State of the Environment

2001

Biodiversity Theme Report

Australia State of the Environment Report 2001 (Theme Report)
Prepared by: Dr Jann Williams, RMIT University, Authors
Published by CSIRO on behalf of the Department of the Environment and Heritage, 2001
ISBN 0 643 06749 3

Acknowledgments

The biodiversity team would like to acknowledge the support of, and contributions from, numerous individuals and organisations, without whom this Report would not have been possible. We have tried to reflect this in the acknowledgments, but if there have been any omissions we sincerely apologise for the oversight. The individuals from Environment Australia (EA) who provided material for the report are too numerous to mention. Their efforts are appreciated. The efforts of the State Data Coordinators, who had to respond to many requests in a very short time, was also appreciated. The many individuals and institutions who generously provided figures and photographs for use in this report are acknowledged throughout the Report. The expert reference panel provided feedback on the structure of the report and the first draft - these individuals were selected because their expertise complemented that of the authors. The second draft was read by reviewers who were selected because of their breadth of experience with biodiversity conservation and management. In addition, individuals from state and Commonwealth agencies commented on the second draft. We thank them all very much for improving the quality of the Report. The contributors to the Report provided case studies, which can be found mainly in the boxes.

Contributors

Sali Bache (University of Wollongong)
Asghar Fazel (Department of Natural History, Iran)
Andreas Glanznig (Community Biodiversity Network)
Mike Gilling (Macquarie University)
David Lindenmayer (Australian National University)
Ewan McIvor and John Gibson (Australian Antarctic Division)
James Prest (University of Wollongong)

Reviewers

Chris Battershill (Australian Institute of Marine Science)
Tim New (La Trobe University)
Harry Recher (Edith Cowan University)
Denis Saunders (CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems)

Expert reference panel

Andrew Beattie (Macquarie University)
Geoff Clarke (CSIRO Entomology)
David Farrier (University of Wollongong)
Libby Evans-Illidge (Australian Institute of Marine Science)
Margaret Friedel (CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems)
Andrew Heywood (Australian Institute of Marine Science)
Jamie Pittock (World Wide Fund for Nature)

Data provision and general advice

Geoff Barrett (Birds Australia)
Kirsten Benkendorff (University of Wollongong)
Ross Bradstock (New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service)
Jeremy Bruhl (University of New England)
Neil Burrows (Conservation and Land Management, WA)
John Choate (National Parks and Wildlife SA)
Ian Creswell (Australian Biological Resources Study)
Geoff Dyne (Australian Biological Resources Study)
Anthony English (New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service)
Sue English (Australian Institute of Marine Science)
Stephen Garnett (Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service)
Keith Houston (Australian Biological Resources Study)
Craig James (CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems)
Terence Jeyaretnam (Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation)
Dylan Kendall (ACT Parks and Conservation Service)
Janine Kinloch (CSIRO)
Paul Kravchenko (Nature Conservation Council of NSW)
Jill Landsberg (James Cook University of North Queensland)
Don Langford (Parks and Wildlife Commission of the NT)
Greg Leach (Parks and Wildlife Commission of the NT)
Colin Limpus (Queensland Department of Environment & Heritage)
Siwan Lovett (Land & Water Australia)
Craig McAulay (CSIRO)
Jon Marsden-Smedley (Department of Primary Industry, Water and Environment, Tasmania)
Ian Morris (Frogwatch, NT)
Rhonda Melzer (Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service)
Kirsten Michalek-Wagner (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority)
Gethin Morgan (Environment Protection Agency, Queensland)
Denis O'Dowd (Monash University)
David Paton (University of Adelaide)
Rory Poulter (Birds Australia)
Bob Pressey (New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service)
Julian Reid (CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems)
Greg Rouse (University of Sydney)
Max and Bev Sharman (Forest Glen Tea Gardens, Spreyton, Tasmania)
Charlie Sherwin (Australian Conservation Foundation)
Rick Sneeuwjagt (Department of Conservation and Land Management, WA)
John Thorpe (Executive Officer, National Weeds Strategy)
Rick van Dam (Environmental Research Institute of the Supervising Scientist)
Jeremy Wallace (CSIRO)
Su Wild River (Land & Water Australia)
John Woinarski (Parks and Wildlife Commission of the NT)
Brad Zeller (Department of Primary Industries, Queensland)

Data collection and analysis

Steve Clarke (Australian Institute of Marine Science)
Linda Dalaic (CSIRO Student Research Scheme)
Rod Deakin (RMIT University)
Julian Fox (University of Melbourne)
Peter Griffioen (Acromap, Melbourne)
Amy Hahs (University of Melbourne)
John Lane (RMIT University)
Kathleen Lecere (CSIRO Student Research Scheme)
Denis Ma (RMIT University)

General assistance with the project

Bronwyn Coate (RMIT University)
Renado Schnitzer (RMIT University)
May Treloar (RMIT University)

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

Biodiversity.
Bibliography.
Includes index.
ISBN 0 643 06749 3.
ISBN 0 643 06754 X (8 v.).
ISBN 0 643 06755 8 (7 v.).
1. Biological diversity - Australia.
2. Biological diversity conservation - Australia.
3. Environmental monitoring - Australia.
I. Williams, Jann.
II. Whatman, Gary.
III. Australia. Environment Australia.
(Series : Australia state of the environment 2001).
333.950994

Commonwealth of Australia 2001
This work is copyright. It may be reproduced for study, research or training purposes subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgment of the source and no commercial usage or sale.

Reproduction for purposes other than those above requires the written permission from the Commonwealth, available from Environment Australia. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the:
Assistant Secretary
Corporate Relations and Education Branch
Environment Australia
GPO Box 787
Canberra ACT 2601
Australia

Disclaimer

The views contained in this report are not necessarily those of the Commonwealth, State or Territory Governments. The Commonwealth, which includes the Australian State of the Environment Committee, does not accept responsibility in respect of any information or advice given in relation to or as a consequence of anything contained herein.

The book is printed on Regent Recycled paper, made in Australia.
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Cover photo: Pink Lake near Meningie, South Australia John P Baker
Title page photo: Oblique aerial view of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, by JE Williams

For bibliographic purposes, this report may be cited as:
Williams, J., Read, C., Norton, A., Dovers, S., Burgman, M., Proctor, W. and Anderson, H., 2001. Biodiversity, Australia State of the Environment Report 2001 (Theme Report), CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the Department of the Environment and Heritage, Canberra.

The 2001 Biodiversity Theme Report is one of seven produced for the Australian State of the Environment Committee which form the basis of the report Australia State of the Environment 2001. Reports for the remaining themes: Atmosphere; Land; Human Settlements; Inland Waters; Coasts and Oceans; and Natural and Cultural Heritage are available in print from CSIRO PUBLISHING and on the web at: http://www.ea.gov.au/soe/

Note: Some of the images in this report may be more easily read in colour. In those cases, readers are referred to the full-colour PDF or web versions which are available online at:http://www.ea.gov.au./soe/

Cover and text design by James Kelly.
Typeset by Desktop Concepts P/L, Melbourne.
Printed in Australia by Brown Prior Anderson.