Biodiversity in Australia

Approximately 75% of the Earth’s land surface has been modified due to human activities, leading to a concerning decline in ecosystems and natural habitats. Addressing the decline in biodiversity has emerged as a significant challenge for sustainable development in the 21st century. Australia is home to an exceptionally diverse ecological landscape and ranks among the 17 megadiverse nations worldwide and is characterized by high levels of endemism. However, it also faces one of the highest rates of contemporary extinctions, with more than 1,900 species and ecological communities currently at risk. We aim to investigate the opportunities that forest land, grassland, cropland, and built-up lands present for biodiversity conservation in Australia and how the role of each land cover type has changed before pre-1990, from 1990 to 2020, and in the future. Besides, we will assess the historical and future land cover change pressure on biodiversity of over 10,000 species in Australia.