National Ecosystem Accounts, experimental estimates

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Estimates of the extent, condition and services provided by Australia's ecosystems, including terrestrial, coastal, freshwater and marine realms

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Reference period
2020-21 financial year
Released
27/02/2025
Next release Unknown
First release

Key statistics

  • Desert ecosystems make up 50% of Australia’s terrestrial landscape, or 383.8 million hectares. 
  • In 2020–21, half of Australia’s mangroves had at least 80% canopy cover.
  • Between 2015–16 and 2020–21, 4% of natural environments adjacent to perennial rivers were converted to higher intensity land uses.
  • Feral animal and weed species continued to spread.

The estimates in this publication represent Australia’s first National Ecosystem Account. They include estimates for the extent and condition of Australia’s ecosystems, as well as measures of selected services and the values these services contribute to the economy. They are experimental in nature, showing what can be achieved with existing data sources and methods.

There is substantial debate in the scientific, economic and accounting community about the appropriate metrics for ecological condition and methods to measure and value ecosystem services. While the ABS has consulted widely to develop the current methodology and metrics, ongoing consultation and research will continue to inform development of the accounts and, as such, estimates and methods are likely to change in future releases.

More information about the National Ecosystem Accounts can be found in the information paper Measuring and Valuing Australia's Ecosystems.

National overview

Extent

The ecosystems in the accounts are classified hierarchically. Realms are the highest classification, which are divided into biomes, which are further divided into ecosystem functional groups. The main realms are terrestrial, marine and freshwater, with transitional realms being those that cross between terrestrial, marine and freshwater ecosystems, for example the coastal realm.

In 2020–21, Australia’s:

  • Terrestrial realm covered 711.6 million hectares, or 49% of Australia’s extent.
  • Marine realm covered 681.3 million hectares, or 47% of Australia’s extent.
  • Rivers and streams totalled 4.3 million km in length.

Ecosystem services

A selection of ecosystem services has been estimated for this publication. This does not represent an exhaustive list of the services provided by Australia’s ecosystems. In 2020–21, services provided by Australia’s ecosystems included:

  • Grazed biomass - 111.2 million tonnes of forage was provided, worth $40.4 billion.
  • Coastal protection - Mangroves protected 4,006 dwellings worth $57 million, while saltmarsh protected 566 dwellings valued at $8 million.
  • Climate regulation - 34.5 million kilotonnes of carbon was stored by selected ecosystems, with a value of $43.2 billion.
  • Water supply - 10.4 million megalitres of surface water was provided for drinking and use as a material at a value of $1.4 billion. A further 48.4 million megalitres of surface water was used as an energy source.
  • Wild fish provisioning - 56.3 million kilograms of fish were caught by Commonwealth fisheries, worth $39.2 million.

Terrestrial realm

The terrestrial realm represents all dry land ecosystems in Australia and includes both natural and anthropogenic ecosystems. Transitional ecosystems refer to ecosystems that cross between terrestrial, marine and freshwater ecosystems, such as estuaries and wetlands, and are reported under this section.

Terrestrial extent

The deserts and semi-deserts biome had the highest coverage of Australia’s terrestrial landscape (50%) followed by Savannas and grasslands as the next most prevalent biome (23%). The Intensive land-use biome extends over 15% of Australia’s landscape. 

In 2020–21:

  • Sclerophyll hot deserts and semi-deserts were the most common ecosystem. Of all the states and territories, WA had the greatest area (157.5 million hectares).
  • Pyric tussock savannas were the second most common terrestrial ecosystem. Queensland had the greatest extent (38.3 million hectares).
  • Sown pastures and fields were the third most common ecosystem, with Queensland having the greatest area of Sown pastures and fields (30.3 million hectares).

From 2015–16 to 2020–21, the greatest flows of change were within or to the Intensive land-use biome, which increased by 0.5% or 592 thousand hectares:

  • Urban and industrial ecosystems increased 281 thousand hectares (5.1% increase). Much of this was converted from farmland including 191 thousand hectares of Sown pastures and fields and 65 thousand hectares of Annual croplands. 
  • Sown pastures and fields had a net increase of 1.1 million hectares (1.7% increase), including 665 thousand hectares converted from Annual croplands and 138 thousand hectares from Plantations.
  • Semi-desert steppe (Deserts and semi-deserts biome) was the natural ecosystem with the highest conversion rate, with 169 thousand hectares replaced by Sown pastures and fields.

In 2020–21, there were 52.8 million hectares of Semi-desert steppe:

  • 25.7 million hectares (48.6%) were found in South Australia.
  • 10.0 million hectares (19.0%) were found in Western Australia.
  • 9.7 million hectares (18.3%) were found in Queensland.

New South Wales has lost 215 thousand hectares of Semi-desert steppe since 2015–16.

Proportion of SA2 covered by Semi-desert steppe, 2020–21

This map presents the proportion (area) of each Statistical Area Level 2 2021 (SA2) that is covered by Semi-desert steppe for the data reference period 2020–21. SA2s are defined by the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3. 

Semi-desert steppe proportion is divided into six categories. These are listed below along with their category display colour.  

  • 40% or more (very dark orange)
  • 30% to less than 40% (dark orange)
  • 20% to less than 30% (orange)
  • 10% to less than 20% (light orange)
  • Less than 10% (very light orange)
  • No Semi-desert steppe (grey)

The map shows SA2s with a higher proportion of Semi-desert steppe in a ‘band’ spanning from southeastern Western Australian to southwestern Queensland. SA2s with no Semi-desert steppe occur as a solid band on Australia’s north and eastern coasts, extending to Melbourne and its surrounds. 

Accessibility statement: We are committed to providing information and services to the widest possible audience. We’ve designed this website to comply with the Australian Government Digital Service Standard and aim to meet the latest WCAG Guidelines which describe how to make web content more usable and accessible for everyone. However, some functions of this interactive map may be inaccessible, or difficult to use with assistive technology. All data underlying this map can be downloaded in table format from the Data downloads section of this publication. For further information or assistance, or to advise of accessibility issues with this product, please email client.services@abs.gov.au.

Source

National Ecosystem Accounts: Key Themes Across Realms

Terrestrial condition

Five condition variable indexes are included in the accounts:

  • Bare ground cover (BSI Bare Soil Index) estimates the proportion of bare ground. 
  • Vegetation productivity (kNDVI kernel Normalised Difference Vegetation Index) is used as a proxy for canopy cover. 
  • Burnt area ratio (NBR Normalised Burn Ratio) highlights recently burned areas. 
  • Canopy moisture (NDMI Normalised Difference Moisture Index) represents moisture content in vegetation. 
  • Surface water availability (NDWI Normalised Difference Water Index) represents water availability (presence of water bodies).

Summaries of two of the variables are presented below. Estimates for all the condition variables can be found in the data downloads.

Bare ground cover

Bare ground cover (measured as Bare Soil Index BSI) is a measure of the amount of bare ground and is an index ranging from -1 (minimum bare ground cover) to +1 (maximum bare ground cover). 

  • The highest BSI is associated with sparsely vegetated ecosystems such as deserts, grasslands, savannas and floodplains. BSI in these drier ecosystems has increased, indicating an increased proportion of bare ground.
  • Negative BSI occurs in ecosystems with more ground cover, such as shrublands and forests.
  • The lowest BSI corresponds to densely vegetated ecosystems, such as rainforests. BSI in these vegetated ecosystems has decreased, indicating a decreased proportion of bare ground.
  • Ecosystems from the Terrestrial-Freshwater transitional realm such as marshes and wetlands tend to fluctuate over time. 

Vegetation productivity

The kernel Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (kNDVI) measures the light reflected from leaf pigments to estimate photosynthetic activity. High values indicate dense and highly productive vegetation. Low values indicate sparser vegetation and lower productivity.

Forest ecosystems have the highest kNDVI, with rainforests showing the greatest productivity. These values have increased since 2015–16, with the largest increases occurring in: 

  • Tropical flooded forests and peat forests, rising from 0.13 in 2015–16 to 0.44 in 2020–21
  • Tropical/Subtropical lowland rainforests, increasing from 0.35 in 2015–16 to 0.60 in 2020–21
  • Tropical/Subtropical montane rainforests, increasing from 0.43 to 0.63 in 2020–21.

Desert ecosystems have the lowest kNDVI, and these values have decreased:

  • Semi-desert steppe reduced from 0.05 in 2015–16 to 0.03 in 2020–21.
  • Sclerophyll hot deserts and semi-deserts fell from 0.06 in 2015–16 to 0.04 in 2020–21.

Terrestrial ecosystem services

Terrestrial ecosystems provide many ecosystem services. This account estimates grazed biomass provisioning and global climate regulation for select ecosystems. 

Grazed biomass provisioning

In Australia, livestock are grazed on improved pastures, including Sown pastures and fields from the Intensive land-use biome, and other grazed lands, such as natural pastures/grasslands, rangelands, woodland/shrubland, forested areas and swamps/wetlands. 

During 2020–21, these ecosystems provided 111.2 million tonnes of forage for grazed sheep and beef cattle with a value of $40.4 billion.

  • Improved pastures provided 52.4 million tonnes while other grazed lands provided 58.8 million tonnes.
  • Queensland had the highest contribution to grazed biomass (46.0 million tonnes/year, worth $17.0 billion).
  • Beef cattle and calves consumed 91.5 million tonnes/year of forage worth $33.1 billion. Beef cattle and calves were more commonly grazed on Other grazed lands (54.1 million tonnes/year, 59%) than Improved pastures. 
  • Sheep and lambs consumed 19.8 million tonnes/year of forage, worth $7.3 billion. Sheep and lambs mainly foraged on Improved pastures (15.0 million tonnes/year, 76%).

Global climate regulation

Carbon retention services for a select group of ecosystems were estimated at 34.5 million kilotonnes of stored carbon (ktC) nationally in 2020–21.

  • Grasslands contained the most carbon (14.4 million ktC), driven by Western Australia (5.4 million ktC) and South Australia (2.9 million ktC).
  • Native forests contained over 14 million ktC, dominated by Queensland (5.4 million ktC), then New South Wales (3.4 million ktC) and Western Australia (2.5 million ktC).
  • Savannas, located in the Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia, contained 5.7 million ktC.
  • Western Australia (9.5 million ktC) and Queensland (9.1 million ktC) stored the most carbon, followed by the Northern Territory (5.4 million ktC) and New South Wales (4.8 million ktC).

Note that carbon retention totals were only produced for a select number of ecosystems including mangroves, savannas, native forests and grasslands. All other ecosystems were excluded due to limitations in input data.

Native forests and Grasslands comprise over 80% of the value of carbon retention, reflecting their physical share in terms of the stock of carbon.

  • In 2020–21, the carbon retention value was estimated at $43.2 billion.
  • In 2015–16, the carbon retention value was estimated at $19.4 billion.

The increase in the value between 2015–16 and 2020–21 reflects the impact of a higher Australian Carbon Unit Auction price (by nearly 43% between 2015–16 and 2020–21) and a higher inflation rate that affects the return in estimating the annuity. 

Coastal realm

Mangroves and saltmarsh are coastal wetlands that are regularly inundated with tidal sea water.

Coastal extent

In 2020–21, mangroves covered 1.1 million hectares of Australia’s coastal areas. 

  • Most mangroves were located in Queensland (39.0%), the Northern Territory (37.7%) and Western Australia (20.2%). 
  • There were no mangroves in Tasmania or the ACT.

In 2020–21, saltmarsh covered 493.7 thousand hectares of Australia’s coastal areas.

  • Most saltmarsh were located in the Northern Territory (53.5%), Queensland (22.0%) and Western Australia (11.0%).
  • The Australian Capital Territory had no saltmarsh.

Coastal condition

Mangrove canopy cover reflects canopy density and is used as a measure of condition to indicate the overall health and productivity of mangrove forests. Monitoring changes to mangrove canopy cover can help describe how mangrove forests are responding to environmental changes as reduction in canopy cover is typical when mangroves experience ecosystem disturbance. The classifications of canopy cover are:

  • Woodland – 20–50% canopy cover
  • Open forest – 50–80% canopy cover
  • Closed forest – 80–100% canopy cover
  • Unclassified – Data on canopy cover not available

In 2020–21, half of Australian mangroves consisted of closed forest, the most dense canopy cover.

  • Closed forest was the most prevalent type in Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, where 97% of mangroves are located.
  • Open forest was more prevalent across the small extent of mangroves in SA and Vic at the southern end of the distribution of mangrove species.
  • Closed forests increased between 2010–11 and 2020–21, from 43%, to 50%. 
  • Both open forest and woodland mangroves decreased in this time, down to 23% and 6% respectively. 
  • Canopy cover for the remaining extent of mangroves (21%) in 2020–21 was unknown. 

Coastal ecosystem services

Coastal protection

This method builds upon the first attempt used in the experimental National Ocean Account. The new estimates of coastal protection are significantly less than the previously published numbers due to improved methodology. They are conservative values, but are expected to be more accurate.

Mangrove and saltmarsh ecosystems reduce damage to dwellings during a storm or tidal surge by attenuating and dissipating wave and wind energy. In 2020–21:

  • Mangroves protected 4,006 dwellings and 7,653 people in the highest risk zone (up to 1 m above the Highest Astronomical Tide (HAT)).
  • Saltmarsh provided protection to 566 dwellings and 1,045 people in the high-risk zone.
  • The estimated value of avoided damages for dwellings located up to 1 m above HAT was $57 million/year for mangroves and $8 million/year for saltmarsh.

Mangroves and saltmarsh can provide protection to the same dwellings or people, so the total combined protection would be less than the sum of the two.

Freshwater realm

The freshwater realm includes all permanent and temporary freshwater bodies as well as saline waterbodies that are not directly connected to the ocean. The focus of this section will be the rivers and streams biome.

Freshwater extent

In Australia, the length of non-perennial (intermittent) rivers is roughly 25 times that of perennial (permanent) rivers. There are 161.2 thousand km of perennial rivers and streams across Australia:

  • New South Wales contains almost 60% of Australia’s perennial rivers.
  • Permanent upland streams account for 82.3 thousand km.
  • Permanent lowland rivers have a total length of 78.9 thousand km.

Non-perennial rivers and streams traverse a length of 4.13 million km:

  • Queensland is home to the greatest share (34.2%) of non-perennial rivers. 
  • Seasonal upland streams are the most widespread (2.29 million km) riverine ecosystem.
  • Episodic arid rivers extend 1.38 million km.
  • Seasonal lowland rivers make up 459 thousand km.
  • Freeze-thaw rivers and streams are the least common and limited to New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania (496 km in total).

Freshwater condition

Freshwater ecological condition, especially that of rivers, is known to be influenced strongly by adjacent land use. Land use changes impact the condition of rivers and streams, with higher intensity land uses associated with deterioration in quality of river systems from factors such as run-off, water extraction and pollution.

Land Use Intensity

Land Use Intensity (LUI) is used as a measure of inferred condition. The classifications of LUI range from LUI 1, being the least intense land use (near natural), to LUI 5, being the most intense land use, including urban development and industrial areas. Waterbodies, such as lakes, dams and wetlands, are defined as LUI 6.

Nationally:

  • Half (51.1%) of all rivers and streams coincided with LUI 2 (Production from relatively natural environments), although this was less for perennial rivers (29.8%).
  • Almost one third of rivers and streams (30.2%) traversed LUI 1 (Conservation and natural environments).
  • LUI 5 Intensive land uses only coincided with 1.4% of national river length, but 3.5% of perennial streams and rivers.

Over time river length coinciding with natural uses, LUI 1 (Conservation and natural environments), has consistently decreased while more intensive uses have increased:

  • Length of perennial river systems flowing through LUI1 has fallen 4.0% since 2015–16, and non-perennial has decreased 4.3%.
  • LUI 3 (Production from dryland agriculture and plantations) increased by 10.1% in perennial rivers.
  • LUI 5 (Intensive uses) increased by 8.2% for non-perennial streams and 1.7% for perennial rivers. 

Freshwater ecosystem services

Rivers and streams provide ecosystem services in the form of water supply including freshwater used for drinking, as a material or as an energy source.

Water supply 

Surface water extracted from the Rivers and streams biome and used for drinking, as a material or for producing energy amounted to 58.8 million ML in 2020–21. 

  • The bulk of surface water provisioning services was for use as an energy source (48.3 million ML, 82.2% of total water provisioning services in 2020–21). This is dominated by hydroelectricity generation, where the water is not consumed but used to produce energy before being returned to the environment at a different location. 
  • Surface water used as a material in production accounted for 8.8 million ML (86% of consumptive use). Although this was an increase of 351 thousand ML, the monetary value fell by 33% from $1.77 b in 2015–16 to $1.18 b in 2020–21. 
  • 1.5 million ML of freshwater (14% of consumptive use) was extracted from rivers and streams for drinking. This was a decrease of 2.3% from 2015–16. Over this same period, monetary value fell from $307 million to $193 million, a drop of 37%. 

The decline in price between 2015–16 and 2020–21 reflects a change in climatic conditions. A dry year in 2015–16, produced low water storage volumes and high demand. Conversely, the high rainfall in 2020–21 across much of Australia, replenished water storage volumes and reduced demand.

Surface water for drinking

Drinking water is extracted by the Water supply, sewerage and drainage services industry before being distributed to households. In 2020–21,

  • New South Wales used the most surface water, 499 thousand ML, distributed for drinking. This represents 34.1% of the surface water distributed to households in Australia.
  • Victoria and Queensland are the second and third highest users of distributed drinking water, using 328 thousand ML (22.4%) and 316 thousand ML (21.6%) respectively.
Surface water used as a material

The Water supply, sewerage and drainage services industry extracts and redistributes water for use as a material in production to other industries including the Agricultural, Mining and Manufacturing industries. These industries also self-extract water.

  • The Water supply, sewerage and drainage services industry extracted 7.4 million ML (82.4%) for use as a material in 2020–21, an increase of 0.5 million ML (7.8%) from 2015–16. This industry is the primary user of water as it distributes water to Agriculture, forestry and fishing, Mining, Manufacturing and other industries. While these industries are using the final product, the water is accounted for upon its extraction from the environment. 
  • The Agriculture, forestry and fishing industry self-extracted the most surface water for use as a material in production (1.0 million ML in 2020–21, 10.6% of the national total).
Surface water used as an energy source

Surface water used as an energy source is dominated by Tasmania as it generates over half of Australia’s hydroelectricity.

  • During 2020–21, Tasmania extracted 32.9 million ML, 68% of the national total water used for energy. This was 2.0 million ML more than in 2015–16, an increase of 6.6%.
  • Despite the increase in Tasmania, water used for energy fell 0.3% nationally over this period. This was driven by NSW which was down 9.5% (-1.0 million ML) and Western Australia which fell 41% (-0.8 million ML).

Marine realm

The marine realm includes all ocean waters, including benthic and open water ecosystems.

Marine extent

The marine environment of Australia covers a total of 681 million hectares across the Marine shelf and Deep sea floor biomes. 

  • Deep sea floors occupy 70% of Australia’s oceans, with the marine shelf occupying the remaining 30%.
  • Continental and island slopes extend 267 million hectares, 39% of Australian waters.
  • Abyssal plains cover 191 million hectares (28%).
  • Seamounts, ridges and plateaus cover 15.4 million hectares (2%).
  • The marine shelf is dominated by the Subtidal sand bed, at 181 million hectares (88% of this biome).
  • Coral reefs comprise 2% of Australia’s marine environment (13.7 million hectares).

The pelagic ocean waters biome represents the water column above these benthic ecosystems, with separate layers showing the 3 dimensional aspect of the marine environment.

  • Epipelagic ocean waters, from 0 m to 200 m depth, cover more than 680 million hectares, 100% of Australia’s marine area.
  • Mesopelagic ocean waters, between 200 m and 1000 m depth, cover 475 million hectares, 69% of Australia's marine area.
  • Bathypelagic ocean waters, between 1000 m and 3000 m depth, cover 422 million hectares, 61% of Australia’s marine area.
  • Abyssopelagic ocean waters, between 3000 m and 6000 m depth, cover 257 million hectares, 37% of Australia’s marine area.

The marine environment is divided into Integrated Marine and Coastal Regionalisation of Australia (IMCRA) provincial bioregions. The IMCRA provincial bioregions with the greatest extent of marine shelf ecosystems cluster in the north, where ocean waters are shallower further from the coast. Conversely, deep sea floor ecosystems have greatest extent in deeper waters. 

  • The Northern shelf province has the greatest extent of marine shelf, at 53.8 million hectares. 
  • The Southern province has the greatest extent of deep sea floors, at 76.9 million hectares.

Marine ecosystem services

The marine environment provides several ecosystem services including Wild fish provisioning, which has been estimated for Commonwealth fisheries in this account.

Wild fish provisioning

In 2020–21, the marine realm provided 56.3 million kg of wild fish to Commonwealth fisheries, worth $39.2 million. 

  • Most of the catch came from Epipelagic ocean waters (33.0 million kg, 58.5%).
  • Subtidal sand beds provided 16.1 million kg (28.5%).
  • Continental and island slopes supplied 6.0 million kg (10.7%).
  • The remaining 2.2% came from other marine ecosystems.

In 2020–21, the proportion of wild fish provisioned by weight was:

  • Finfish (26.5 million kg, 47.6%)
  • Unspecified species (20.0 million kg, 36.0%)
  • Crustaceans (5.5 million kg, 9.8%)
  • Molluscs (3.7 million kg, 6.6%).

Between 2015–16 and 2020–21:

  • Finfish catch increased by 34.7%
  • Crustacean catch decreased by 28.3%
  • Catch allocated to unspecified species increased by 28.1%.

Provisioning of wild fish has been attributed spatially to IMCRA Provincial Bioregions.

  • 35.3% of the total annual catch (19.7 million kg) was from Southeast Shelf Transition located off the eastern Victorian and southern NSW coast. Catches have increased by 5.8 million kg (41.6%) since 2015–16 in this region.
  • 17.6% of the total annual catch (9.8 million kg) was from Tasmania Province. Catches have increased by 7.8 million kg (383.3%) since 2015–16.
  • 7.5% of the total annual catch (4.2 million kg) was from Northern Shelf Province above Queensland and Northern Territory. Catches have decreased by 2.0 million kg (-32.8%) since 2015–16.

Total annual wild fish catch by IMCRA Provincial Bioregion, 2020–21

This map presents the total annual wild fish catch from Commonwealth fisheries for the 2020–21 reference period. It includes a breakdown of the total catch (in kilograms) by categories: crustaceans, molluscs, finfish and unspecified. Total annual fish catch is grouped by Integrated Marine and Coastal Regionalisation of Australia (IMCRA) v4.0 - Provincial Bioregions, which are located in the waters surrounding Australia. 

Total annual fish catch is divided into six categories. These are listed below along with their category display colour.  

  • 10 million or more (very dark blue)
  • 4 to less than 10 million (dark blue)
  • 2 to less than 4 million (blue)
  • 1 to less than 2 million (green)
  • Less than 1 million (light green)
  • No Published Data (transparent with dot pattern)

The map shows that the IMCRA regions with the highest fish catch in 2020–21 included the Southeast Shelf Transition (waters offshore of Wollongong to southeastern Victoria) and the Northern Province (offshore northern Australia between Cape York and Darwin).

Accessibility statement: We are committed to providing information and services to the widest possible audience. We’ve designed this website to comply with the Australian Government Digital Service Standard and aim to meet the latest WCAG Guidelines which describe how to make web content more usable and accessible for everyone. However, some functions of this interactive map may be inaccessible, or difficult to use with assistive technology. All data underlying this map can be downloaded in table format from the Data downloads section of this publication. For further information or assistance, or to advise of accessibility issues with this product, please email client.services@abs.gov.au.

Source

National Ecosystem Accounts: Key Themes Across Realms

Note some provincial bioregions were not available for publication but were included in totals.

The value of wild fish provisioning services for Australian (Commonwealth) fisheries was estimated at $39.2 million in 2020–21 and is concentrated in two ecosystems:

  • Epipelagic ocean waters provided a wild fish provisioning service of $24.3 million in 2020–21, equivalent to 62.0% of the value of wild fish provisioning services.
  • Subtidal sand beds provided a wild fish provisioning service of $11.8 million in 2020–21, equivalent to 30.2% of the value of wild fish provisioning services.

Biodiversity

Biodiversity plays an essential role in supporting human wellbeing through maintaining functioning ecosystems that, in turn, deliver essential services such as food and the regulation of our climate, as well as other benefits such as the aesthetic enjoyment of natural landscapes. Biodiversity is especially important and valuable for Australia’s agriculture and tourism industries.

Biodiversity accounts have been collated by calendar year due to data availability.

Feral animal and weed species

Many animal and plant species have been accidentally or deliberately introduced to Australia, and some of these have developed into populations of feral animals or weeds. Feral animals and weeds can be a major problem for humans, pets, livestock, agriculture, forestry and our natural ecosystems.

  • Plants considered to be weeds (that is, those listed on the Weeds of National Significance (WONS)) constitute the majority of introduced species in scope for this account, with over 80 plant species listed.
  • Out of the feral animal taxonomic groups in scope for this account, mammals were the largest group of species (18 species), while birds had 12 species, invertebrates had 10 species, freshwater fish had 9 species and amphibians one species.

The number of feral animal and weed plant species in different regions has increased over time. The number of WONS weed plant species observed across the country has increased in every state and territory between 2010 and 2020.

Threatened species status

The number of threatened species listed under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act in 2020 was 1,898 species, up from 1,772 species in 2015.

  • In 2015, plants had 1,293 species listed as threatened, and this figure climbed to 1,380 species by 2020. Of these, the largest number of species were in the ‘vulnerable’ category for both years. 
  • For birds, there were 157 species threatened in 2020, 10 more species than in 2015.
  • Mammals had 130 species threatened in 2015 and 135 species threatened in 2020, an increase of 5 species.

The total number of threatened species listed under the EPBC Act has increased between 2010 and 2020 for all taxonomic groups. The number of Critically Endangered species increased the most, from 209 species in 2015, to 290 species in 2020. Further changes to threatened species listings will have occurred since 2020.

Threatened Species Index

The Threatened Species Index (TSX) is compiled for threatened plants, birds, mammals and amphibians and represents average change in population size of threatened species relative to a reference year of 2000 (when the index equals 1).

Nationally, TSX has declined between 2010 and 2020 across all taxonomic groups: 

  • All results were lower than the reference year of 2000.
  • Average populations of threatened species have declined across the country.

Biodiversity spotlight

Spread of feral mammals in Australia

This spotlight highlights the use of spatial data to describe trends in the accounts. Feral mammal species can cause major problems for Australia’s biodiversity, industry, society and our natural environment. They can cause direct extinctions of native fauna, degrade natural ecosystems and be costly to industries such as agriculture. 

There are 18 species of feral mammals in scope for these biodiversity accounts, including well-known feral pest species like the red fox and European rabbit. New South Wales had the highest number of species (18 species) of all the states and territories, closely followed by Victoria (17 species), then Queensland and South Australia with 16 species each. 

At the SA2 level, many parts of Australia showed an increase in the number of feral mammals recorded. For example, in the central-north Queensland SA2 of Barcaldine – Blackall, in 2010 there were 8 species of feral mammals, increasing to 11 with the addition of chital deer in 2015 and feral camel and feral donkey by 2020. Exmouth (WA) also saw an additional 3 feral mammal species recorded between 2015 and 2020.

The interactive map shown here presents the change in the number of feral mammal species in Australia between 2015 and 2020 at the SA2 level. Each SA2 has a pop-up to display the number of species recorded in that SA2 over three points in time (2010, 2015 and 2020). Improvements in the input data sets over time will allow updates and increased accuracy of this map for future accounts.

Change in number of feral mammal species recorded in ALA by SA2, 2015 to 2020

This map presents the change in the number of feral mammal species recorded in the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) between 2015 and 2020, mapped by Statistical Area Level 2 2021 (SA2). It includes the number of feral mammal species recorded in the ALA cumulative to the years 2010, 2015, and 2020 for each SA2. SA2s are defined by the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3.

Change in the number of feral mammal species is divided into six categories. These are listed below along with their category display colour.  

  • 4 or more (brown)
  • 3 (very dark orange)
  • 2 (dark orange)
  • 1 (orange)
  • No change (light yellow)
  • No data (grey)

The map shows SA2 regions with the greatest change clustered on Australia’s coast and around major cities.

Accessibility statement: We are committed to providing information and services to the widest possible audience. We’ve designed this website to comply with the Australian Government Digital Service Standard and aim to meet the latest WCAG Guidelines which describe how to make web content more usable and accessible for everyone. However, some functions of this interactive map may be inaccessible, or difficult to use with assistive technology. All data underlying this map can be downloaded in table format from the Data downloads section of this publication. For further information or assistance, or to advise of accessibility issues with this product, please email client.services@abs.gov.au.

Source

National Ecosystem Accounts: Key Themes Across Realms

Data downloads

Download all (6.06 MB)

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Data files

Related information

Measuring and Valuing Australia's Ecosystems

Methodology

National Ecosystem Accounts, experimental estimates methodology, 2020-21 financial year

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