Skip to content
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
The 10 Australian ecosystems most vulnerable to tipping points
Biological Conservation, Volume 144, No. 5, Year 2011
Notification
URL copied to clipboard!
Description
We identify the 10 major terrestrial and marine ecosystems in Australia most vulnerable to tipping points, in which modest environmental changes can cause disproportionately large changes in ecosystem properties. To accomplish this we independently surveyed the coauthors of this paper to produce a list of candidate ecosystems, and then refined this list during a 2-day workshop. The list includes (1) elevationally restricted mountain ecosystems, (2) tropical savannas, (3) coastal floodplains and wetlands, (4) coral reefs, (5) drier rainforests, (6) wetlands and floodplains in the Murray-Darling Basin, (7) the Mediterranean ecosystems of southwestern Australia, (8) offshore islands, (9) temperate eucalypt forests, and (10) salt marshes and mangroves. Some of these ecosystems are vulnerable to widespread phase-changes that could fundamentally alter ecosystem properties such as habitat structure, species composition, fire regimes, or carbon storage. Others appear susceptible to major changes across only part of their geographic range, whereas yet others are susceptible to a large-scale decline of key biotic components, such as small mammals or stream-dwelling amphibians. For each ecosystem we consider the intrinsic features and external drivers that render it susceptible to tipping points, and identify subtypes of the ecosystem that we deem to be especially vulnerable. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.
Authors & Co-Authors
Laurance, William F.
Australia, Townsville
James Cook University
Dell, B.
Australia, Perth
Murdoch University
Lawes, Michael John
Australia, Darwin
Charles Darwin University
Hutley, Lindsay B.
Australia, Darwin
Charles Darwin University
McCallum, Hamish Ian
Australia, Brisbane
Griffith University
Dale, Pat E.R.
Australia, Brisbane
Griffith University
Bird, Michael I.
Australia, Townsville
James Cook University
Hardy, Giles E.St J.
Australia, Perth
Murdoch University
McMahon, Clive Reginald
Australia, Darwin
Charles Darwin University
Hero, Jean Marc
Australia, Brisbane
Griffith University
Schwarzkopf, Lin
Australia, Townsville
James Cook University
Douglas, Michael M.
Australia, Darwin
Charles Darwin University
Mahony, Michael Joseph
Australia, Callaghan
The University of Newcastle, Australia
Saikia, Udoy
Australia, Adelaide
Flinders University
Xu, Zhihong
Australia, Brisbane
Griffith University
Statistics
Citations: 188
Authors: 15
Affiliations: 7
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1016/j.biocon.2011.01.016
ISSN:
00063207
Research Areas
Environmental