National Threatened Species Day 2006
National Threatened Species Day (NTSD) is held on 7 September each year. The theme for 2006 was "Building Resilience in Threatened Species and Their Habitats" and was focused on climate change impacts on threatened species and ecological communities.
The mountain pygmy possum is one of Australia's threatened species
© Linda Broome
Events were held nationally throughout September which was Biodiversity Month. Recipients of Round 9 of the TSN Community Grants were also announced on 7 September.
Factsheets
Climate change poses a major threat to many species in a range of different ways. Increased temperatures and decreased rainfall will cause many plants and animals to experience a shift or reduction in geographic range. Changes to seasons will affect breeding success. Rising sea levels will significantly alter or destroy vital coastal habitats such as mangroves, seagrass beds, coral reefs and beaches, and more frequent and intense wildfires have the potential to change the structure and composition of vegetation, change the timing of fruiting and seeding of plant species and change the availability of nesting and shelter sites for animals.
Species already threatened with extinction are likely to be even more vulnerable to the added pressure of climate change. More robust species such as weeds and feral animals will find new environments within which conditions are favourable to them. Ecosystems under stress from climatic changes will be more susceptible to invasion by pest species.
The following factsheets describe a number of threatened species, the impacts that climate change will have on their fight for survival and what you can do to help build these species’ resilience to the impacts of climate change.
Download Factsheets
- National: Building resilience for our species and ecosystems factsheet
- National: Green turtles and rising temperatures
- National: Migratory shorebirds and changed migration patterns
- NSW: Macquarie perch and reduced rainfall in the Murray-Darling Basin
- NT: Boronia viridiflora and changing fire patterns
- NT: Great desert skink and changing fire patterns
- QLD: Stream frogs of South East Queensland and rising temperatures
- SA: Australian sea lions and rising sea levels
- TAS: Menai cider gum and drought
- VIC: Mountain pygmy possum
- VIC: Alpine skink and reduced alpine habitat
- WA: Malleefowl and habitat fragmentation
If you would like to receive the NTSD Information Kit containing these factsheets and more please contact the Department of the Environment and Heritage Community Information Unit on free-call 1800 803 772.
