State of the Environment

Land and Biodiversity

Victoria has been shaped by geological and climatic events over 520 million years, and tens of thousands of years of human settlement. Victoria has a diverse array of landforms, soil types and ecosystems. Victoria has a unique native biodiversity including some 3,140 species of vascular plants, 111 mammal species, 447 bids, 133 reptiles and 33 amphibians, as well as invertebrates, fungi and algae species, many of which are yet to be studied.

Healthy land and biodiversity provide important ecosystem services, such as production of food, fibre and timber, clean air and water, a regulated climate, cycling of nutrients and decomposition of wastes. Biodiversity is integral to ecosystem function and also provides resources for human use, such as compounds for pharmaceuticals.

This section looks at the impacts of land clearing on Victoria’s native vegetation, current trends in land use and their implications for biodiversity, Victoria’s threatened species, and the threats posed by weeds and pest animals. Victoria’s soil health is examined in the context of soil structure, erosion and soil acidification. The impacts of salinity in irrigation and dryland areas are discussed. The impacts of fire and changes in the fire regime on Victoria’s environment are covered, along with the implications of climate change for Victoria’s biodiversity. This section also provides an overview of policy responses to the challenges confronting Victoria’s land and biodiversity resources, and presents recommendations for managing these resources in a time of rapid environmental and social change.

There are two ways to access sub-sections within the Land & Biodiversity section: The pdf’s below contain the introduction only and entire section respectively, while the links on the left will take you to each of the sub-sections individually.

Land and Biodiversity - Introduction only (PDF - 828 KB)