

State and trends of quality of habitats
State and trends of quality of habitats
Data poor, but stressed by heatwaves, pollution, groundwater discharge, harvesting, trampling, sea level rise and foreshore development.
Topics
Beaches and sand dunes
This component has changed from 2011.
- This component has been moved from Marine environment to Coasts
Most beaches are in good condition but are threatened by debris, mechanical cleaning and compaction by 4-Wheel Drives. Sand dunes are heavily impacted by foreshore development, invasive species and historical practices of 'stabilisation'.
Topics
South-west and north regions in very good condition
Topics
Data poor, but the majority are in good condition when occurring at a distance from population centres.
Topics
Lagoons
This component has changed from 2011.
- 'Gulfs, bays, estuaries, lagoons' has been moved from Marine environment to Coasts
- 'Gulfs, bays, estuaries, lagoons' has been split into 'Lagoons', 'Estuaries' and 'Bays'
The original 2011 summary, grade, trend and confidence levels have been replicated here to assist comparison of changes between reporting cycles.
Recent trends are unclear, but their condition is affected by coastal development, organic enrichment, recreational fishing and entrance modification.
Topics
South-east, south-west and east regions heavily degraded in many places; north region in very good condition
Topics
Estuaries
This assessment summary component has changed from 2011.
- 'Gulf, bays, estuaries and lagoons' has been moved from Marine environment to Coasts
- 'Gulf, bays, estuaries and lagoons' has been split into 'Lagoons', 'Estuaries' and 'Bays'
The original 2011 summary, grade, trend and confidence levels have been replicated here to assist comparison of changes between reporting cycles.
Approximately half are significantly impacted by historical and contemporary developments. Affected by pollution, hydrological modifications, the addition of artificial structures, dredging, shipping, invasive species and recreational and commercial fishing.
Topics
South-east, south-west and east regions heavily degraded in many places; north region in very good condition
Topics
Bays
This assessment summary component has changed from 2011.
- 'Gulf, bays, estuaries and lagoons' has been moved from Marine environment to Coasts
- 'Gulf, bays, estuaries and lagoons' has been split into 'Lagoons', 'Estuaries' and 'Bays'
The original 2011 summary, grade, trend and confidence levels have been replicated here to assist comparison of changes between reporting cycles.
Heavily used bays suffer from contamination issues, introduced species, increased physical disturbance, fishing and the addition of artificial structures.
Topics
South-east, south-west and east regions heavily degraded in many places; north region in very good condition
Topics
Assessment Summary Key
Grades
Very good
Human activities or declining environmental conditions have had no or only minor impacts on habitats, species/taxa groups, physical, biogeochemical, biological or ecological processes.
Good
Human activities or declining environmental conditions have had some significant impacts on habitats, species/taxa groups, physical, biogeochemical, biological or ecological processes, but effects are not persistent or substantial on overall habitats, species/taxa groups or processes.
Poor
Human activities or declining environmental conditions have caused substantial changes to habitats, species/taxa groups, physical, biogeochemical, biological or ecological processes, resulting in persistent and substantial effects on habitats, species groups or processes.
Very poor
Human activities or declining environmental conditions have caused widespread changes to habitats, species or processes resulting in loss of habitat, species/taxa groups and ecosystem functioning.
Recent Trends
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Improving
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Stable
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Deteriorating
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Unclear
Confidence
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Adequate: Adequate high-quality evidence and high level of consensus
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Somewhat adequate: Adequate high-quality evidence or high level of consensus
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Limited: Limited evidence or limited consensus
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Very limited: Limited evidence and limited consensus
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Low: Evidence and consensus too low to make an assessment
Comparability
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Comparable: Grade and trend are comparable to the previous assessment
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Somewhat comparable: Grade and trend are somewhat comparable to the previous assessment
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Not comparable: Grade and trend are not comparable to the previous assessment
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Not previously assessed
Comments
Nil.