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

Showing 30 of 334 results

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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State and trends of habitats and communities

2016, 2011
Marine environment
State and trends
Assessment summary

The title of this assessment summary has changed from 2011. State and trends of quality of habitats for species Marine environment State and trends...

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State and trends of quality of habitats

2016
Coasts
State and trends
Assessment summary

Coasts State and trends Land–water interfaceCoastal waterways Year...

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State and trends of quality of habitat-forming species

2016
Coasts
State and trends
Assessment summary

Coasts State and trends Biodiversity: Habitat-forming speciesCoastal waterways Year...

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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 marine biodiversity: Quality of habitats and communities

2016
Marine environment
State and trends
Report Content

2016 Marine environment State and trends Tasmania Marine Temperate East Marine South West Great Barrier Reef East...

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Most marine habitats, communities and species groups assessed for SoE 2016 are in good condition overall.

2016
Marine environment
State and trends
Key Finding

2016Most marine habitats, communities and species groups assessed for SoE 2016 are in good condition overall.

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Record high water temperatures have caused widespread coral bleaching, habitat destruction and species mortality in 2011–16.

2016
Marine environment
State and trends
Key Finding

2016Record high water temperatures have caused widespread coral bleaching, habitat destruction and species mortality in 2011–16.

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Climate extremes have resulted in widespread coral bleaching, habitat destruction and species mortalities in the past 5 years

2016
Marine environment
Key Finding

2016One of the strongest recorded La Niña events (2010–12), superimposed on overall increasing water temperatures, led to widespread bleaching of corals, loss of kelp forests, fish and invertebrate deaths, and changes in species distribution in western Australian marine environments. Also...

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Figure MAR33 (a) Two Maps of the connectivity of habitats for marine larvae via source–sink pathways

2016
Marine environment
State and trends
Map

Download as pngDownload dataset State and trends of indicators of marine ecosystem health: Ecologial processes

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Figure BIO37 Adequacy of protection of nationally threatened species

2016
Biodiversity
Effectiveness of management
Graph

Adequacy of protection of nationally threatened species in 2016 Adequacy of protection of nationally threatened species in 2016 Attained in strict protected areasAttained in any form of protected areasPartly attained (in any form of protected area)No habitat...

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Box BIO23 Range expansion of flying foxes

2016
Biodiversity
Outlook
Case Study
Range expansion may occur when: existing habitat that has not previously been colonised is reached ... distribution, and the species colonises this new habitat appropriate habitat develops within a species’ range but in areas that ...
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Box LAN13 HCAS—a new way to assess continuous variation in the condition of natural habitats for terrestrial biodiversity across whole regions using remote sensing data

2016
Land
Effectiveness of management
Case Study
... in obtaining consistent and repeatable measurement of habitat condition for biodiversity across large areas, using ... to identify natural and non‐natural influences on habitat condition , identify priority areas for management ... and undertake national environmental reporting. Habitat condition relates to the capacity of an area to ...
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Recovery from change

2016
Coasts
Resilience
Report Content

2016 Coasts Resilience Murray Darling Marine Temperate East Marine South West Great Barrier Reef East Coast...

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Overall, habitats, communities and species groups assessed in the 2016 state of the environment  report are in good condition, with stable or improving trends

2016
Marine environment
Key Finding

2016  Of those habitats, communities and species groups for which timeseries are available, many are in good condition or improving following historical impacts. Key indicators of marine health, such as primary productivity, trophic processes and algal blooms, are also mostly considered to...

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Pressures on natural heritage

2016
Heritage
Pressures
Report Content

2016 Heritage Pressures Lake Eyre Our terrestrial and marine natural heritage is susceptible to the general pressures arising from climate change outlined above, as well as some of 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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Land–water interface

2016
Coasts
State and trends
Report Content

2016 Coasts State and trends Tasmania Greater Brisbane Greater Sydney Beaches and sand dunes Like many features at the interface of the land and...

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Executive Summary - Coasts

2016
Coasts
Executive Summary

Coasts 2016Australia’s coast is vast and diverse. It is the sixth largest of any nation, and contains a variety of habitat types, including sandy beaches and dunes, rocky shores, tidal flats, and estuaries and bays. Our coast is intimately linked to our...

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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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Ecosystem restoration

2016
Marine environment
Outlook
Report Content
... pressure may be insufficient to return a species or habitat to its prior condition across reasonable timescales ...
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Resistance to change

2016
Coasts
Resilience
Report Content

2016 Coasts Resilience Great Barrier Reef For ecological habitats, species and processes, strong resistance to change is often related to high biodiversity and healthy ecosystem function. High...

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Overview of resilience of coasts

2016
Coasts
Resilience
Report Content

2016 Coasts Resilience The resilience of the coast varies markedly between areas and habitats. Some parts (e.g. exposed beaches and rocky shores) are naturally highly energetic and dynamic, and are therefore more...

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State and trends of the marine environment 2016

2016
Marine environment
State and trends
At a glance

At a glanceReporting on the current state and recent trends of the biological and ecological components of Australia’s marine environment is highly variable across Australia’s marine estate, and is often inadequate for robust assessment. There are few coordinated, sustained monitoring...

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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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Generally, habitats, communities and species groups in the Temperate East and South-east marine regions have been affected by historical pressures to a greater degree than those in other regions

2016
Marine environment
Key Finding

2016These marine regions have been subject to higher historical impacts than other marine regions. Thus, declining conditions and, in some areas, a lack of recovery of habitats, communities and species groups have been observed. The relatively lower use of the marine environment and the...

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State and trends of species populations and groups

2016
Coasts
State and trends
Assessment summary

Coasts State and trends Biodiversity: Threatened species Year...

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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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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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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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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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