A group of 38 leading scientists from 29 universities working across Australia and Antarctica has published a groundbreaking report describing 19 ecosystems in collapse because of human impact. It warns urgent action is necessary to prevent a total loss.
The authors detail the degradation of arid outback deserts, coral reefs, mangroves in the Gulf of Carpentaria, the Murray-Darling Basin’s waterways, tropical savanna, and forests stretching from Gondwana-era conifers in Tasmania to the rainforests of the far north. The list of damaged ecosystems extends from Australia to moss beds in the east Antarctic to the subantarctic tundra of world heritage-listed Macquarie Island.
According to Dr. Dana Bergstrom, the study’s lead author from the Australian Antarctic Division, all but one (19 out of 20) of the ecosystems examined were found to have a low likelihood of recovery. They are experiencing potentially irreversible environmental changes – such as loss of species and losing the ability to perform vital functions like pollination – and are heading toward permanent collapse. The one exception, only because it has been damaged to a lesser extent, was the subtropical rainforests of coastal New South Wales.
Bergstrom said:
None of the 19 ecosystems has yet collapsed across its entire range, but for all case studies, there is documented evidence of ecosystem collapse in some areas. Urgent action will be essential to prevent the loss of any of these ecosystems in their entirety.
The ecosystems are collapsing because they’re experiencing multiple pressures simultaneously. Many pressures are chronic, such as habitat loss, invasive species, and rising average temperatures linked to the climate crisis. Others are acute short-term events exacerbated by global warmings, such as fires, heatwaves, and storms.
Bergstrom told the Guardian Australia:
People talk about climate change as something in the future. Climate change is here, and collapse is coming. But we have the ability, and we have the skills. We need the willpower to make it happen. Protecting these iconic ecosystems is not just for the animals and plants that live there. Our economic livelihoods, and ultimately our survival, are intimately connected to the natural world.
The report paints a dire and sobering picture, but it also delivers a key message: action now could still make a difference.
The scientists recommend a new framework that involves a greater awareness of ecosystems’ value, better planning to anticipate risks, and swift action to reduce them. For example, Victoria’s alpine ash forests were hit by fires so frequently that they didn’t have enough time to produce seeds, so scientists began planting hybrid species that may cope better in such conditions.
Prof Euan Ritchie, one of the authors from Deakin University, said:
Improving fire management [and] feral animal and weed control are easily achievable steps we can take to protect this ecosystem and its remarkable and unique species, which also have significant cultural and economic value. While the idea that nature will take its own course is still pervasive, it was now time to actually interfere with nature because we’re losing too much if we don’t.
Unfortunately, the government is slow to act. An alliance of over 70 conservation, land management, and farming organizations pitched a $4bn plan to help repair the natural environment last year. Its strategy could even create 53,000 jobs and boost regional economies in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. However, the government hasn’t adopted its suggestions, albeit expressing interest in the report.
