Ecoregions in Australia
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Ecoregions in Australia are geographically distinct plant and animal communities, defined by geology, soils, climate, and predominant vegetation.
The Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) was developed by the Australian Government's Department of Environment and Heritage. The fifth and most recent version of IBRA, developed in 1999-2000, identifies 85 bioregions.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) identified 825 terrestrial ecoregions that cover the earth's land surface, 40 of which cover Australia and its dependent islands. The WWF ecoregions are classified by biome type (Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands, tundra, etc.), and into one of eight terrestrial ecozones. Australia, together with New Zealand, New Guinea and neighboring island groups, is part of the Australasia ecozone. The IBRA bioregions informed the delineation of the WWF ecoregions for Australia, and the WWF ecoregions generally follow the same ecoregion boundaries, while often clustering two or more similar bioregions into a larger ecoregion. The ecoregion articles in Wikipedia generally follow the WWF scheme.
Both the WWF and IBRA delineations were developed for use as a planning tool for conservation science, with the goal of establishing a system of nature reserves in each of the ecoregions or bioregions sufficient to preserve biodiversity. Both systems also have a prioritization system for establishing preserves; the WWF designated its Global 200 ecoregions as priorities for conservation, and the Department of Environment and Heritage ranks its bioregions high, medium, or low priority, based on "the potential value land reservation in those regions would add to the development of a comprehensive, adequate and representative reserve system for Australia."
World Wildlife Fund Ecoregions
Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests- Lord Howe Island subtropical forests
- Norfolk Island subtropical forests
- Queensland tropical rain forests
- Eastern Australian temperate forests
- Southeast Australia temperate forests
- Tasmanian Central Highland forests
- Tasmanian temperate forests
- Tasmanian temperate rain forests
- Arnhem Land tropical savanna
- Brigalow tropical savanna
- Cape York tropical savanna
- Carpentaria tropical savanna
- Einasleigh upland savanna
- Kimberly tropical savanna
- Mitchell grass downs
- Victoria Plains tropical savanna
- Eastern Australia mulga shrublands
- Southeast Australia temperate savanna
- Coolgardie woodlands
- Esperance mallee
- Eyre and York mallee
- Jarrah-Karri forest and shrublands
- Kwongan heathlands
- Mount Lofty woodlands
- Murray-Darling woodlands and mallee
- Naracoorte woodlands
- Southwest Australia savanna
- Southwest Australia woodlands
- Carnarvon xeric shrublands
- Central Ranges xeric scrub
- Gibson Desert
- Great Sandy-Tanami Desert
- Great Victoria Desert
- Nullarbor Plain xeric shrublands
- Pilbara shrublands
- Simpson Desert
- Tirari-Sturt's Stony Desert
- Western Australian mulga shrublands
Interim Biogeographical Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA), version 5.1
- Australian Alps (AA)
- Arnhem Coast (ARC)
- Arnhem Plateau (ARP)
- Avon Wheatbelt (AW)
- Ben Lomond (BEL)
- Broken Hill Complex (BHC)
- Brigalow Belt North (BBN)
- Brigalow Belt South (BBS)
- Burt Plain (BRT)
- Central Arnhem (CA)
- Carnarvon (CAR)
- Channel Country (CHC)
- Central Kimberley (CK)
- Central Mackay Coast (CMC)
- Coolgardie (COO)
- Cobar Peneplain (CP)
- Central Ranges (CR)
- Cape York Peninsula (CYP)
- Daly Basin (DAB)
- Darwin Coastal (DAC)
- Desert Uplands (DEU)
- Dampierland (DL)
- Davenport Murchison Ranges (DMR)
- Darling Riverine Plain (DRP)
- Einasleigh Uplands (EIU)
- Esperance Plains (ESP)
- Eyre and Yorke Block (EYB)
- Finke (FIN)
- Flinders Lofty Block (FLB)
- Flinders (FLI)
- Gascoyne (GAS)
- Gawler (GAW)
- Gibson Desert (GD)
- Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU)
- Geraldton Sandplains (GS)
- Great Sandy Desert (GSD)
- Gulf Coastal (GUC)
- Gulf Plains (GUP)
- Great Victoria Desert (GVD)
- Hampton (HAM)
- Jarrah Forest (JF)
- Kanmantoo (KAN)
- King (Australian eco-region) (KIN)
- Little Sandy Desert (LSD)
- MacDonnell Ranges (MAC)
- Mallee (MAL)
- Murray - Darling Depression (MDD)
- Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD)
- Mount Isa Inlier (MII)
- Mulga Lands (ML)
- Murchison (MUR)
- Nandewar (NAN)
- Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP)
- New England Tableland (NET)
- Northern Kimberley (NK)
- New South Wales North Coast (NNC)
- New South Wales South Western Slopes (NSS)
- Nullarbor (NUL)
- Ord Victoria Plains (OVP)
- Pine Creek (PCK)
- Pilbara (PIL)
- Riverina (RIV)
- Sydney Basin (SB)
- South East Coastal Plain (SCP)
- South East Corner (SEC)
- South Eastern Queensland (SEQ)
- South Eastern Highlands (SEH)
- Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD)
- Stony Plains (STP)
- SturAt Plateau (STU)
- Swan Coastal Plain (SWA)
- Tanami (TAN)
- Tasmanian Central Highlands (TCH)
- Tasmanian Northern Midlands (TNM)
- Tasmanian Northern Slopes (TNS)
- Tasmanian South East (TSE)
- Tasmanian Southern Ranges (TSR)
- Tasmanian West (TWE)
- Tiwi Cobourg (TIW)
- Victoria Bonaparte (VB)
- Victorian Midlands (VM)
- Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP)
- Warren (WAR)
- Wet Tropics (WT)
- Yalgoo (YAL)
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