Facts and Figures

• Australia has an enormous range of environments, from temperate marine ecosystems to the snow-capped alps, from the West Australian coral reefs to the semi-arid range-lands of the Centre. Each of these areas has a unique mix of species and genetic material.

• Much of Australia’s biodiversity is unique to this country, including 82% of our mammal species, most of our frogs, reptiles, flowering plants and about half our bird species.

• The major cause of biodiversity loss is land clearing, which destroys and alters habitats and ecosystems. About 50% of Australia’s native vegetation has been cleared or significantly altered. Australia still has one of the highest land clearing rates in the world.

• Other threats to biodiversity include: non-sustainable commercial uses (e.g. deep sea trawling, logging); over-extraction of water from rivers, streams and wetlands; salinity; climate change; introduction and spread of non-indigenous species (weeds, pests, predators and pathogens); genetically modified organisms; pollution; altered fire regimes.

• Biodiversity is not distributed evenly on Earth. It is consistently richer in the tropics. As one approaches polar regions one finds larger and larger populations of fewer and fewer species. Flora and fauna vary depending on climate, altitude, soils and the presence of other species.

• A more diverse ecosystem is better able to withstand environmental stress and consequently is more productive. The loss of a species is thus likely to decrease the ability of the system to maintain itself or to recover from damage or disturbance.

• Australia is one of seventeen countries described as being “megadiverse”. This group of countries has less than 10% of the global surface, but support more than 70% of the biological diversity on Earth.

• Australia is home to between 600,000 and 700,000 species, many of which are endemic, that is they are found nowhere else in the world. These include, for example, 84% of our plant species, 83% of mammals, and 45% of birds.

• Australia’s biodiversity – the plants, animals, micro-organisms and their ecosystems – is threatened from the impacts of human activities. Since European settlement, more than 50 species of Australian animals and over 60 species of Australian plants are known to have become extinct.

• Conservation International has identified 31 international biodiversity hotspots (revised to 34 at publication). These areas support as endemics no less than 44% of the world’s plants and 35% of terrestrial vertebrates. As well as looking at endemic species, international hotspots have also lost at least 70% of their original extent.

• Some of Australia’s most vulnerable natural systems, including reefs, wetlands, mountain forests and alpine areas, may suffer significant and irreversible damage from climate change.

• Australia is a hotspot for endemism; nearly all of the world’s species of marsupials exist only here. The south-west corner is of particular importance. Here, of 5469 species of plants, 4331 are unique to the area. Of 456 species of land-living vertebrates, 100 species are found nowhere else.

• Australia’s biodiversity is unique. Australia is home to more than one million species, many of which are endemic, that is, they are found nowhere else in the world. About 85% of flowering plants, 84% of mammals, 45% of birds, and 90% of inshore, temperate-zone fish are endemic. In addition, Australia’s coastal waters have some of the most diverse marine fauna in the world due to areas such as the Great Barrier Reef.

• Over the last 200 years, elements of Australia’s biodiversity have declined and some species of mammals, birds, frogs and plants are presumed to have become extinct. Mammals particularly have been affected, with 27 species that lived in continental Australia at the time of European settlement in 1788, now presumed extinct under the EPBC Act. Ten of those species have been lost since 1900.

• Humans contribute more nitrogen to ecosystems globally than do all natural processes combined through fertiliser run-off, human sewage and other activities.

• The rate and risk of alien species introduced into countries have increased significantly in recent years, and will continue to rise as a result of increased travel, trade and tourism.

• Unsustainable consumption is continuing, evidenced by the growing global ecological footprint. The global demand for resources now exceeds the biological capacity of the Earth to renew these resources by some 20%.

• The total number of global species declared officially extinct is 784. A further 65 species are only found in captivity or cultivation.

• 40,177 species have been assessed and 16,199 have been listed as threatened with extinction.

• Australia, Brazil, Mexico and China are noted for their particularly high numbers of threatened species. Australia’s threatened species include the hairy-nosed wombat and southern bluefin tuna.

• Of the top 15 countries with the most number of species under threat, Australia with 639 has the eighth-greatest tally.

• More than 100 Australian species have become extinct in the past 70 years. Another 1683 species, including the yellow-footed rock wallaby, northern hairy-nosed wombat, grey nurse shark and green turtle, are now threatened with extinction.