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Southport Island
Southport Island, with the adjacent Southport Reef, is a 7 ha island in south-eastern Australia. It is part of the Actaeon Island Group, lying close to the south-eastern coast of Tasmania, at the southern entrance to the D'Entrecasteaux Channel between Bruny Island and the mainland.Brothers, Nigel; Pemberton, David; Pryor, Helen; & Halley, Vanessa. (2001). ''Tasmania’s Offshore Islands: seabirds and other natural features''. Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery: Hobart. Flora and fauna The principal vegetation community is coastal heath, dominated by ''Acacia'', ''Banksia'', ''Leptospermum'', ''Melaleuca'' and ''Westringia'' species. Blackberry is a problem weed. The island is being used as a translocation site for the endangered heath '' Epacris stuartii'', which is threatened in its nearby natural habitat by cinnamon fungus. Recorded breeding seabird species are the little penguin, short-tailed shearwater, silver gull and crested tern. The metallic skink :''"Metallic s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hectare
The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is about and one hectare contains about . In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the ''are'' was defined as 100 square metres, or one square decametre, and the hectare ("hecto-" + "are") was thus 100 ''ares'' or km2 (10,000 square metres). When the metric system was further rationalised in 1960, resulting in the International System of Units (), the ''are'' was not included as a recognised unit. The hectare, however, remains as a non-SI unit accepted for use with the SI and whose use is "expected to continue indefinitely". Though the dekare/decare daa (1,000 m2) and are (100 m2) are not officially "accepted for use", they are still used in some contexts. Description The hectare (), although not a unit of SI, i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blackberry
The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by many species in the genus ''Rubus'' in the family Rosaceae, hybrids among these species within the subgenus ''Rubus'', and hybrids between the subgenera ''Rubus'' and ''Idaeobatus''. The taxonomy of blackberries has historically been confused because of hybridization and apomixis, so that species have often been grouped together and called species aggregates. For example, the entire subgenus ''Rubus'' has been called the ''Rubus fruticosus'' aggregate, although the species ''R. fruticosus'' is considered a synonym of '' R. plicatus''. ''Rubus armeniacus'' ("Himalayan" blackberry) is considered a noxious weed and invasive species in many regions of the Pacific Northwest of Canada and the United States, where it grows out of control in urban and suburban parks and woodlands. Description What distinguishes the blackberry from its raspberry relatives is whether or not the torus ( receptacle or stem) "picks with" (i.e., stays with) th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crested Tern
The greater crested tern Retrieved 28 February 2012 (''Thalasseus bergii''), also called crested tern or swift tern, is a tern in the family Laridae that nests in dense colonies on coastlines and islands in the tropical and subtropical Old World. Its five subspecies breed in the area from South Africa around the Indian Ocean to the central Pacific and Australia, all populations dispersing widely from the breeding range after nesting. This large tern is closely related to the royal and lesser crested terns, but can be distinguished by its size and bill colour. The greater crested tern has grey upperparts, white underparts, a yellow bill, and a shaggy black crest that recedes in winter. Its young have a distinctive appearance, with strongly patterned grey, brown and white plumage, and rely on their parents for food for several months after they have fledged. Like all members of the genus ''Thalasseus'', the greater crested tern feeds by plunge diving for fish, usually in marine en ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silver Gull
The silver gull (''Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae'') is the most common gull of Australia. It has been found throughout the continent, but particularly at or near coastal areas. It is smaller than the Pacific gull (''Larus pacificus''), which also lives in Australia. The silver gull should not be confused with the herring gull, which is called "silver gull" in many other languages (scientific name ''Larus argentatus'', German ''Silbermöwe'', French ''Goéland argenté'', Dutch ''zilvermeeuw''), but is a much larger, robust gull with no overlap in range. Taxonomy It has traditionally been placed in the genus ''Larus'', as is the case with many gulls, but is now placed in the genus ''Chroicocephalus''. Hartlaub's gull (''C. hartlaubii'') of South Africa was formerly sometimes considered to be subspecies of the silver gull. There are three subspecies: * ''C. n. forsteri'' ( Mathews, 1912) – north and northeast Australia, New Caledonia, Loyalty Islands * ''C. n. novaehollan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Short-tailed Shearwater
The short-tailed shearwater or slender-billed shearwater (''Ardenna tenuirostris''; formerly ''Puffinus tenuirostris''), also called yolla or moonbird, and commonly known as the muttonbird in Australia, is the most abundant seabird species in Australian waters, and is one of the few Australian native birds in which the chicks are commercially harvested. It is a migratory species that breeds mainly on small islands in Bass Strait and Tasmania and migrates to the Northern Hemisphere for the boreal summer. Taxonomy This shearwater appears to be related to the sooty and great shearwaters, which are also blunt-tailed, black-billed species, but its precise relationships are obscure (Austin, 1996; Austin ''et al.'', 2004). These are among the larger species of shearwater, which have been moved to a separate genus, ''Ardenna'' based on a phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA (Penhallurick & Wink, 2004). Ecology Each parent feeds the single chick for 2–3 days and then leaves for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Little Penguin
The little penguin (''Eudyptula minor'') is a species of penguin from New Zealand. They are commonly known as little blue penguins or blue penguins owing to their slate-blue plumage and are also known by their Māori name . The Australian little penguin (''Eudyptula novaehollandiae'') from Australia and the Otago region of New Zealand is considered a separate species by a 2016 study and a 2019 study. Taxonomy The little penguin was first described by German naturalist Johann Reinhold Forster in 1781. Several subspecies are known, but a precise classification of these is still a matter of dispute. The holotypes of the subspecies ''E. m. variabilis'' and ''Eudyptula minor chathamensis'' are in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. The white-flippered penguin (''E. m. albosignata'' or ''E. m. minor morpha albosignata'') is currently considered by most taxonomists to be a colour morph or subspecies of ''Eudyptula minor.'' In 2008, Shirihai treated th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seabird
Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations. The first seabirds evolved in the Cretaceous period, and modern seabird families emerged in the Paleogene. In general, seabirds live longer, breed later and have fewer young than other birds do, but they invest a great deal of time in their young. Most species nest in colonies, which can vary in size from a few dozen birds to millions. Many species are famous for undertaking long annual migrations, crossing the equator or circumnavigating the Earth in some cases. They feed both at the ocean's surface and below it, and even feed on each other. Seabirds can be highly pelagic, coastal, or in some cases spend a part of the year away from the sea entirely. Seabirds and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phytophthora Cinnamomi
''Phytophthora cinnamomi'' is a soil-borne water mould that produces an infection which causes a condition in plants variously called "root rot", "dieback", or (in certain '' Castanea'' species), "ink disease". The plant pathogen is one of the world's most invasive species and is present in over 70 countries around the world. Host range and symptoms The host range for ''Phytophythora cinnamomi'' is very broad. It is distributed worldwide and causes disease on hundreds of hosts. The disease affects a range of economic groups, including food crops such as avocado and pineapple as well as trees and woody ornamentals such as Fraser firs, shortleaf pines, loblolly pines, azaleas, camellia, boxwood, causing root rot and dieback. It is a root pathogen that causes root rot and death of host plants. Some symptoms include: wilting, decreased fruit size, decrease in yield, collar rot, gum exudation, necrosis, leaf chlorosis, leaf curl, and stem cankers. Another symptom is that it can cause ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epacris Stuartii
''Epacris stuartii'' is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to Tasmania. It was first formally described in 1910 by Otto Stapf and the description was published in the ''Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information''. References stuartii Ericales of Australia Flora of Tasmania Plants described in 1910 Taxa named by Otto Stapf {{Australia-eudicot-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epacris
''Epacris'' is a genus of about forty species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. It was formerly treated in a closely related but separate family Epacridaceae, but the various genera within Epacridaceae including ''Epacris'' have been revised in their relationships to each other and brought under the common umbrella of the Ericaceae. The genus ''Epacris'' is native to eastern and southeastern Australia (southeast Queensland south to Tasmania and west to southeast South Australia), New Caledonia and New Zealand. The species are known as heaths or Australian heaths. Description Plants in the genus ''Epacris'' are shrubs with simple leaves that are a similar colour on both surfaces and with flowers arranged singly in leaf axils near the ends of the branches, sometimes extending along the branches. Each flower is surrounded by many bracts and five, usually glabrous sepals. The petals are joined to produce a cylindrical or bell-like tube with five lobes on the end. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Invasive Species
An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native species that become harmful to their native environment after human alterations to its food webfor example the purple sea urchin (''Strongylocentrotus purpuratus'') which has decimated kelp forests along the northern California coast due to overharvesting of its natural predator, the California sea otter (''Enhydra lutris''). Since the 20th century, invasive species have become a serious economic, social, and environmental threat. Invasion of long-established ecosystems by organisms is a natural phenomenon, but human-facilitated introductions have greatly increased the rate, scale, and geographic range of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Westringia
''Westringia'' is a genus of Australian shrubs. As with other members of the mint family their upper petal (or lip) is divided into two lobes. There are four stamens - the upper two are fertile while the lower two are reduced to staminodes. The leaves are in whorls of 3 or 4.Guerin, G.R. (2009). A revision of ''Westringia'' section ''Cephalowestringia'' (Lamiaceae: Westringieae). Australian Systematic Botany 22: 121-136. Distribution ''Westringia'' has been found in the wild in all 6 states of Australia, as well as on Norfolk Island, but not in the Northern Territory. Species list The following is a list of the species of ''Westringia'' described and recognised by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families at Kew Gardens *'' Westringia acifolia'' G.R.Guerin (W.A.) *'' Westringia amabilis'' B.Boivin (N.S.W., Qld.) *'' Westringia angustifolia'' R.Br. - scabrous westringia (Tas.) *'' Westringia blakeana'' B.Boivin - Blake's mint-bush *'' Westringia brevifolia'' Benth. - gre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
