The Queensland tropical rain forests ecoregion (WWF ID: AA0117) covers a portion of the coast of

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

in northeastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

and belongs to the

Australasian realm The Australasian realm is a biogeographic realm that is coincident with, but not (by some definitions) the same as, the geographical region of Australasia. The realm includes Australia, the island of New Guinea (comprising Papua New Guinea and th ...

. The forest contains the world's best living record of the major stages in the evolutionary history of the world's land plants, including most of the world's relict species of plants from the ancient supercontinent of

Gondwana Gondwana () was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final sta ...

. The history of the evolution of marsupials and songbirds is also well represented.

Location and description

The ecoregion covers of northeastern coastal Queensland, from the coast up a series of plateaus and tablelands to the mountains behind the coast. The ecoregion comprises three separate sections. The northern area, which includes

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

, is the largest, from 15°30’ to 19°25’ south latitude. This northern section is also known as the

Wet Tropics The Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Site consists of approximately 8,940 km2 of Australian wet tropical forests growing along the north-east Queensland portion of the Great Dividing Range. The Wet Tropics of Queensland meets all f ...

bioregion, and is just east of the Einasleigh Uplands. The middle section is centered on

Mackay, Queensland } Mackay () is a city in the Mackay Region on the eastern or Coral Sea coast of Queensland, Australia. It is located about north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River. Mackay is described as being in either Central Queensland or North Queensla ...

, and the southern section is just south of

Shoalwater Bay Shoalwater Bay is a large bay on the Capricorn Coast of Central Queensland, Australia 100 km north of the coastal town of Yeppoon and 628 km north-north-west of the state capital, Brisbane. Since 1966, the land surrounding Shoalwater Ba ...

. These latter two sections are bounded on the west by the Brigalow tropical savanna ecoregion. Elevations in the ecoregion rise from sea level to 1,477 meters, with a mean of 301 meters.

Climate

The climate of the ecoregion is a borderline tropical rainforest climate (Af) and '' Dry-winter humid subtropical climate'' (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

(Cwa)). The latter climate is characterized as having no month averaging below , at least one month averaging above , and four months averaging over . Precipitation in the wet summer months is ten time or more the average of the winter months. In this particular ecoregion, annual precipitation is highly variable, with annual averages between 1,200 and 8,000 mm. The rainy season is November to April.

Flora and fauna

The Queensland tropical rain forests are designated one of the

Global 200 The Global 200 is the list of ecoregions identified by the World Wide Fund for Nature ( WWF), the global conservation organization, as priorities for conservation. According to WWF, an ecoregion is defined as a "relatively large unit of land or w ...

ecoregions. The ecoregion is the largest remnant of Australia's rain forest flora, home to ancient assemblage of plants, called the

Antarctic flora Antarctic flora are a distinct community of vascular plants which evolved millions of years ago on the supercontinent of Gondwana. Presently, species of Antarctica flora reside on several now separated areas of the Southern Hemisphere, includin ...

, presently characteristic of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

and southern

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

. Fossil pollen records indicate closed forest covered most of Australia between 50 and 100 million years ago. These forests represent the closest living remnant of the vegetation type from which all of Australia's unique vegetation developed. The vegetation remained across Australia and Antarctica until about 15 million years ago. Josephine-Falls2

Currently, about 65% of the ecoregion is closed forest of broadleaf evergreens. Conifers of the southern hemisphere family

Araucariaceae Araucariaceae – also known as araucarians – is an extremely ancient family of coniferous trees. The family achieved its maximum diversity during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods and the early Cenozoic, when it was distributed almost worldw ...

are the characteristic tree species. In the northern section of the ecoregion, Kauri commonly form the forest canopy, with '' Agathis robusta'' most common at lower elevations, and ''A. microstachya'' and ''A. atropurpurea'' predominant at higher elevations. In the southern sections, '' Araucaria cunninghamii'' is predominant, with ''

Araucaria bidwillii ''Araucaria bidwillii'', commonly known as the bunya pine and sometimes referred to as the false monkey puzzle tree, is a large evergreen coniferous tree in the plant family Araucariaceae. It is found naturally in south-east Queensland Aust ...

'' dominant in two small areas. Conifers in the family

Podocarpaceae Podocarpaceae is a large family of mainly Southern Hemisphere conifers, known in English as podocarps, comprising about 156 species of evergreen trees and shrubs.James E. Eckenwalder. 2009. ''Conifers of the World''. Portland, Oregon: Timber P ...

are also present, including genera ''

Podocarpus ''Podocarpus'' () is a genus of conifers, the most numerous and widely distributed of the podocarp family, the Podocarpaceae. The name comes from Greek πούς (poús, “foot”) + καρπός (karpós, “fruit”). ''Podocarpus'' species ...

'' and '' Sundacarpus''. The forests are thick with vines,

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes exce ...

epiphyte An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

s, and

palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae **List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm (ba ...

s. These forests are limited to areas of high rainfall and good soils. In waterlogged soils, the rainforest flora gives way to ''

Melaleuca ''Melaleuca'' () is a genus of nearly 300 species of plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, commonly known as paperbarks, honey-myrtles or tea-trees (although the last name is also applied to species of ''Leptospermum''). They range in size f ...

'' thickets, and on poor soils and in drier areas ''

Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as ...

'' becomes dominant. The rainforest flora is intolerant of fire, and where periods of drought have allowed devastating fires, the rainforest flora has retreated, allowing fire-tolerant ''Eucalyptus'' to become established. If a relatively wet period persists, the rainforest flora may reestablish itself. It is thought that the land management practices of the aboriginal Australians, which involve setting regular fires to keep the eucalyptus woodlands open, may have encouraged the expansion of eucalyptus forests at the expense of the rainforest flora. These rainforests seem to have retreated considerably since the arrival of the aboriginals' ancestors 50,000 years ago, and are presently limited to isolated pockets comprising less than 2% of the continent's area. Jeune casoar

Animal biodiversity is high, also. 672 species of terrestrial vertebrates have been recorded in the ecoregion, 370 species of birds, 70 species of reptile, and 78 species of freshwater fish (of Australia's total of 180 fish species). 11% of the vertebrates are endemic to the region, and 22% of the reptiles. Most of the endemic species live about 400 meters in the rainforest.

Conservation

These forests are particularly interesting because of their southern location and the high degree of endemism of their plant and animal species.

Deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated ...

caused by logging, road building and farming has led to

habitat fragmentation Habitat fragmentation describes the emergence of discontinuities (fragmentation) in an organism's preferred environment (habitat), causing population fragmentation and ecosystem decay. Causes of habitat fragmentation include geological process ...

and diminishing populations of species such as spotted-tailed quoll ''( Dasyurus maculatus)'', cassowary ''( Casuarius casuarius)'', and ring-tail possum ''( Hemibelideus lemuroides)''.

Introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...

also pose a serious threat to many native species. In an effort to preserve the Daintree Rainforest north of the Daintree River it was decided by the Government of Queensland in 1993 to halt the spread of the electricity network north of that point, providing a limit to tourist development. Protected areas include the following: * Homevale National Park *

Eungella National Park Eungella National Park ( ; meaning "Land of the clouds") is a protected area in Queensland, Australia. It is on the Clarke Range at the end of the Pioneer Valley 80 km west of Mackay, and 858 km northwest of Brisbane. Eung ...

* Dryander National Park * Conway National Park * Whitsunday Islands National Park *

Paluma Range National Park Paluma Range is a national park located between Ingham and Townsville, in north Queensland, Australia. The park is 1188 km north of Brisbane. Geography The park contains the Jourama Falls, Crystal Creek and Lake Paluma. Ecology Most of ...

* Halifax Bay Wetlands National Park *

Hinchinbrook Island National Park Hinchinbrook Island National Park is Australia's largest island national park. It is situated along the Cassowary Coast Queensland, Australia. The nearest capital city is Brisbane approximately 1,240 kms to the south. Lucinda is 135 ...

Girramay National Park Girramay is a national park in Queensland, Australia, 1269 km northwest of Brisbane. The national park is part of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. The park protects part of the coastline between the mouths of the Tully River and Meun ...

Girringun National Park Girringun National Park is a national park in Queensland, Australia, approximately southwest of Ingham, north of Townsville and northwest of Brisbane. The park is one of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area series of national parks, and is ...

* Hull River National Park * Kurrimine Beach National Park *

Eubenangee Swamp National Park Eubenangee Swamp is a national park in Eubenangee in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, 1332 km northwest of Brisbane. It is part of the Coastal Wet Tropics Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International becaus ...

* Ella Bay National Park * Wooroonooran National Park *

Barron Gorge National Park Barron Gorge National Park is a protected area in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. It is predominantly within the locality of Barron Gorge. Geography The park is 1,404 km northwest of Brisbane and from Kuranda. Barron Gorge ...

Daintree National Park The Daintree rainforest is a national park in Far North Queensland, Australia, northwest of Brisbane and northwest of Cairns. It was founded in 1981 and is part of the Wet Tropics of Queensland. In 1988 it became a World Heritage Site. The pa ...

Cedar Bay National Park Ngalba Bulal is a national park in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. In 2015, Cedar Bay National Park became the Mangkalba (Cedar Bay) section of the Ngalba Bulal National Park. Geography The park is northwest of Brisbane, south ...

Kalkajaka National Park Kalkajaka National Park is a protected area in Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia.Accessed 24 February 2009 United Nations University's Media Studio's (2008) video brief including Kuku Nyunkal woman (Marilyn Wallace) visiting KalkajakaAccess ...

Tourism

The forests, together with the Great Barrier Reef, have been identified and promoted as a major tourist attraction of Tropical North Queensland, one of five within the state. One of the most significant tourist attractions in the rain forests is the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway.

References