Talk:Wet Tropics of Queensland

To include

I have come across at least two articles mentioning that several endemic species are monotypic. This needs to be covered. Also the area has been geologically stable for a long period partially leading to its extensive evolutionary history. We should also mention frogs, possibly soil types and expand the environmental threats section with details and more on the human impact on non-protected areas. - Shiftchange (talk) 01:30, 24 March 2013 (UTC)

Yes yes yes. We can do all that and more – Many locally endemic species, genera and even families, eg. Austrobaileyaceae and Idiospermaceae (/Calycanthaceae). Many monotypic genera and even families, grow in the Wet Tropics region; i mean in the biogeographic region, and now officially part of the global biodiversity hotspot region (larger area, again) (– not talking about only the decided, political boundaries of the world heritage wet tropics area).

A key quotation of one of the current, overview, documentation sources:

   Queensland’s Wet Tropics itself is a mega-diverse region and is represented on The Global 200 list (Olson et al. 2000), which is a collection of the Earth’s 200 most outstanding, important and diverse terrestrial, freshwater and marine habitats. Although representing only 0.013% of the earth’s land surface (Geoscience Australia 2009), the Wet Tropics, for its size, makes a significant contribution to global biodiversity. The high level of regional endemism increases this relative contribution with vascular plants contributing 1.7% of the world total, mammals 2.5%, birds 3.4% and amphibians 1.1%. The Wet Tropics contains the richest variety of animals and plants in the country, including two-thirds of the butterfly species, half of the birds and a third of the mammals (Table 17.3). A very high proportion of the fauna and flora is endemic to the Wet Tropics (Commonwealth of Australia 1986) and includes 70 vertebrate species. More than 400 plant and 76 animal species are officially listed as rare, vulnerable or endangered (WTMA 1999). The Wet Tropics also provides an unparalleled living record of the ecological and evolutionary processes that shaped the flora and fauna of Australia over the past 400 million years when it was first part of the Pangaean landmass and then, later, the ancient Gondwana continent. For example, the rainforests of the Wet Tropics have more plant taxa with primitive characteristics than any other area on Earth. Metcalfe and Ford (2009) calculate that the Wet Tropics flora (both rainforest and non-rainforest habitats of the bioregion) contain 4,035 spp. in 1,369 genera in an area of 20,000 km2, which compares favourably with that of New Caledonia (2,422 spp., 19,000 km2) and Costa Rica (5,250 spp., 51,000 km2). Based on a modern phylogeny, they calculate that of the 28 near-basal angiosperm lineages, 16 have representatives extant in the bioregion. This is similar for the floras of New Caledonia and Costa Rica. One primitive family, Austrobaileyaceae, is found only in the Wet Tropics.

   The Wet Tropics bioregion covers approximately two million hectares and includes the entire WTWHA (894,420 ha). Although the rainforests of Queensland’s Wet Tropics are small in size compared to the rainforests of other parts of the world, the WHA covers such a high proportion of the rainforested area that it ranks high in size amongst other rainforest WHA (Table 17.4).

   Until the 1970s, it was thought that rainforests were “alien” to the Australian landscape, while sclerophyll types of vegetation, such as eucalypts and acacias, were considered quintessentially Australian. Rainforests were considered to be recent invaders across the land bridge that, in fairly recent geological times, connected Australia with New Guinea. Ecological, biogeographical and taxonomic research, however, gradually provided evidence that radically changed this view (Webb 1959; Webb and Tracey 1981; Webb et al. 1976, 1984). It was not just that rainforests had evidently adapted themselves to various climatic conditions (tropical, monsoonal, sub-tropical and temperate) which bore witness to longer local habitation than was commonly believed. It was other irrefutable evidence, such as the discovery of many families of primitive ancient angiosperms in the Wet Tropics, that confirmed these rainforest ecosystems as among the oldest rainforests on Earth. Although many of these elements also occur in New Caledonia and to a smaller extent in New Guinea, the Wet Tropics also displays a co-evolution with related sclerophyll floras and faunas.

   The varied topography of the Wet Tropics and its effect on rainfall is the reason behind the region’s high biodiversity.

— Stork et. al., Status and Threats in the Dynamic Landscapes of Northern Australia’s Tropical Rainforest Biodiversity Hotspot: The Wet Tropics

— Stork, Nigel E.; Goosem, Steve; Turton, Stephen M.; Habel, Jan Christian (2011). "Status and Threats in the Dynamic Landscapes of Northern Australia's Tropical Rainforest Biodiversity Hotspot: The Wet Tropics". In Zachos, Frank E. (ed.). Biodiversity Hotspots. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. pp. 311–332. ISBN 978-3-642-20991-8, 978-3-642-20992-5. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help); External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)

So, i am now reading the full text of this journal paper, and we will see if anything new on the plants subject comes from it:

• Metcalfe, D. J.; Ford, Andrew J. (2009). "A re-evaluation of Queensland's Wet Tropics based on primitive plants". Pacific Conservation Biology. (Available, freely, online, in the Informit Database via membership login of the National Library of Australia). 15 (2). Surrey Beatty and sons: 80–86. Retrieved 24 Mar 2013.

——--macropneuma 05:34, 24 March 2013 (UTC)

A freely available, simpler summary was written of: the great above Metcalfe and Ford paper—i’ve fully read it now, the chapter above it with the quotation and a scientific paper on the animals—

for the Wet Tropics Management Agency’s web site, here:

→ http://wettropics.gov.au/endemic-species ——--macropneuma 06:02, 7 April 2013 (UTC)

Assessment comment

The comment(s) below were originally left at Talk:Wet Tropics of Queensland/Comments, and are posted here for posterity. Following several discussions in past years, these subpages are now deprecated. The comments may be irrelevant or outdated; if so, please feel free to remove this section.

The article currently defines itself. States nothing of its historical, geographical or environmental significance. Needs perhaps a summary of terrain, fauna and when it was commissioned. MyNameIsNotBob 07:25, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

Last edited at 07:25, 28 August 2006 (UTC). Substituted at 10:28, 30 April 2016 (UTC)

Bat

This is the previous description of a bat found here:
"Australia's rarest mammal, the tube nosed insectivorous murina florious bat,..."
I think that what this is referring to is the Flores tube-nosed bat aka the flute-nosed bat, Murina florium, so have changed the text to that. I can't find any source however for this being "Australia's rarest mammal". Any better-informed / sourced comments very welcome either on the bat species or on its rarity.Ingratis (talk) 13:14, 26 July 2019 (UTC)

I think its time to remove the statement, as there has been no support forthcoming. Additionally, I've just done some searches and found this 2014 article from Australian Geographic which contains a list of Australia's 10 most critically endangered animals, citing the IUCN and the EPBC. It doesn't mention Murina florium.  Junglenut |Talk  00:27, 25 March 2023 (UTC)