Saturday, December 1, 2012

Improving the Situation



 http://www.dec.wa.gov.au/pdf/science/bio_audit/great_victoria_desert01_p343-350.pdf
To maintain the relatively good conservation status of the Great Victoria Desert, the Australian government and the native people need to maintain the conservation of the desert lands.  If possible, the government should declare even more of the desert as conservation regions, which would limit the possibility of agriculture and pastoral development should such a situation arise.  At the very least, leaving the desert alone should be sufficient since its harsh climate can protect itself fairly well. 
To handle the invasive animals, there first must be some effort to research their patterns as they move across the desert.  With more information, it can be possible to pinpoint the areas where these animals are causing the most trouble and possibly confine them to this one region to keep them from spreading.  The fences previously built could work however more natural 'barriers' should be researched and  implemented.  What should not be done is to introduce even more non-native species to the environment.  This will just cause a never ending chain of introducing invasive species to attempt to control the previous invasive species.

Future Prospects



 http://www.liswa.wa.gov.au/wepon/land/html/rabbits.html
The future for the Great Victoria Desert looks very good, especially considering the fates of other ecoregions throughout the world.  The desert will always be a very harsh environment, which naturally keeps away negative human consequences.  The nuclear testing has been finished for decades and the radiation produced will eventually wear off, so in terms of contamination, everything will only get better.  The feral animals, on the other hand, are much harder to handle.  Australia has already taken measures against these animals by building fences and such.  However, in areas such as the Great Victoria Desert where there is little human to watch for the problem, these animals could easily get out of hand.  Currently, the threat of these animals are not too pronounced but if not closely watched over, it is very possible for these animals to completely drive away the vulnerable native wildlife. 

Friday, November 30, 2012

Human Impact



 http://www.abc.net.au/science/photos/2012/11/21/3636626.htm
The human impact on the Great Victoria Desert is very good.  Due to the harsh climate and its geographical isolation, the Great Victoria Desert has not been disturbed much by humans aside from the original natives living in it.  There is very little room in the Great Victoria Desert for farming and grazing lands.  This has prevented the land from being disturbed and cleared. Some mining has been occurring in the desert.  However, it has not at all caused any degradation in the environment. In that regard, few people have settled in the Great Victoria Desert, and thus the human disturbance has been kept to a minimum.  Furthermore, under the Australian Parliament, around 20% of the Great Victoria Desert has been placed under conservation protection.  The largest of these areas, the Unnamed Conservation Park, covers around 21 thousand square kilometers and access to these regions are extremely limited.
-http://worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/aa1305

However, not everything is all good with the Great Victoria Desert, in the 1950s and 1960s, nuclear weapons testing were initiated in regions near the Great Victoria Desert by the United Kingdom.  These nuclear weapons tests resulted in various sites in the desert to be contaminated by radiation.  Of particular concern is plutonium-239 due to its long half-life and possibility of contamination through inhalation.  There have been attempts at a clean-up in 1996 and 1999 but the effects of the country’s efforts are debatable.  Indirectly, the roads that were built to access the test sites can be used by off-road vehicles and lead to further erosion of the land.
-http://www.eoearth.org/article/Great_Victoria_desert?topic=74361

 http://www.environment.gov.au/land/publications/acris/pubs/bioregion-great-victoria-desert.pdf
http://www.dec.wa.gov.au/pdf/science/bio_audit/great_victoria_desert01_p343-350.pdf
Most alarming, however, is the introduction of non-native species to the desert.  Australia as a whole has been continuously plagued by these feral animals and the Great Victoria Desert is no exception.  Of particular concern are the infamous rabbits of Australia, who continuously eat away all of the native vegetation and reproduce constantly.  Also included are mice, wild dogs, feral cats, and foxes.  The isolated natural wildlife of the desert has few countermeasures against these invasive species and with no natural predators, these animals are essentially free to do what they wish. 

-http://www.environment.gov.au/land/publications/acris/pubs/bioregion-great-victoria-desert.pdf
-http://www.eoearth.org/article/Great_Victoria_desert?topic=74361