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Resilience
2016 At a glanceResilience is the ability of the environment to withstand or recover from a shock or disturbance. Although the concept of resilience was developed and is mainly used in relation to ecosystems, it is a valuable concept across the environment and in environmental management. Effective...
Risks
2016 At a glanceEven after management actions and resilience are taken into consideration, some pressures can continue to pose a risk to the environment. Identifying and assessing the risk to the environment examines both the likelihood that the impact will take place and the severity of anticipated...
Industrial point sources
2016 Report Content2016 Ambient air quality Risks If not effectively controlled, emissions from industry can place health and amenity at risk, not only at the neighbourhood level, but more generally at the airshed level. During the past...
Factors affecting resilience capacity
2016 Report Content2016 Biodiversity Resilience Murray Darling Tasmania Multiple factors acting at various levels of organisation, from species to landscapes, will interact to determine...
Outlook for Australia’s climate 2016
2016 At a glanceAt a glanceThe outlook for Australia’s climate depends on the effectiveness of international and national efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Without mitigation, surface temperature increases of 3.7–4.8 °C above 1850–1900 temperatures are projected. To remain below 2 °C warming above...
Managing biodiversity for resilience
2016 Report Content2016 Biodiversity Resilience The ability of ecosystems to tolerate and recover from disturbance is a phenomenon that is vitally important to understand. Resilience has stimulated much valuable research that has...
Resilience of biodiversity 2016
2016 At a glanceAt a glanceResilience is a key underpinning principle of Australia’s Biodiversity Conservation Strategy 2010–2030, as well as state and territory, and regional biodiversity strategies. The definition of resilience in biodiversity strategies and policies is still relatively ambiguous, and...
Box LAN7 Land management to reduce sediment and pollutant delivery to the Great Barrier Reef lagoon
2016 Case StudyThe Great Barrier Reef catchments drain an area of 423,134 square kilometres of coastal Queensland, consisting of 6 major catchments and 35 subcatchments, and covering 2300 kilometres from the southern tip to the northern extent (Figure LAN15). The predominant land use is grazing...
State and trends of contaminated Antarctic sites
2016, 2011 Assessment summaryAntarctic environment State and trends Australian Antarctic Program’s station environment: Contaminated sites and pollutionAustralian Antarctic Program’s station environment: Operation indicators Antarctica...
Australian Antarctic Program’s station environment: Contaminated sites and pollution
2016 Report Content2016 Antarctic environment State and trends Antarctica Contaminated sites and pollution Contaminated waste disposal is a product of past practices of Antarctic expeditions, and is referred to...
Australian Antarctic Territory
2016 Report Content2016 Antarctic environment Introduction Antarctica The AAT (Figure ANT1) comprises an area of approximately 5.9 million km2, and its coastline extends more than 11,200 kilometres (excluding...
Availability of information
2016 Report Content2016 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...
Resilience of inland water environments 2016
2016 At a glanceAt a glanceA challenge in assessing resilience of inland water environments is recognising resilience when it occurs, especially because Australian ecosystems have developed to be both resistant and resilient. We can contribute to resilience by reducing extreme and detrimental ecosystem...
Risks to Australia’s climate 2016
2016 At a glanceAt a glanceAn understanding of the risks associated with Australia’s climate will lead to improved action plans to adapt to the changes predicted to occur. Our climate is a dynamic system; therefore, the risks need to be re-evaluated frequently. Recent climate change projections for...
Overview of challenges to effective management
2016 Report Content2016 Effectiveness of management Without detracting from positive trends in some areas, successive SoE reports have highlighted consistent problems and trends for the Australian environment. These include: the continuing loss of Australia’s...
Resilience of the Antarctic environment 2016
2016 At a glanceAt a glanceAlthough organisms living in Antarctica have evolved to cope with severe events, it is challenging to measure their level of resilience and to predict how future climate change will affect Antarctic ecosystems. This is largely because our understanding of key parameters is still...
Cumulative impacts and management of multiple uses
2016 Report Content2016 Marine environment Effectiveness of management Great Barrier Reef Ecosystem-based management aims to balance human activities with environmental stewardship to maintain ecosystem...
Pressures affecting Antarctic marine species
2016, 2011 Assessment summaryAntarctic environment Pressures Pressures on the marine environment Antarctica Year...
Effectiveness of marine management
2016, 2011 Assessment summaryMarine environment Effectiveness of management Triage responses to changes resulting from pressuresCumulative impacts and management of multiple usesSustainability and sector managementEnvironment protection systemsEvaluation of...
Land use and management
2016 Report Content2016 Land State and trends North East Coast Great Barrier Reef Australia’s population is concentrated along the eastern, south-eastern and south-western coastal fringes...
No marine species have been removed from the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) threatened species list since 2011; 8 species and 1 ecological community have been added
2016 Key Finding2016Since 2011, 2 sea snakes, 2 seabirds, 2 sharks, 1 sawfish and 1 fish have been listed, and 2 fish species have been reclassified as critically endangered. Giant kelp forests across south-eastern Australia were the first marine community to be listed as a threatened ecological community...
Australian Antarctic Program’s station environment: Operation indicators
2016 Report Content2016 Antarctic environment State and trends Antarctica Although human activity across Antarctica has increased during recent decades, it remains much lower than for all other continents. Human...
Climate change pressures affecting the land environment
2016, 2011 Assessment summaryLand Pressures Climate change–induced pressuresClimate Change Year...
Figure ATM23a Trends in extreme fire-weather days (annual 90th percentile of daily Forest Fire Danger Index values) at 38 climate reference sites
2016 MapDownload as pngDownload dataset Note: Map trends are given in Forest Fire Danger Index (FFDI) points per decade. Larger circles represent larger trends. Filled circles represent trends that are statistically significant. Source: Bureau of Meteorology Figure ATM23a...
Pressures affecting ambient air quality
2016, 2011 Assessment summaryAmbient air quality Pressures Prescribed burning and bushfiresIncreasing populationNonregulated diesel engines, including shipping and nonroad transportCommercial and other domestic sourcesDomestic wood heatersIndustryMotor...
Managing for resilience
2016 Report Content2016 Marine environment Resilience Great Barrier Reef Marine North Marine North West Marine South East Most management...
Pressures affecting biodiversity
2016, 2011 Assessment summaryBiodiversity Pressures Pressures facing aquatic ecosystemsChanged hydrologyAltered fire regimesPest species and pathogensPressures from livestock productionUrban developmentPollutionGlobal climate change and climate...
Some pressures are increasing, with uncertain impacts on the marine environment
2016 Key Finding2016Since 2011, there has been an increase in most forms of vessel activity in marine waters. As a result, risks associated with grounding of vessels, anchor scouring, accidents at sea in ecologically sensitive areas, vessel strike of marine animals, and introduction of foreign marine...
Effectiveness of atmospheric management
2016, 2011 Assessment summaryAmbient air quality Effectiveness of management Management of sources of pollutionManagement frameworkIndoor air quality...
