Species Diversity
The flora and Fauna are very diverse in this biome itself, they represent the Earth's evolutionary history(Hewett).
- The ages represented in this area are:
- Age of Pteridophytes
- This era started some 500 million years ago.
- Examples of some of the species are:
- Huperzia
- Selaginella
- Ribbon Ferns
- King Ferns
- This era produced the first producers, algae and fungi (Hewett).
- Age of the Conifers and Cycad
- The plants evolved with tougher and long lasting leaves, the plants also had new reproductive strategies.
- Species in this era:
- Brown Pine Podocarpus
- Kauri Pine Agathis Robusta(Hewett).
- Age of Angiosperms
- Has all of the eras:
- Mesozoic Era
- Triassic Era
- Jurasic Era
- Cretaceous Era
- “ Daintree Rainforest contains the richest assemblage and highest concentrations of ancient flowering plant families on earth. ”
- Primitive flowering plant families in the Daintree are:
- Austrobaileyaceae
- Idiospermaceae(Hewett).
- Has all of the eras:
- Age of Pteridophytes
All types of animals live here from Birds to the itty, bitty insects.
- Birds:
- Southern Cassowary
- A large species of flightless birds. The Cassowaries are located in the Aru Islands, live in North-eastern Australia, live in the dense tropical region in New-Guinea and the surrounding islands, and in the Australo-Papuan region. These species can run more than 30 mph. Two of the distinctive features between females and males are body size and how brightly colored the feathers are. Due to deforestation the animals are endangered. (Cassowary. 2011, February 18). The Southern Cassowary forage for fruits and small animals. (Cassowary. 2016).
- Southern Cassowary
- Reptiles:
- Estuarine Crocidiles
- The scientific name is Crocodylus porosus. The diet of the Estuarine crocodile is very unpredictable because they eat about anything they can get their jaws on. They are located in the freshwater regions of eastern India, Southeast Asia, northern Australia. (Saltwater Crocodile).
- Estuarine Crocidiles
- Mammals:
- Platypus
- They are located on the eastern part of Australia. They are distributed in the waterways of the eastern part of Australia. The diet contains most of the bottom-dwelling invertebrates. They occasionally eat: insect, fish, and frog (Musser, A. M.).
- Platypus
- Frogs and Fishes:
- Frogs:
- Cane Toad:
- Are large and stocky amphibians and they are native to the Southern United States, Central America, and tropical South America. They are known to excreate powerful toxins that harm other animals. The Cane Toad was introduced into Australia, in 1935. They were introduced in Australia to kill the bettles in the sugar cane fields. Instead that didn't work out well and now they kill the other animals too, with toxins(Cane Toads).
- Cane Toad:
- Fishes:
- Barramundi:
- Are mostly distributed from the Persian Gulf to Northern Australian coast. Another name of this fish is the Asian Seabass. This fish is edible and is popular in this area. Also the last thing is that this fish is distributed in the Daintree Rainforest area abundantly.
- Barramundi:
- Frogs:
- Insects:
- Hercules Moth:
- The scientific name is Coscinocera hercules. The common names are Hercules Moth and Atlas Moth. These moths are known to have the largest wingspans in the world between the other species of moths. A female moth's wingspan is 27 cm and a male moth's wingspan is 20 cm. Hercules moths are found resting upon the trees in the rainforest. Their diet consist of a number of plants, but they particularly prefer to eat the plants: Bleeding Heart and Cheese tree. (Coscinocera hercules, 2015).
- Hercules Moth:
Ecosystem Diversity
The Daintree Rainforest has a lot of different features in the ecosystem. The area is known to be a Wet Tropics area(Hewett).
- The ecosystem has diversity:
- Waterfalls
- Milla Milla Falls(Mila Mila Falls - Picture of Barefoot Tours, Cairns).
- Mountains(Thornton's Peak)
- Thortonton's peak is known as the wettest point of Australia(Hewett).
- Luscious Vegetation
- The whole rainforest has luscious vegitation, and a unique plant system(Hewett).
- The Great Barrier Reef
- A small portion of the Great Barrier Reef is a part of this ecosystem, this part is located on the coast.
- Beaches
- There are beaches present, such as the Myall Beach(Rainforest, Reef, Rivers and Beaches).
- Waterfalls
Threats to Biodivesity
This Rainforest is a very unique, with endangered species. There are many threats to this diffrent biodiversity. The three main threats that to biodiversity are habitat destruction, invasive species, and human population growth.
- Habitat destruction
- Rural residential development has led to having the trees cut down in the rainforest.
- Habitat Fragmentation( is the process by which habitat loss results in the division of large, continuous habitats into smaller, more isolated remnants), for rural residential development and clearing of the farms has led to where plants and animals are losing land(Threats to Daintree Lowland Rainforest).
- Invasive species
- The Feral animals are harming the unique animals and plants.
- The Dingos
- This species is known as Australia's wild dog and they are not native to this area(Dingo)
- They always harrass the Southern Cassowary in this ecosystem. (Endangered southern cassowary).
- The Dingoes have hurt the ecosystem in a really bad way.
- The Dingos
- The Feral animals are harming the unique animals and plants.
- Human population growth
- The Daintree is being harmed with rural residential population growth.
- The rural residential growth and habitat fragmentation has led to a bigger problem(Threats to Daintree Lowland Rainforest).
- The Daintree is being harmed with rural residential population growth.
Ecological Restoration
There are someways that the Daintree Rainforest is improving from the threats introduced above. The three ways that the rainforest is recovering is by revegetation of distured areas, reforestation, and there are different habitat improvements.
- Revegetation of distrubed areas
- Revegetation occured along the Daintree river, the river's flood banks are vital for the minimizing sediment run-off onto the river and the downstream to the reef.
- This is leaving a positive impact for the rainforest and the reef along the river(Daintree River Revegetation Project).
- Revegetation is defined as by revegating the area, by planting mixes of species and using treatments that would allow for successful vegetation to occur(2H – Revegetation of Disturbed Areas).
- Revegetation occured along the Daintree river, the river's flood banks are vital for the minimizing sediment run-off onto the river and the downstream to the reef.
- Reforestation
- Along the Daintree river, the area they revegetated was also reforested with about 500 trees.
- From assessing this area, they figured out that they need to add 500 trees for this area to restore.
- The planting was completed in June of 2016.
- The reforestation occurred along the flood bank areas of the Daintree river(Daintree River Revegetation Project).
- Removal of non-native species
- The Dingoes are a major problem for the Daintree biome, because they are harassing the Southern Cassowaries. They are also known as the predator so, they are hunting the species within the biome(Endangered southern cassowary).
Sources in APA format:
- 2H – Revegetation of Disturbed Areas. (n.d.). Retrieved January 09, 2017, from http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/nps/encyclopedia/2h_reveg_distrbd.shtml
- Cassowary. (2011, February 18). Retrieved October 01, 2016, from http://true-wildlife.blogspot.com/2011/02/cassowary_18.html
- Cassowary. (2016). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://school.eb.com.scsl.idm.oclc.org/levels/high/article/20674
- Cane Toads. (n.d.). Retrieved January 03, 2017, from http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/amphibians/cane-toad/
- Coscinocera Hercules. (2015). Retrieved October 09, 2016, from https://www.jcu.edu.au/discover-nature-at-jcu/animals/butterflies-and-moths-by-scientific-name/coscinocera-hercules
- Daintree River Revegetation Project. (2016, June & july). Retrieved December 29, 2016, from http://www.rainforestrescue.org.au/news/47/daintree-river-revegetation-project
- Dingo | National Geographic. Retrieved October 09, 2016, from http://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/d/dingo/
- Endangered southern cassowary. (2014). Retrieved October 09, 2016, from https://www.rainforestrescue.org.au/page/103/endangered-southern-cassowary
- Hewett. (n.d.). World Heritage - Daintree Rainforest. Retrieved December 28, 2016, from http://www.daintreerainforest.net.au/world-heritage/
- Mariculture in Australia. (n.d.). Retrieved January 03, 2017, from http://www.mesa.edu.au/aquaculture/aquaculture08.asp
- Mila Mila Falls - Picture of Barefoot Tours, Cairns. (n.d.). Retrieved January 09, 2017, from https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g255069-d1880273-i174188799-Barefoot_Tours-Cairns_Cairns_Region_Queensland.html
- Musser, A. M. (2014). Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus). Encyclopædia Britannica.
- Rainforest, Reef, Rivers and Beaches. (n.d.). Retrieved January 09, 2017, from http://www.destinationdaintree.com/the-daintree/rainforest-reef-rivers-beaches
- Saltwater Crocodile | National Geographic. Retrieved October 09, 2016, from http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/saltwater-crocodile/
- Threats to Daintree Lowland Rainforest. (n.d.). Retrieved December 28, 2016, from https://www.rainforestrescue.org.au/page/81/threats-to-daintree-lowland-rainforest