Australia’s arid zones are harsh, but home to some of our most iconic species.

A damning report has found several Australian ecosystems are so degraded, they are heading toward collapse if we do not intervene.

Of the 20 systems studied by a group of scientists, 19 showed evidence of collapse in some areas and required “urgent action” to prevent them from undergoing total collapse.

Ecosystem collapse is what happens when a system is so fundamentally altered that it completely reorders, often resulting in a less diverse group of plants and animals and interactions between them than before.

Among those identified in the report in Global Change Biology were some very well-known ecosystems — the Great Barrier Reef, the Murray-Darling Basin, Ningaloo Reef and Far North Queensland’s tropical rainforests.

But then there were the less well-known habitats like the Georgina gidgee woodlands, the western central arid zones, and the Gulf of Carpentaria mangrove forests.

So, what are some of these less-well known and arguably less glamorous Australian ecosystems at risk, and why should their decline concern us all?

More with pictures:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2021-03-21/ecosystem-collapse-mangroves-gidgee-desert/13234044?

> Ecosystem collapse is what happens when a system is so fundamentally altered that it completely reorders, often resulting in a less diverse group of plants and animals and interactions between them than before.

I’m not so convinced about that. The theory of island ecosystems says that a system that is so “fundamentally altered that it completely reorders”, tends to have almost exactly the same diversity of “plants and animals and interactions” as before. But it’s an open question as to whether the theory of island ecosystems applies here. That theory doesn’t apply when there is a climate change – such as an ice age or loss of rainfall.

mollwollfumble said:

> Ecosystem collapse is what happens when a system is so fundamentally altered that it completely reorders, often resulting in a less diverse group of plants and animals and interactions between them than before.

I’m not so convinced about that. The theory of island ecosystems says that a system that is so “fundamentally altered that it completely reorders”, tends to have almost exactly the same diversity of “plants and animals and interactions” as before. But it’s an open question as to whether the theory of island ecosystems applies here. That theory doesn’t apply when there is a climate change – such as an ice age or loss of rainfall.

“I’m not so convinced about that.” Me too!

It reminds me of the fact that less attractive animals heading for extinction are less likely to be saved as they don’t appeal to the general public.

Cymek said:

It reminds me of the fact that less attractive animals heading for extinction are less likely to be saved as they don’t appeal to the general public.

Seems it is the way we are, even people are subjected to an attractive judgement, most notably the attractive winning on most occasions in getting the job and/or with higher remuneration.

PermeateFree said:

Cymek said:

It reminds me of the fact that less attractive animals heading for extinction are less likely to be saved as they don’t appeal to the general public.

Seems it is the way we are, even people are subjected to an attractive judgement, most notably the attractive winning on most occasions in getting the job and/or with higher remuneration.

unless they’re also intoxicated by alcohol, out after midnight, and alone in which case they’re more likely to get raped