This Biodiversity Month, take time to learn about threatened species in Knox.
What is a threatened species?
Threatened species, refers to any species at risk of extinction in the near future. The various threats and drivers of each species population decline may vary. However, there are ways to help address the threats through ongoing care for biodiversity encouraging healthier habitats and more stable populations.
Why is it important to protect threatened species?
Some of our locally threatened species are beloved friends such as the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) or blue-billed duck (Oxyura australis). Others are small and colourful, or leafy and green such as the Yarra Gum (Eucalyptus yarraensis) and the Matted Flax-lily (Dianella amoena). Many are uncommon invertebrates or animals and plants that will become extinct before we can meet them.
All ecosystems operate on a delicate balance between species, the air, water and land. These relationships have formed over millennia and provide crucial services to better the lives of people and the environment. Whilst ecosystems and the critters within them have the ability to adapt and respond to disturbances such as changed fire regimes, development and urban pollution, the compounding and rapid change they experience in today’s world is leading to unprecedented loss in species and consequently environmental services.
What are some examples of threatening processes?
- Habitat loss and fragmentation
- Competition from introduced weedy plant and pest animal species into bushlands
How can you help?
Luckily, there are actions we all can take and decision we make to support our locally threatened species.
Get involved in citizen science
By recording the distribution, abundance or absence of local species you help inform conservation science, researchers and land managers about species health. This information can directly inform management practice, resourcing and funding to protect our species. This month join the September Biodiversity Blitz
Join Gardens for Wildlife
