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Historic Content you are reading content from a previous reporting year.

Showing 30 of 362 results

Biodiversity: Ecological processes

2016
Coasts
State and trends
Report Content

2016 Coasts State and trends Tasmania Greater Brisbane Great Barrier Reef East Coast Connectivity Connectivity among...

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Ecological processes and species populations

2016
Inland water
State and trends
Report Content

2016 Inland water State and trends South East Coast Murray Darling Tasmania Great Barrier Reef Lake Eyre...

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State and trends of ecological processes

2016
Coasts
State and trends
Assessment summary

Coasts State and trends Biodiversity: Ecological processes Year...

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State and trends of inland water ecological processes and key species populations

2016, 2011
Inland water
State and trends
Assessment summary

Inland water State and trends Ecological processes and species populations South East CoastSouth West CoastNorth Western PlateauMurray DarlingNorth East CoastSouth Western PlateauTasmaniaTimor SeaLake Eyre...

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Box BIO15 A common assessment method for threatened species and ecological communities

2016
Biodiversity
Effectiveness of management
Case Study

Australian, state and territory governments currently maintain separate lists of threatened species, and some maintain lists of threatened ecological communities. The amount of overlap and commonality between the lists is very variable because of differences in methodologies for...

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Figure MAR41 Key ecological features identified by the Australian Government in marine bioregional plans

2016
Marine environment
Outlook
Map

Download as pngDownload dataset Note: Not all key ecological features are shown here because some have yet to be mapped in detail. Source: National Environmental Science Programme Marine Biodiversity Hub Figure MAR41 Key ecological features identified by the...

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The number of threatened species and threatened ecological communities has increased since 2011

2016
Biodiversity
Key Finding

2016Major contributors to the Increase in the number of threatened species since 2011 have been an increased understanding of the status of threatened birds and mammals, and improvements in the efficiency of listing processes.  

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Application of formal ecological risk assessment frameworks within the Australian marine environment has been limited

2016
Marine environment
Key Finding

2016  The use of formal risk assessments for managing marine resource use is patchy, resulting in variability in the prioritisation of limited resources and actions, associated processes in implementation, and addressing of cumulative impacts.  

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Species and ecological groups are variable in recent trends, with the most concern being for shorebirds

2016
Coasts
Key Finding

2016  Nationally, there are currently 1257 floral and 425 faunal species listed as threatened under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, many of which occur on the coast. Several protected species are now stable or improving, demonstrating the benefits of good...

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Figure BIO9 Distribution of listed ecological communities in Australia under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999

2016
Biodiversity
State and trends
Map

Download as pngDownload dataset Source: Environmental Resources Information Network, Australian Government Department of the Environment and Energy, 2015 Figure BIO9 Distribution of ecological communities in Australia listed under the Environment Protection and...

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Figure BIO38 Proportion of ecological communities represented in the National Reserve System and listed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999

2016
Biodiversity
Effectiveness of management
Graph

Proportion of EPBC-listed ecological communities represented in the National Reserve System Proportion of EPBC-listed ecological communities represented in the National Reserve System Less than 1%Less than 5%Less than 10%Less than 20%Less than 50%More than 50...

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Box HER36 Innovative research approaches by Parks Australia

2016
Heritage
Effectiveness of management
Case Study

Parks Australia pursues a range of applied research projects and is publishing its long-term ecological monitoring datasets through the Australian Ecological Knowledge and Observation System (AEKOS)—a national data repository and search portal. AEKOS is specifically designed to...

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Availability of information

2016
Biodiversity
Pressures
Report Content

2016 Biodiversity Pressures No consistent national-level data are available on the impact of pressures on all aspects of biodiversity in the past 5 years. The Australian Government released a Threatened Species...

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Recent developments

2016
Coasts
Effectiveness of management
Report Content

2016 Coasts Effectiveness of management There have been some recent developments in the approach and tools for coastal management, including emerging analytical methods for decision-making, and conservation at multiple...

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Figure BIO3 Most important knowledge gaps hindering effective management of biodiversity

2016
Biodiversity
Pressures
Graph

Most important knowledge gaps hindering effective management of biodiversity Most important knowledge gaps hindering effective management of biodiversity Percentage of respondents who said this gap was in the top 5Percentage of total responses Lack of data/...

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Box HER37 Applied research supporting heritage management

2016
Heritage
Effectiveness of management
Case Study

A participatory approach to research in northern Australia supports Indigenous people’s strong cultural links to the environment. Collaborating with Indigenous communities and ranger groups, researchers undertook 3 case studies to develop tools for improved land and sea Country...

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Overview of resilience of inland water

2016
Inland water
Resilience
Report Content

2016 Inland water Resilience Murray Darling Since 2011, environmental flows (managed freshwater flows in natural water systems, designed to maintain aquatic ecosystems) have contributed to the...

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Water management in Australia

2016
Inland water
Effectiveness of management
Report Content

2016 Inland water Effectiveness of management We have significant and expanding knowledge of the relationships between water management actions and ecological condition that are essential for effective management. Much...

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Box HER39 Promoting ecological connectivity in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area through collaboration, solutions-based research and statutory processes

2016
Heritage
Effectiveness of management
Case Study

Under the Operational guidelines for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, ‘to be deemed of outstanding universal value, a property must also meet the conditions of integrity and/or authenticity and must have an adequate protection and management system to...

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Ongoing improvement of our knowledge of the distribution, diversity and taxonomy of subterranean fauna is critical for management

2016
Biodiversity
Key Finding

2016The majority of Australia's invertebrates and fungi are yet to be described - many have small, restricted distributions and specific ecological requirements that make them sensitive to ecological change. Subterranean invertebrates are particularly threatened by mining activities. Better...

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Introduction 2016

2016
Inland water
Introduction
At a glance

The capricious nature of our nation’s water resources was evident during 2011–16, with: record rainfall and record dryness at local, regional and state scales extended and extensive flooding national water storage levels varying from above 80 per cent to below 50 per cent groundwater...

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Factors affecting resilience capacity

2016
Biodiversity
Resilience
Report Content

2016 Biodiversity Resilience Murray Darling Tasmania Multiple factors acting at various levels of organisation, from species to landscapes, will interact to determine...

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Integrated coastal management frameworks

2016
Coasts
Effectiveness of management
Report Content

2016 Coasts Effectiveness of management Integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) is the process for managing all coastal issues in a framework integrated across biota and habitats, time and space, and levels of...

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Biodiversity: Habitat-forming species

2016
Coasts
State and trends
Report Content

2016 Coasts State and trends South West Coast South Australian Gulf North East Coast Tasmania Greater Darwin...

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Executive Summary - Inland water

2016
Inland water
Executive Summary

Inland water 2016Australia’s inland waters, both above and below the ground, are of considerable ecological significance. Their significance arises from both their intrinsic ecological values and the contribution they make in providing water to our communities...

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Pressures from livestock production

2016
Biodiversity
Pressures
Report Content

2016 Biodiversity Pressures Livestock production is the dominant land use in the extensive land-use zone of Australia (see the Land report for further information). It is considered a major contributing factor to the...

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Changed hydrology

2016
Biodiversity
Pressures
Report Content

2016 Biodiversity Pressures Murray Darling Surface-water and groundwater conditions have varied considerably since 2011, largely in response to climate. Changes to flows and water levels are...

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Biodiversity: Threatened species

2016
Coasts
State and trends
Report Content

2016 Coasts State and trends South West Coast North East Coast Tasmania Greater Brisbane Greater Darwin...

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Terrestrial plant and animal species: Threatened species lists

2016
Biodiversity
State and trends
Report Content

2016 Biodiversity State and trends Tasmania Australian Capital Territory Threatened species lists As at December 2015, a total of 480 fauna species (terrestrial and...

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Overview of state and trends of biodiversity

2016
Biodiversity
State and trends
Report Content

2016 Biodiversity State and trends What has changed since 2011? The list of nationally threatened species and ecological communities has increased, with the addition of 30 new ecological communities, and 44 animal and...

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Australia State of the Environment 2016 has been prepared by independent experts using the best available information to support assessments of environmental condition, pressures, management effectiveness, resilience, risks and outlook.

This site is a major undertaking to improve the usability of SoE information. We are grateful for the support of users in our ongoing efforts to improve SoE reporting.  Please report problems with the site via our feedback page.

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Acknowledgment of Country

We, the authors, acknowledge the traditional owners of Country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, sea and community; we pay respect to them and their cultures and to their elders both past and present.

© Commonwealth of Australia 2017-2018

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