BIODIVERSITY UNDER THREAT.

a data visualisation project.
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Living on Borrowed Time

The Australian biodiversity is under constant threat of collapse. Since the introduction of non-native species in the local environment, Australia's local populations have had to compete with these new species. Putting invasive species aside, The Australian biodiversity has faced challenges with changing landscape and nature. They have to adapt and change, but these changes have decimated their ability to survive in the long run.



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State of Australian Biodiversity

Australia has one of the world's highest rates of native species extinction in the world. The volatile balance of the Australian nature, which prior to the colonisation by Europeans in the late 1700s was largely left intact and free from outside influence. This environment is susceptible towards the smallest of changes in nature. The Australian government, through relevant legislation such as the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC), has listed over 100 extinct species, 10 of which were added within the last 2 years alone, and the number of threatened animal species is continuing to rise.

Meet some Australian Animals in Danger of Extinction

What are the threats?

Threats to the Australian biodiversity comes in many different kinds, but according to a recent report, the top 3 threats to the Australian biodiversity are Invasive Species, Ecosystem Modifications, and agricultural activities. When compared to the world, the top 3 threats are Agriculture, Overexploitation, and Urban development. The top 2 threats to Australia are significantly larger in portion when compared with worldwide trends, as shown in the chart.

Invasive Species

First, lets cover introduced organisms. Its a massive problem in Australia, as lot of these introduced species has no natural predators. Their numbers grow exponentially, as combined with favourable conditions, they decimate local resources, competing with the local flora and fauna. Take for example, One of the largest threats to the Australian biodiversity is the European Feral Rabbit. As shown in the chart, The Rabbit is responsible for threatening around more than 300 native Australian species, both directly and indirectly, which adds up as that is more than the second and third most threatening species combined.

Rabbits?

Rabbits were introduced to Australia in the middle of the 19th century for hunting, but not long after they went loose their population exploded, as they have no natural predators, and the Australian environment suits their breeding patterns as a whole. Rabbits are invasive in many different ways, for instance, they overgraze lands, which leads to lack of food supply in the area, and soil erosion that changes the whole landscape. Take Phillip Island as an example, Phillip island was once a home to a large rabbit population, but once they were eradicated, we can see that the island is in a much better shape than it was before. These are some of the harsh realities that the native Australian fauna is facing. There have been previous attempts of population control, but in reality as shown through the graph (Cooke et al, 2013), the rabbit population will always recover. It's a race against time, and we only have finite resources.

More about Feral Rabbits

Changing Landscape

Invasive species are one part of the problem. Another one is a changing landscape. Lets take one of the recent disasters in Australian History. the 2019-2020 Bushfires were one of the worst ecological disaster events in Australia's history. The fires burned an estimated $5 billion dollars, around 8% of Australia's agricultural GDP. But not only that, a lot of different species were effected. Take the koalas for example. after the fires, The Australian government listed Koalas as being Endangered. Koalas primarily live on the East coast of Australia. As shown in the chart, the fires burned a lot of its habitat, resulting in its population decline.

Forest Cover?

Not only bushfires, but there has been a massive deforestation in Australia since the advent of European colonisation. since 1750's, Australia has lost a significant portion of its forests, as shown through the chart. In all different types of forests, there has been a significant reduction of tree population. These deforestation events are caused by a variety of causes. But in general..

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Humans. It's Humans.

Since the colonisation of Australia, Humans are responsible for all of these changes. We have introduced invasive species, we have changed the landscape, and we have deforested the land. We are the ones responsible for the current state of the Australian environment, and for that reason, we should do our best to change the course!

We're still destroying nature!

Take for example, as of now, the Australian government has committed to net zero emissions by 2050. However, we're still far from targets. According to the statistics, We are only going to reach about 85% of net 0 targets, which is still insufficient, and adding salt to the wound, we are still having new coal, gas, and other non renewable resources projects ongoing, and as shown in the chart, Coal project marks a significant amount of new projects

Scroll on the slides to see different charts

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So how can you help?

The future seems bleak. That is undeniable. But when more and more people bind together not as individuals, but as a team, changes are possible. We can donate to charitable sources, like the Australian World Wildlife Fund, or we can volunteer to help conserve local flora and fauna. We can also contact our local representatives, to make sure that they are aware of our concerns, and so that they could call for actions that represent our values better.

Lets do more for Australia and protect our Biodiversity!

Go to WWF Find your representatives