Northern Futures: Threats and Opportunities for Freshwater Ecosystems

摘要: [Extract] The absence of extensive broad-scale intensive agriculture across northern Australia has left a vast area tropical savanna largely intact. With less than 5% the region having undergone landscape transformation, most catchment vegetation and associated riparian zones remain uncleared (although in cases modified by weeds, changed fire regimes, feral animals cattle grazing). unregulated river conditions ensure important ecological connections are maintained between catchment, river, fioodplain estuary (Chapter 3; Douglas et al. 2005). Overall, these systems considered to be biologically diverse "healthy" aquatic ecosystems (NLWRA 2002, Australian Tropical Rivers Group 2004). This was one few larger regions world identified Vorosmarty al (2010) have low level threat from both human biodiversity perspective. rivers represent highest concentration free-fiowing (Australian 2004), with only 23 water storages capacity greater 1 GL entire (Cresswell 2009).