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

Showing 30 of 280 results

Figure LAN27 Australia’s forest extent by forest type

2016
Land
State and trends
Map

Download as pngDownload dataset Source: Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences, Forests of Australia 2013, used under CC BY 3.0 Figure LAN27 Australia’s forest extent by forest type Vegetation

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Box ANT5 Antarctic sea ice extent, 2012–15

2016
Antarctic environment
State and trends
Case Study
In 2012, 2013 and 2014, the overall Antarctic sea ice extent reached well above the long-term average (since 1979 ... set new successive daily records for the greatest ice extent since 1979 ( Figure ANT10 ) ( Massom et al. 2013a , b ... formation and decay. In 2012, the net Antarctic sea ice extent remained close to, or slightly above, average for much ...
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Figure LAN26 Extent of all forms of vegetation across Australia

2016
Land
State and trends
Map

Download as pngDownload dataset Source: Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences, Integrated Vegetation Cover dataset 2009, used under CC BY 2.5 Figure LAN26 Extent of all forms of vegetation across Australia Vegetation

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Figure LAN30a Extent of modification to major vegetation groups, as assessed by VAST

2016
Land
State and trends
Graph
(a) extent of modification to major vegetation groups ...
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Figure WAT9 Observed extent of eastern gambusia, 2016 (number of records)

2016
Inland water
Pressures
Map

Download as pngDownload dataset Source: Atlas of Living Australia; used under CC BY 3.0 AU Figure WAT9    Observed extent of eastern gambusia, 2016 (number of records) Pests and invasive species

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Figure WAT8 Heat map of observed carp extent, 1870-2016 (number of records)

2016
Inland water
Pressures
Map

Download as pngDownload dataset Source: Atlas of Living Australia; used under CC BY 3.0 AU Figure WAT8     Heat map of observed carp extent, 1870-2016 (number of records) Pests and invasive species

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Figure BIO11 (a) Total loss of extent of vegetation communities in Australia from pre-1750 extents; (b) a fragmentation measure reflecting the change in proportion of vegetation patches made up of less than 5000 hectares

2016
Biodiversity
State and trends
Map

Download as pngDownload dataset Source: Adapted from Tulloch et al. 2015, used under CC BY NC ND 4.0 Figure BIO11 (a) Total loss of extent of vegetation communities in Australia from pre-1750 extents; (b) a fragmentation measure reflecting the change in proportion of...

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Figure LAN30b Extent of modification of major vegetation groups, as assessed by vegetation assets, states and transitions (VAST) where (a) shows the percentage of modification; and (b) shows the extent of major vegetation groups, pre-1750

2016
Land
State and trends
Graph
(b) extent of major vegetation groups, pre-1750 ...
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Figure HER9 Bioregion protection level change, as the percentage improvement of each bioregion’s protected area extent between 2011 and 2015

2016
Heritage
State and trends
Map

Download as pngDownload dataset IBRA = Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia; NRS = National Reserve System Note: Analysis for both 2011 and 2016 of bioregional protected area representation was reassessed using Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (...

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Vegetation

2016
Land
State and trends
Report Content
... of 1.6 million hectares ( DoE 2014c ). The continental extent of all forms of vegetation is summarised in ...
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Terrestrial ecosystems and communities

2016
Biodiversity
State and trends
Report Content

2016 Biodiversity State and trends Murray Darling Tasmania Great Barrier Reef Australian Capital Territory The Interim...

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Pests and invasive species

2016
Inland water
Pressures
Report Content

2016 Inland water Pressures Tasmania Lake Eyre SoE 2011 provided information on the pressure of invasive species, including cane toads (Rhinella marina, formerly Bufo...

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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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Resilience of the coastal environment 2016

2016
Coasts
Resilience
At a glance

At a glanceResilience of the coastal environment includes its resistance to change and its ability to recover once disturbed. Resistance to change is linked to the maintenance of high biodiversity, which is expected to provide greater redundancy in ecological functions. Resistance can also...

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Land-use change, and habitat fragmentation and degradation threaten ecosystems and resilience

2016
Pressures
Report Content

2016 Pressures Land clearing is a fundamental pressure on the environment. It causes the loss, fragmentation and degradation of native vegetation, and a variety of impacts on our soils (e.g. erosion and loss of nutrients), waterways and coastal...

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State and trends of vegetation

2016, 2011
Land
State and trends
Assessment summary

Land State and trends Vegetation Year...

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State and trends of biodiversity 2016

2016
Biodiversity
State and trends
At a glance

At a glanceUnderstanding of the state and trends of the vast majority of individual species in Australia is limited. The lack of effective monitoring data for understanding state and trends, even for threatened species, is highlighted by every jurisdiction and all previous state of the...

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Jurisdictional reporting on pressures

2016
Biodiversity
Pressures
Report Content

2016 Biodiversity Pressures Tasmania Greater Darwin Australian Capital Territory Each state and territory in Australia has highlighted a range of...

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Figure ANT10 Five-day running average of daily sea ice extent anomaly (compared with the 1981–2010 average) for the Southern Hemisphere, 2012–15

2016
Antarctic environment
State and trends
Graph

Five-day running average of daily sea-ice extent anomaly for the Southern Hemisphere, 2012–15 Five-day running average of daily sea-ice extent anomaly for the Southern Hemisphere, 2012–15 Range of daily values for 1981–2010 (min)Range of daily values for 1981–...

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Figure BIO36 WWF-Australia’s estimates of how well area-based targets for protection of terrestrial ecosystems have been met, and how much area is still required (i.e. the gap between actual area in highly protected areas and the minimum ecosystem r...

2016
Biodiversity
Effectiveness of management
Graph

(f) WWF Australia’s estimates of how well area-based targets for protection of terrestrial ecosystems have been met...

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Executive Summary - Biodiversity

2016
Biodiversity
Executive Summary

Biodiversity 2016The value of Australia’s biodiversity is difficult to measure, but biodiversity is a key part of Australia’s national identity, and is integral to subsistence and cultural activity for Indigenous Australians. It is also fundamentally important...

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Since 2011, there have been significant gains in the extent of Australia’s terrestrial conservation estate. The National Reserve System now covers 17.9 per cent of Australia’s land area, compared with 13.4 per cent in 2011.

2016
Land
State and trends
Key Finding

2016Since 2011, there have been significant gains in the extent of Australia’s terrestrial conservation estate. The National Reserve System now covers 17.9 per cent of Australia’s land area, compared with 13.4 per cent in 2011.

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The oceans have somewhat mitigated the effects of emissions

2016
Atmosphere
Key Finding

2016  The oceans absorb CO2 and heat, and thus limit the rate and immediate extent of changes in climate. In recent decades, the oceans have taken up around 25 per cent of the annual anthropogenic (human) CO2 emissions. However, the capacity of the oceans to absorb CO2 is limited, because...

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Figure HER1 Great Eastern Ranges connectivity corridor

2016
Heritage
Pressures
Map

Download as pngDownload dataset Figure HER1 Great Eastern Ranges connectivity corridor Pressures on natural heritage

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Figure HER16 Map of observed bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef as at 13 June 2016

2016
Heritage
Effectiveness of management
Map

Download as png Source: GBRMPA (2016b) Figure HER16 Map of observed bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef as at 13 June 2016

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Outlook for the coastal environment 2016

2016
Coasts
Outlook
At a glance

At a glanceThe current pressures associated with human population, catchment land use, agriculture and resource extraction are growing and will be exacerbated by the increasing pressures of climate change. The most significant climate change pressures for the coast include sea level rise,...

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Major regional changes are occurring in Antarctic sea ice coverage

2016
Antarctic environment
Key Finding

2016For the past 30 years, there has been a small increase in the extent of sea ice around Antarctica, but with strong regional differences. Most notable are contrasting regional changes in sea ice seasonality attributed to changing patterns of large-scale atmospheric circulation. In the...

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Anthropogenic ocean warming and ocean acidification, superimposed on natural climate variations, pose risks to Australia’s marine ecosystems and their habitats, communities and species groups

2016
Marine environment
Key Finding

2016Sea surface temperatures are continuing to increase, with surface ocean warming during the 21st century occurring at approximately 7 times the rate observed during the 20th century. The frequency of extreme sea surface temperature events has increased. Rising summer ocean temperatures...

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Reporting on the current state and recent trends of Australia’s marine environment is highly variable and often inadequate for robust assessment

2016
Marine environment
Key Finding

2016  The extent of information available on marine habitats, communities and species groups differs across marine regions. There are few coordinated, sustained biological monitoring programs at both the regional and the national level for the marine environment, and most monitoring is...

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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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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.

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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.

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