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

Showing 30 of 295 results

Altered fire regimes

2016
Biodiversity
Pressures
Report Content
The Land report describes how fire frequencies have increased in Australia during the past decade. Alteration in fire regimes is considered a major threat that has ... mammals 2012 ( Woinarski et   al. 2014 ). Changed fire regimes are increasing in importance as a threat for ...
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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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Interactions among pressures

2016
Biodiversity
Pressures
Report Content

2016 Biodiversity Pressures Few of the pressures documented in this section occur in isolation. Rather, pressures interact in complex ways, often compounding the threat to biodiversity. For example, land clearing...

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Pressures on the environment can interact and accumulate in various ways

2016
Pressures
Report Content

2016 Pressures The interactions between pressures can result in cumulative impacts, amplifying the threat faced by the Australian environment. There is increasing evidence that pressures interact in complex ways. For example, land clearing removes...

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Pressures affecting biodiversity 2016

2016
Biodiversity
Pressures
At a glance

At a glanceThe pressures affecting biodiversity remain largely consistent with those identified in the 1996, 2001, 2006 and 2011 state of the environment reports. The most significant current pressures are clearing, fragmentation and declining quality of habitat; invasive species; climate...

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Climate change

2016
Heritage
Pressures
Report Content
... significantly, rainfall regimes have altered, and extreme fire and weather events are increasing in frequency and ...
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Land and water use and management

2016
Inland water
Risks
Report Content

2016 Inland water Risks Murray Darling Risks from changes to land management arise mainly through potential hydrological and water quality changes, whereas those from water management relate to...

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The cumulative impact of multiple pressures and the interactions between them amplify the threat faced by biodiversity

2016
Biodiversity
Key Finding

2016Interactions between pressures such as changed fire regimes, invasive species and changing land use have contributed to significant population declines in Australian mammals and birds, and, presumably, in other animal and plant groups.  

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Reducing the impact of feral predators is an essential action for the conservation of Australian fauna

2016
Biodiversity
Key Finding

2016Feral cats and foxes are key pressures that have contributed to the population decline of small mammals in northern Australia and lack of recovery of these mammals in southern Australia. The interaction between feral cat predation and fire regimes is now known to be particularly...

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Changing land use and management

2016
Inland water
Pressures
Report Content

2016 Inland water Pressures Tasmania Great Barrier Reef Land use and land management can produce pressures on aquatic environments that include changes to flow, water...

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Regional and landscape-scale pressures: Bushfire

2016
Land
Pressures
Report Content
Bushfires (wildfires) are uncontrolled fire in the landscape. These particularly affect natural or ...
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Risks to biodiversity 2016

2016
Biodiversity
Risks
At a glance

At a glanceEscalation of existing risks such as invasive species, climate change and changing fire regimes, and the interactions between these risks, will continue to exert significant and widespread changes on biodiversity. The importance of some risks, or at least the perception of those...

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Pressures affecting the land environment 2016

2016
Land
Pressures
At a glance

At a glanceAlthough a changing climate has shaped the Australian landscape and its vegetation, the current rate of climate change is likely to result in changes in the distribution and composition of vegetation communities. Some communities are likely to disappear, and others will be...

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Rainfall

2016
Climate
State and trends
Report Content

2016 Climate State and trends Greater Melbourne Broadly, Australia can be divided into 2 seasonal rainfall regimes: the north and the south. The northern half of the continent typically...

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Management status

2016
Biodiversity
Effectiveness of management
Report Content

2016 Biodiversity Effectiveness of management Murray Darling Tasmania National Reserve System and National Representative System of Marine Protected Areas Australia has...

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Pressures affecting biodiversity

2016, 2011
Biodiversity
Pressures
Assessment summary

Biodiversity Pressures Pressures facing aquatic ecosystemsChanged hydrologyAltered fire regimesPest species and pathogensPressures from livestock productionUrban developmentPollutionGlobal climate change and climate...

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Resilience of the land environment 2016

2016
Land
Resilience
At a glance

At a glanceAustralian landscapes have evolved with soils and vegetation in equilibrium with the climate and natural disturbance regime. Land management activities disturb that equilibrium. Although we may not see all of the ensuing changes, the subtle and slowly accumulating ones can be the...

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Australia’s heritage remains vulnerable to both natural and anthropogenic threats

2016
Heritage
Key Finding

2016Climate change poses a major challenge for heritage owners and managers, and has the potential for high-impact and irreversible damage in the absence of remedial action. Natural areas continue to be affected by invasive species, loss of habitat and altered fire regimes. Economic growth...

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Risks to inland water environments 2016

2016
Inland water
Risks
At a glance

At a glanceRisks to inland water environments include direct risks (such as direct water extraction, or changes in run-off and recharge) and indirect risks (such as expansion of invasive species because of increased tourism). Climate changes may produce both types of risks. Updated climate...

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Box ATM3 Fire weather

2016
Climate
State and trends
Case Study
Australia is one of the most fire-prone regions in the world. The fire season is distinctly different across the continent, ... to late summer in southern regions. The potential for fire at any given location or time is dependent on the ...
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Pressures affecting heritage 2016

2016
Heritage
Pressures
At a glance

At a glanceThe drivers of the condition of Australia’s environment (including heritage) are both historical and contemporary. Historical pressures, such as a legacy of land clearing and changes in land use, cannot be addressed through short-term management. Other pressures, such as rising...

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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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Direct (primary) effects of pressures on climate

2016
Climate
Pressures
Report Content

2016 Climate Pressures Greater Sydney The CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology State of the climate 2014 (CSIRO...

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Understanding

2016
Heritage
Effectiveness of management
Report Content

2016 Heritage Effectiveness of management Murray Darling North East Coast Greater Sydney Gulf of Carpentaria...

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Regional and landscape-scale pressures affecting the land environment

2016, 2011
Land
Pressures
Assessment summary

Land Pressures Regional and landscape-scale pressures: BushfireRegional and landscape-scale pressures: Invasive speciesRegional and landscape-scale pressures: Land clearingClimate change–induced pressuresContemporary land-use...

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Resilience of our environment and society

2016
Climate
Resilience
Report Content

2016 Climate Resilience South Coast South Australian Gulf Timor Sea Great Barrier Reef Marine North...

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Pressures affecting the environment

2016
Pressures
At a glance

To understand the state and trends of Australia’s environment, it is necessary to consider both the historical pressures that have had a profound impact on the environment, and the contemporary pressures that directly and indirectly influence the state of the environment. Historical changes...

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Global climate change and climate variability

2016
Biodiversity
Pressures
Report Content

2016 Biodiversity Pressures Tasmania All recent state and territory SoE reports note the adverse effects of global climate change on biodiversity. These increasingly include extreme weather, as...

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Box HER26 Using traditional fire knowledge

2016
Heritage
Effectiveness of management
Case Study
... with traditional owners to revive the use of traditional fire knowledge as a land management tool. The aim is to ... talking at Landcare events, participating in an Indigenous fire forum in 2013 and talking to the local Aboriginal ... secured Australian Government NRM funding to undertake fire trials with traditional owners in the region. The group ...
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Consumption and extraction of natural resources

2016
Biodiversity
Pressures
Report Content

2016 Biodiversity Pressures Murray Darling Tasmania Harvesting of species The impact of harvesting is considered a potential threat to 30 per cent of listed threatened...

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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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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.

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