Biodiversity in Australia's Northern Territory
Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 14 June 2017 at 01:37:11 UTC
Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 13, 25 & 28 August 2017 at 01:37:09 UTC
Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 15 September 2017 at 01:47:01 UTC
Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 17 September 2017 at 01:36:59 UTC
Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 13, 25 & 28 August 2017 at 01:37:09 UTC
Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 15 September 2017 at 01:47:01 UTC
Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 17 September 2017 at 01:36:59 UTC
Keyword(s): Coastal, water colour, mangrove, Ramsar wetland, floodplain, beach, river, savannah, UNESCO World Heritage, Australia, Timor Sea
To honour the International Day for Biological Diversity, this story is dedicated to Northern Territory in Australia, where was nominated the first location to become a Ramsar site. This wetland's overview notes: "Cobourg Peninsula has a long history of natural conservation and protection, and it was Australia and the world’s first Wetland of International Importance. The Site comprises a peninsula with extensive tidal flats, fringing coral, rocky reefs, estuaries, mangroves, riverine wetlands, permanent freshwater and brackish ecosystems and melaleuca (paperbark) swamps, dominated by eucalyptus forest. The hydrological regime varies widely due to the seasonal rainfall. There is a steep salinity gradient between the estuaries and backswamps. The Site supports several globally threatened animal species such as the loggerhead turtle, green turtle, hawksbill turtle and the northern quoll, as well as numerous rare plants and extensive mangrove communities. The Site supports an abundance of waterbirds such as ducks, plovers, sandpipers and egrets."
A UNESCO World Heritage site, Kakadu National Park is depicted as: "The largest national park in Australia and one of the largest in the world’s tropics, Kakadu preserves the greatest variety of ecosystems on the Australian continent including extensive areas of savanna woodlands, open forest, floodplains, mangroves, tidal mudflats, coastal areas and monsoon forests. The park also has a huge diversity of flora and is one of the least impacted areas of the northern part of the Australian continent. Its spectacular scenery includes landscapes of arresting beauty, with escarpments up to 330 metres high extending in a jagged and unbroken line for hundreds of kilometres."
Kakadu National Park - Source: Steve Strike for Tourism Australia
This wetland is also protected as a Ramsar wetland, its site describes Kakadu National Park as:
"An iconic destination within Australia, renowned for its exceptional beauty and unique biodiversity, with a variety of landforms, habitats and wildlife. It encompasses expansive coastal and inland ecosystems such as terrestrial wetlands and woodlands, floodplain ecosystems, swamp forest, rivers, springs, and billabongs, as well as coastal/marine ecosystems with intertidal mudflats, saltmarsh, mangroves and seagrass. Wetland habitats are relatively undisturbed and support a broad range of natural values including threatened and endemic species and a remarkable abundance of waterbirds."
Another important site for Australian biodiversity is Ord River Floodplain, a Ramsar wetland which they characterize by writing: "The Site is an extensive system of river, seasonal creek, tidal mudflat and floodplain wetlands, and is the best example in the Tanami-Timor Sea Coast bioregion of wetlands associated with a tropical river system’s floodplain and estuary. The area known as the False Mouths of the Ord is the most extensive mudflat and tidal waterway complex in Western Australia, while the wetland grass/herblands at Parry Lagoons are the most extensive vegetation community of this type in the State. 15 of the 19 species of mangrove found in Western Australia have been recorded within the Site. It is a nursery, feeding and breeding ground for a variety of migratory birds and local waterbirds, fish, crabs, prawns and crocodiles. The Site regularly supports 1% of the population of plumed whistling duck and little curlew; and it supports threatened species including the critically endangered freshwater sawfish and green sawfish, and the endangered Australian painted snipe; it is also one of only two known habitats in Western Australia of the critically endangered Northern river shark. A flatback turtle rookery is located at Cape Domett, immediately north of the Ramsar Site."
The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Space Agency or the European Union.
Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2024, processed by VisioTerra.
Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2024, processed by VisioTerra.
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