria for this property. The World Heritage criteria are periodically revised and the criteria against which the property was listed in 1988 are not necessarily identical with the current criteria.
Criteria
Outstanding examples representing the major stages of the earth's evolutionary history.
The Wet Tropics of Queensland contains one of the most complete and diverse living records of the major stages in the evolution of land plants, from the very first land plants to higher plants (Gymnosperms and Angiosperms), as well as one of the most important living records of the history of marsupials and songbirds. The property provides exceptional examples representing eight of the major stages in the earth's evolutionary history including:
- Age of the Pteridophytes;
- Age of the Conifers and Cycads;
- Age of the Angiosperms;
- the final break-up of Gondwana;
- biological evolution and radiation during 35 million years of isolation;
- the origin and radiation of the songbirds;
- the mixing of the continental biota of the Australian and Asian continental plates; and
- the extreme effects of the Pleistocene glacial periods on tropical rainforest vegetation.
The World Heritage values include:
- ancient plant taxa representing two main branches of the earliest land plants, the Psilotopsida and the Lycopsida;
- 7 ancient families of true ferns, including Lycopodiaceae, Selaginellaceae, Ophioglossaceae, Marattiaceae, Osmundaceae, Schizaeaceae and Gleicheniaceae;
- taxa in the oldest and most primitive families of the largest group of pteridophytes, the Schizaeaceae and Gleicheniaceae;
- 31 of 36 families of pteridophytes (including 111 of 364 described genera;
- fern genera of East Gondwanan origins, including Coveniella, Lastreopis, Polystichum, Pteridoblechnum, Steenisioblechnum, Oenotrichia, Leptopteris, Todea, Tmesipteris, Lycopodiella and Huperzia;
- the ancient, fern-like cycad Bowenia spectabilis;
- the cycad families Cycadaceae, Zamiaceae (including the genera Cycas, Lepidozamia and Bowenia);
- the rare assemblage of Lepidozamia hopei, Podocarpus grayi and Agathis robusta which includes the closest living counterparts of Jurassic-age fossils;
- species of the only two surviving araucarian genera Araucaria and Agathis;
- 3 endemic species of the podocarp genera Prumnopitys and Podocarpus;
- 12 primitive angiosperm families in the orders Magnoliales and Laurales (Annonaceae, Austrobaileyaceae, Eupomatiaceae, Himantandraceae, Myristicaceae, Winteraceae, Hernandiaceae, Gyrocarpaceae, Idiospermaceae, Lauraceae, Monimiaceae and Atherospermataceae);
- small, primitive, relict angiosperm families including Austrobaileyaceae, Idiospermaceae, Eupomatiaceae and Himantandraceae;
- plant taxa considered to occupy major nodal positions in the evolution of the angiosperms (including taxa in the orders Hamamelidales, Rosales, Euphorbiales, Dilleniales, Violales, Theales, Celastrales and Gentianales);
- relict taxa from Cretaceous angiosperm families (including Cunoniaceae, Proteaceae, Winteraceae, Myrtaceae, Monimiaceae, Rutaceae, Sapindaceae, Aquifoliaceae, Callitrichaceae, Chloranthaceae, Trimeniaceae, Epacridaceae, Olacaceae and Loranthaceae);
- 153 genera in 43 families of angiosperms believed to represent the longest continuous history associated with the Gondwanan landmass;
- frog species from the Gondwanan families Myobatrachidae and Hylidae (including primitive species from the genera Mixophyes, Taudactylus, Litoria and Nyctimystes);
- reptiles of Gondwanan origin including geckoes of the subfamily Diplodactylinae and legless lizards of the endemic family Pygopodidae;
- skinks of the Sphenomorphus, Egernia and Eugongylus groups, which are represented in the Oligo-Miocene fossil fauna of Riversleigh;
- rainforest birds of Gondwanan origins including the Southern Cassowary, the orange-footed scrubfowl (Megapodius reinwardt) and the Australian brush-turkey (Alectura lathami);
- primitive insect taxa that are relicts of the Gondwanan fauna;
- primitive genera of the Proteaceae including Placospermum, Sphalmium and Carnarvonia;
- 5 endemic species in the Myrtaceae group Metrosideros, which is the most primitive in the family and includes the genera, Barongia, Ristantia, Sphaerantia and the undescribed "Stockwellia";
- the East Gondwanan genus Gymnostoma, an ancestral form of the Casuarinaceae;
- species in the genera Euodia and Medicosma in the family Rutaceae;
- 9 species of dasyurids including one relict species, Antechinus godmani.
- mammalian genera related to those of Oligo-Miocene age at Riversleigh, including Hypsiprymnodon, Cercatetus, Pseudochirops and Trichosurus;
- the Musky Rat-kangaroo, Hypsiprymnodon moschatus, the most primitive of the kangaroos and the only living member of its group;
- 5 species of ringtail possums, including 4 rainforest-dependent species;
- passerine (Oscines) birds representing ancestral lineages of Australo-Papuan songbirds,(e.g. the bowerbirds and the scrubwrens, thornbills and gerygones);
- Chowchilla, Orthonyx spaldingii, a relict endemic species also found in late Oligocene deposits (~25 million years BP) at Riversleigh;
- areas where the extant rainforest flora and fossil pollen deposits provide a record of the mixing of long separated floras including old Gondwanan and Asian elements;
- plant genera considered to have been of Gondwanan or Laurasian descent and to have entered Australia following collision of the Australian and Asian plates (including: Alangium, Allophylus, Althoffia, Alyxia, Anthocephalus, Barringtonia, Berrya, Bombax, Bulbophyllum, Calophyllum, Canthium, Celtis, Cordia, Epipogium, Garcinia, Gardenia, Leea, Lethedon, Melia, Oreodendron, Phaleria, Securinega and Trema);
- taxa in the frog families Microhylidae and Ranidae which provide outstanding examples of the impact on the biota of the collision of the Australian and Asian plates;
- Bats and rodents (including Hydromys, Pogonomys, Uromys and Melomys) which are considered to have entered Australia since connections with the Asian Plate were established;
- fossil pollen records going back over 200, 000 years from Butcher's Creek, Lynch's Crater and Lake Euramoo; and
- Ancient taxa in the Araucariaceae (5 species), Podocarpaceae (7 species) and Casuarinaceae (1 species of Gymnostoma).
Outstanding examples representing significant ongoing geological processes, biological evolution and man's interaction with his natural environment.
The Wet Tropics of Queensland provides outstanding examples of significant ongoing ecological processes and biological evolution including exceptionally high levels of species diversity and endemism reflecting long-isolated ancient biota of the Australian wet tropics. The World Heritage values include:
- the high genetic diversity and endemism of the tropical rainforest ecosystems which constitute a major centre of evolution of rainforest flora;
- endemic rainforest plant taxa (including 43 genera and at least 500 species);
- plant and animal taxa exhibiting allopatric speciation (including the plant genera Haplosticanthus, Pseuduvaria, Elaeocarpus, Ceratopetalum, Polyosma, Endiandra, Uromyrtus, Pilidiostigma, Buckinghamia, Orites, Stenocarpus, Sarcotoechia, Bubbia, Planchonella and Symplocos);
- plant and animal taxa which occur as disjunct populations, such as those associated with altitudinal and geographic barriers to gene flow; and
- the diversity of flora and fauna, which includes:
- 3,000 species of vascular plants (representing 1164 genera in 210 families), 11 mammal species, 370 bird species, 53 frog species, 170 reptile species, and 78 species of freshwater fish (in 48 genera and 35 families), more than 200 species of butterflies, 6 species of crayfish, and 217 species of land snails, and stream invertebrates).
Contain unique, rare or superlative natural phenomena, formations or features of exceptional natural beauty.
The Wet Tropics of Queensland has outstanding features of natural beauty and magnificent sweeping landscapes. The World Heritage values include:
- the exceptional coastal scenery that combines tropical rainforest, white sandy beaches and fringing reefs just offshore;
- rugged mountain peaks and gorges;
- extensive vistas of undisturbed forest and valleys which descend rapidly in the lower reaches through spectacular waterfalls and cascades; and
- superb gorge scenery with swiftly flowing rivers and spectacular waterfalls (e.g. Wallaman Falls which has the longest single drop (278 metres) of any waterfall in Australia).
Contain the most important and significant habitats where threatened species of plants and animals of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science and conservation still survive.
The Wet Tropics of Queensland provides important habitats for the in situ conservation of biological diversity, including the only habitat for numerous species of plants and animals of conservation significance, which have outstanding universal value from the point of view of science and conservation. The World Heritage values include:
- plant communities and animal habitats, recognised as being floristically and structurally the most diverse in Australia (including 13 major structural types and 27 broad communities types of rainforest fringed and dissected by a range of sclerophyll forest and woodland types, mangroves and swamp communities);
- plant taxa of conservation significance and their populations (which include more than 700 species of endemic plants representing 43 genera in 33 angiosperm, and 6 gymnosperm and fern families); and
- animal taxa of conservation significance and their populations.
Heritage values
Relevant links
Before you download
Some documents are available as PDF files. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer to view the PDF file.
If you are unable to access a publication, please contact us to organise a suitable alternative format.
Key
Links to another web site
Opens a pop-up window