Human History
European settlement of Southwestern Australia did not occur until the early 19th century. Agricultural expansion, grazing, and deforestation over the past century have had profound ecological effects and have fragmented the natural landscape. Introduced animal species such as rabbits, foxes, cats and ferrets have had a dramatic influence on the unique native biota of this…
Plant Diversity
The Southwestern Australia floristic region includes about 6800 species present, with large numbers of new species continuing to be described. Including species that extend slightly beyond the Southwestern Botanical Province into a transitional interzone, 79% of the flora has been considered to be endemic, but newer analyses are lowering this figure. Notable endemics include one…
Vertebrate Diversity
The vertebrate fauna of Australian MTEs shows no unusual level of high diversity of endemism. The majority of the fauna in these MTEs are populations of more typically arid or mesic habitat species whose ranges extend into Southwestern or South Australia. Thus, the majority of the vertebrates appear to have relatively broad ecological niches rather…
Landscape
Core mediterranean-climate conditions are present in southwestern Western Australia and in South Australia around Adelaide. The core Southwestern Floristic Province of Western Australia is about 302 x 103 km2 in area, similar in size to the California floristic province. A broader region with transitional rainfall patterns with biseasonal distribution is often included as well, almost…
Human History
A long history of human impacts on the natural landscape over thousands of years has strongly affected the environments of this region and has accelerated over the past century. Many of our Western cooking herbs such as rosemary, thyme, tarragon, sage, and oregano are native to the Mediterranean Basin. Most of the modern grape varieties…
Plant Diversity
The vascular plant flora of the Mediterranean Basin is estimated to include about 25,000 species (22,500 native species), making this region the richest among MTEs in total plant diversity. By comparison, the remaining portions of Europe without mediterranean-type climate regimes cover four times as much area but have only about 6000 vascular plant species. …