West Australia

Western Australia 

Biodiversity is the ariety in types of life in a certain ecosystem. Biodiversity hotspots are certain areas around the world that have a massive amount of biodiversity in a small area. Biodiversity is the amount of diffrent animals and plants in a certain area. The number of species of plants, animals, and microorganisms, the enormous diversity of genes in these species, the different ecosystems on the planet, such as deserts, rainforests and coral reefs are all part of a biologically diverse Earth. Biodiversity is important because its benficial to economy by having goods, and every animal has a right to live. The ecosystem provides important services by providing an area to preserve genetic diversity, providing plants and animals important to biodiversity an area to live, and allowing them all to be a part of the different cycles that the world's various forms of life are a part of. The hotspot we chose was the Southwest Australia habitat. This habitat contains an abundant amount of repitles and maurciples. We chose this hotspot because it sounded like the most interesting, and the most divese.  Australia is one of only 35 countries recognised as ‘mega-diverse’, meaning that a significant proportion of the world’s biodiversity is located here.It is estimated that Australia is home to about one million species of plants, animals and micro-organisms, many of which are endemic and cannot be found elsewhere in the world. In this biome, there is a huge concentration of both biomass and biodiversity. There is also an average net primary productivity for the area, which is around 3,000 kcal/m2/yr.

conservation International. Map of Southwest Australia. Digital image. The Encyclopedia of Earth. The Encyclopedia of Earth, 22 Aug. 2008. Web. 8 Dec. 2014. 

Southwest Australia is mostly a Mediterranean Vegation .Mediterranean vegetation, is dense vegetation composed of broad-leaved evergreen shrubs, bushes, and small trees usually less than 2.5 meters tall and growing in regions. These regions have a climate similar to that of the Mediterranean area, which is characterized by hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters. 

This hotspot is known to be the home of about 60 species of native mammal, 12 of which are endemic. One of whitch is extrmely thereatned, whitch is the wallaby. As might be expected in a country that leads the world in reptile diversity, there are a wide variety of reptile species in Southwest Australia. Of the 175 or so species present, about 30 are endemic to the hotspot. The greatest human impact in Southwest Australia has been the clearing of native vegetation for agriculture. However, because of the poor soils, development progressed slowly, when phosphate fertilizers were introduced. Today, most usable private land in the region is farmed, although it requires the application of phosphate whitch is the main ingredient of fertilizer. 

There are many ecosystem services in Southwest Australia. Due to major biodiversity and awe inspiring animals, the biodiversity brings in a plethora of tourists. However, there is a lot of timber exploitation and agriculture whitch is destroying the biodiversity. Southwest Australia has become classified as a biodiversity hotspot because of a type of environmental degradation called habitat loss. Habitat loss is where parts of the ecosystem that the animals and plants were living in were destroyed or removed due to human interactions. This can be due to construction, farming, development, forestry, and a variety of other things but eventually just reduces the area that the plants and animals have to live. 

Though there isn't much opposition to restoring the Southwest Australia hotspot back to the way it was, there are still difficulties trying to organize strategies. With so many different governmental and independent organizations all trying to make a difference, there are often redundancies that could have been eliminated with better cooperation. If different organizations and individuals were able to coordinate strategies and initiatives for restoration, it could be a stronger and more effective force. 

There are nearly 5,570 species of vascular plants found in this hotspot, and nearly 80% of them are not found anywhere else in the world. This means that without protection, we could lose thousands of plant species forever. Plants include the Banksia plants, the Kangaroo Paws, the Jarrah Eucalyptus, and thousands more. These plants are beautiful representations of nature and need to be saved. As for animals, there are over 280 bird species, 60 mammal species, 175 reptile species, 30 amphibian species, and about 20 freshwater fish species. Many of these species can only exist in this ecosystem with the habitat that they have evolved to live in, and provide yet another reason why we need to preserve and restore the biodiversity hotspot. The animals include the numbat, the salamanderfish, the western swamp turtle, the quokka, and the noisy scrub-bird. 

The degraded ecosystems are being protected and restored in a variety of ways. One way is by legally protecting it, as 38,000 square kilometers of the land in Southwest Australia is. There are also a number of conservation programs and projects that currently operate in Southwest Australia. There are also programs that work to rejuvenate arid zone habitat for reintroduction of threatened native fauna. In general, the focus of the restoration is on protecting what is left of the biodiversity hotspot and making sure that the plants and animals that are in the hotspot are able to survive and live with each other and are not being unnecessarily affected by human intervention. 

In conclusion, Southwestern Australia is one of the many important biodiversity hotspots located around the world and needs to have protection in order to survive and allow the bountiful life within it to survive. With all of the ecosystem services that the area provides, as well as the immense beauty and knowledge that can come out of all of the life from the ecosystem, it should obviously be a top priority of preservation and conservation to keep this biodiversity hotspot safe and able to survive. We need all of the life that the ecosystem has to offer, and the life inside has the right to exist.

Work Cited 

conservation International. Map of Southwest Australia. Digital image. The Encyclopedia of Earth. The Encyclopedia of Earth, 22 Aug. 2008. Web. 8 Dec. 2014. ~Picture~

All other FACTS are protected under fair use.

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Conservation International. "Biological Diversity in Southwest Australia." Biological Diversity in Southwest Australia. Ed. Kevin J. Caley. The Encyclopedia of Earth, 22 Aug. 2008. Web. 09 Dec. 2014.

Conservation International. Map of Southwest Australia. Digital image. The Encyclopedia of Earth. The Encyclopedia of Earth, 22 Aug. 2008. Web. 8 Dec. 2014.

Gole, Cheryl. "WWF Conserves Our Planet, Habitats, & Species like the Panda & Tiger." World Wildlife Foundation. WWF Global, 9 Feb. 2009. Web. 09 Dec. 2014.