National park
A national park is a park in use for conservation purposes. It is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently, there is a common idea: the conservation of'wild nature' for posterity and as a symbol of national pride. An international organization, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, its World Commission on Protected Areas, has defined "National Park" as its Category II type of protected areas. While this type of national park had been proposed the United States established the first "public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people", Yellowstone National Park, in 1872. Although Yellowstone was not termed a "national park" in its establishing law, it was always termed such in practice and is held to be the first and oldest national park in the world. However, the Tobago Main Ridge Forest Reserve, the area surrounding Bogd Khan Uul Mountain are seen as the oldest protected areas, predating Yellowstone by nearly a century.
The first area to use "national park" in its creation legislation was the U. S.'s Mackinac, in 1875. Australia's Royal National Park, established in 1879, was the world's third official national park. In 1895 ownership of Mackinac National Park was transferred to the State of Michigan as a state park and national park status was lost; as a result, Australia's Royal National Park is by some considerations the second oldest national park now in existence. Canada established Parks Canada in 1911, becoming the world's first national service dedicated to protecting and presenting natural and historical treasures; the largest national park in the world meeting the IUCN definition is the Northeast Greenland National Park, established in 1974. According to the IUCN, 6,555 national parks worldwide met its criteria in 2006. IUCN is still discussing the parameters of defining a national park. National parks are always open to visitors. Most national parks provide outdoor recreation and camping opportunities as well as classes designed to educate the public on the importance of conservation and the natural wonders of the land in which the national park is located.
In 1969, the IUCN declared a national park to be a large area with the following defining characteristics: One or several ecosystems not materially altered by human exploitation and occupation, where plant and animal species, geomorphological sites and habitats are of special scientific and recreational interest or which contain a natural landscape of great beauty. In 1971, these criteria were further expanded upon leading to more clear and defined benchmarks to evaluate a national park; these include: Minimum size of 1,000 hectares within zones in which protection of nature takes precedence Statutory legal protection Budget and staff sufficient to provide sufficient effective protection Prohibition of exploitation of natural resources qualified by such activities as sport, fishing, the need for management, etc. While the term national park is now defined by the IUCN, many protected areas in many countries are called national park when they correspond to other categories of the IUCN Protected Area Management Definition, for example: Swiss National Park, Switzerland: IUCN Ia - Strict Nature Reserve Everglades National Park, United States: IUCN Ib - Wilderness Area Victoria Falls National Park, Zimbabwe: IUCN III - National Monument Vitosha National Park, Bulgaria: IUCN IV - Habitat Management Area New Forest National Park, United Kingdom: IUCN V - Protected Landscape Etniko Ygrotopiko Parko Delta Evrou, Greece: IUCN VI - Managed Resource Protected AreaWhile national parks are understood to be administered by national governments, in Australia national parks are run by state governments and predate the Federation of Australia.
In Canada, there are both national parks operated by the federal government and provincial or territorial parks operated by the provincial and territorial governments, although nearly all are still national parks by the IUCN definition. In many countries, including Indonesia, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, national parks do not adhere to the IUCN definition, while some areas which adhere to the IUCN definition are not designated as national parks. In 1810, the English poet William Wordsworth described the Lake District as a sort of national property, in which every man has a right and interest who has an eye to perceive and a heart to enjoy; the painter George Catlin, in his travels through the American West, wrote during the 1830s that the Native Americans in the United States might be preserved...in a magnificent park... A nation's Park, containing man and beast, in all the wild and freshness of their nature's beauty! The first effort by the U. S. Federal government to set aside such protected lands was on 20 April 1832, when President Andrew Jackson signed legislation that the 22nd United States Congress had enacted to set aside four sections of land around what is now Hot Springs, Arkansas, to protect the natural, thermal springs and adjoining mountainsides for the futur
Swift parrot
The swift parrot breeds in Tasmania and migrates north to south eastern Australia from Griffith-Warialda in New South Wales and west to Adelaide in the winter. It is related with the feeding habits of a lorikeet, it is the only member in the genus Lathamus. There was estimated to be fewer than 2000 mature individuals remaining in the wild as of 2011. In 2014, researchers from the Australian National University modelled that the species may face extinction by 2031 due to predation and loss of habitat, the International Union for Conservation of Nature upgraded the status of the swift parrot from endangered to critically endangered in October 2015 based on results from the study; the surgeon John White described the swift parrot in 1790 as the red-shouldered paroquet. It was placed in the genus Lathamus by René Primevère Lesson in 1830; the swift parrot is only distantly related to the blue-winged and orange-bellied parrots, suggesting that two separate lineages might have become migratory. A 2011 genetic study including nuclear and mitochondrial DNA found that the swift parrot was an early offshoot from a lineage giving rise to the genera Prosopeia and Cyanoramphus, diverging around 14 million years ago.
Its migratory status might have facilitated the spread of its relatives through the Pacific. The swift parrot is about 25 cm long and has long pointed wings and long tapering tail feathers, it is green with bluish crown and red on the face above and below the beak. The adult female is duller, the juvenile has a dark brown iris and a pale orange bill; the forehead to throat is crimson and there is crimson patch at the top, edge of the wing. The female parrots are duller than the males and with a creamy underwing bar, they are noisy, always active and showy, are fast with their direct flight. This parrots/species is known as the Red-faced or Red-shouldered Parrot; the species breeds in Tasmania from September to December. It nests in tree hollows about 6–20 metres from ground level and with other breeding pairs. Eggs are white with 3–5 per clutch. Voice is of piping pee-pit, pee-pit, they only breed from September to March. The swift parrot migrates across the mainland of Australia, they arrive in Tasmania during September and return to south-eastern Australia during March and April.
They can be found as far north as south-eastern Queensland and as far west as Adelaide in South Australia, although recent sightings have been restricted to the south-eastern part of the state. BirdLife International has identified the following sites as being important for swift parrots: New South WalesBrisbane Water Capertee Valley Hastings-Macleay Hunter Valley Lake Macquarie Richmond Woodlands South-west Slopes of NSW Tuggerah Ulladulla to MerimbulaVictoriaBendigo Box-Ironbark Region Maryborough-Dunolly Box-Ironbark Region Puckapunyal Rushworth Box-Ironbark Region St Arnaud Box-Ironbark Region Warby-Chiltern Box-Ironbark RegionTasmaniaBruny Island Maria Island South-east Tasmania Usually inhabiting: forests, agricultural land and plantations, in urban areas. Seeds and grains, green vegetation, fruit and pollen, insects and larvae; the presence of the winter-flowering golden wattle is positively correlated with numbers of swift parrots overwintering in box–ironbark forest in central Victoria, while the presence of flowering eucalypts has no correlation.
It is thought. Habitat destruction and loss of old trees with nesting hollows are critical factors in its decline. Sugar gliders are the major predator of nesting parrots in mainland Tasmania, accounting for 85% of kills, but are absent from Bruny and Maria Islands. Swift parrots are listed as endangered on the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999; the swift parrot is listed as threatened on Fauna Guarantee Act. Under this Act, an Action Statement for the recovery and future management of this species has been prepared. On the 2007 advisory list of threatened vertebrate fauna in Victoria, the swift parrot is listed as endangered. Field guide to the birds of Australia Graham Pizzey and Frank Knight, Angus & Robertson 1997, 3rd edition 2000. ISBN 0-207-19714-8 Forshaw, Joseph M.. Parrots of the World. Illustrated by Frank Knight. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-09251-6
Freycinet National Park
Freycinet is a national park on the east coast of Tasmania, Australia, 125 km northeast of Hobart. It occupies a large part of the Freycinet Peninsula, named after French navigator Louis de Freycinet, Schouten Island. Founded in 1916, it is Tasmania's oldest park, along with Mount Field National Park. Bordering the national park is the small settlement of Coles Bay, the largest close town is Swansea. Freycinet contains part of the rugged Tasmanian coastline and includes the secluded Wineglass Bay, voted by several travel authorities as one of the world's ten best beaches. Famous features of the park include its red and pink granite formations and a series of jagged granite peaks in a line, called "The Hazards"; because of the range of rare and endemic flora and fauna species present, as well as the diversity of landscapes and communities at Freycinet National Park, its role in conservation is significant. The area within the park is of cultural importance, with many Aboriginal and European sites protected, though deeper investigation into human history within the park still needs to be undertaken.
Large sections of the park remain undisturbed by humans, including parts of the catchment and the landscape. Tourism at Freycinet forms a significant component of the economy for the eastern part of Tasmania, with visitors drawn to the region by the natural environment and recreational activities available in the area; every year thousands of people are attracted to the coastal environments and the area's rural and isolated setting. Devonian granite is the dominant rock type at Freycinet. Orthoclase, a pink feldspar, gives the coastline their characteristic pink tint. Black micas and white quartz are found; the western side of Schouten Island is composed of Jurassic dolerite. Forty-nine endemic species to Tasmania are found at Freycinet. Mammals found include the brushtail possum, ringtail possum, sugar glider, eastern pygmy possum, little pygmy possum, wombats, New Holland mouse, swamp rat, water rat, Tasmanian bettong and the long-nosed potoroo; the Tasmanian devil was once common at the park, but has seen a significant drop in density due to the devil facial tumour disease.
Cetaceans such as southern right whale, humpback whale, bottlenose dolphins are known to use the bay to feed, calve or to take rests. The vegetation in Freycinet National Park is indicative of temperature ranges and precipitation, just as it is through the rest of Tasmania. In this part of the state it is dominated by dry sclerophyll forests and woodlands, with black peppermint growing over an understorey of varying heaths such as Banksia spp. Leptospermum spp. Thryptomene spp. Melaleuca spp. and Calytrix spp. in the area of Hazards Lagoon. West of the lagoon the coastal scrub consists of Acacia longifolia with a thick forest of Allocasuarina verticillata, to the east Eucalyptus ovata and Eucalyptus obliqua dominate the dry woodlands. More than 500 plants have been recorded within the park, with over 80 species of orchids being sighted. Several species have a restricted distribution and numerous species, such as Melaleuca pustulata, Cyphanthera tasmanica, Epacris barbata and Westringia brevifolia var. raleighi are listed under the Tasmanian Threatened Species Protection Act 1995.
The red-necked wallaby called Bennett's wallaby, is one of the most seen animals within the park and can be spotted grazing on low lying vegetation such as grass, they are known to gather around people. Another common species seen is the eastern quoll, a marsupial carnivore, sighted on the mainland of Australia but is now only found in Tasmania. Extinct on the mainland, the Tasmanian pademelon is still common in Freycinet National Park but they are seen during the day, coming out at night to feed. Echidnas can be seen during the day foraging through litter on forest floors, or among coastal vegetation, searching for ants or other food sources; the eastern pygmy possum and the little pygmy possum are listed as vulnerable in several mainland Australian states but are not listed in Tasmania, although they can be found at Freycinet, sightings of them are uncommon. The New Holland mouse is listed as endangered under the Tasmanian TSP Act and sightings are rare, but it is known to be present within Freycinet National Park.
There are numerous reptiles that are found at Freycinet including lizards and snakes. The ocellated skink, Tasmanian tree skink and she-oak skink are all endemic to Tasmania and found in the park. Other species found include the blotched blue-tongued lizard, mountain dragon and lowland copperhead snake; the Tasmanian froglet is endemic to Tasmania and can be seen in several creeks in Freycinet, along with the spotted common eastern froglet found in low-lying water bodies such as swamps. Other amphibians found include the southern toadlet, spotted grass frog, southern brown tree frog and growling grass frog. Owing to the varying ecosystems in Freycinet there are many species of birds that either inhabit or fly through the park, they range from large predator species such as the brown falcon and white-bellied sea eagle to smaller species including the superb fairy-wren and flame robin. There are several species which are listed
Diabase
Diabase or dolerite or microgabbro is a mafic, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are shallow intrusive bodies and exhibit fine grained to aphanitic chilled margins which may contain tachylite. Diabase is the preferred name in North America, yet dolerite is the preferred name in most of the rest of the world, where sometimes the name diabase is applied to altered dolerites and basalts. Many petrologists prefer the name microgabbro to avoid this confusion. Diabase has a fine, but visible texture of euhedral lath-shaped plagioclase crystals set in a finer matrix of clinopyroxene augite, with minor olivine and ilmenite. Accessory and alteration minerals include hornblende, apatite, chalcopyrite, serpentine and calcite; the texture is typical of diabases. This diabasic texture is termed interstitial; the feldspar is high in anorthite, the calcium endmember of the plagioclase anorthite-albite solid solution series, most labradorite. Diabase is found in smaller shallow intrusive bodies such as dikes and sills.
Diabase dikes occur in regions of crustal extension and occur in dike swarms of hundreds of individual dikes or sills radiating from a single volcanic center. The Palisades Sill which makes up the New Jersey Palisades on the Hudson River, near New York City, is an example of a diabase sill; the dike complexes of the British Tertiary Volcanic Province which includes Skye, Rum and Arran of western Scotland, the Slieve Gullion region of Ireland, extends across northern England contains many examples of dolerite dike swarms, towards the Midlands other examples include Rowley Rag. Parts of the Deccan Traps of India, formed at the end of the Cretaceous includes dolerite, it is abundant in large parts of Curaçao, an island off the coast of Venezuela. Another example of diabase dikes has been recognized in the Mongo area within the Guéra Massif of Chad in Central Africa. In Western Australia a 200 km long dolerite dike, the Norseman–Wiluna Belt is associated with the non-alluvial gold mining area between Norseman and Kalgoorlie, which includes the largest gold mine in Australia, the Super Pit gold mine.
West of the Norseman–Wiluna Belt is the Yalgoo–Singleton Belt, where complex dolerite dike swarms obscure the volcaniclastic sediments. Large dolerite sills such as the Golden Mile Dolerite can exhibit course grained texture, show a large diversity in petrography and geochemistry across the width of the sill. In the Thuringian-Franconian-Vogtland Slate Mountains of central Germany the diabase is of Devonian age, they form typical domed landscapes in the Vogtland. One geotourist attraction is the Steinerne Rose near Saalburg, a natural monument, whose present shape is due to the typical weathering of lava pillows; the vast areas of mafic volcanism/plutonism associated with the Jurassic breakup of Gondwanaland in the Southern Hemisphere include many large diabase/dolerite sills and dike swarms. These include the Karoo dolerites of South Africa, the Ferrar Dolerites of Antarctica, the largest of these, indeed the most extensive of all dolerite formations worldwide, are found in Tasmania. Here, the volume of magma which intruded into a thin veneer of Permian and Triassic rocks from multiple feeder sites, over a period of a million years, may have exceeded 40,000 cubic kilometres.
In Tasmania, dolerite dominates much of the landscape alpine areas. Ring dikes are large, near vertical dikes showing above ground as circular outcrops up to 30 km in diameter, with a depth from hundreds of metres to several kilometres. Thicker dikes are made up of plutonic rocks, rather than hypabyssal and are centred on deep intrusions. Diabase is crushed and used as a construction aggregate for road beds, railroad beds, within dams and levees. Diabase can be cut for use as memorials. Diabase can be cut for use as ornamental stone for countertops, facing stone on buildings, paving. A form of dolerite, known as bluestone, is one of the materials used in the construction of Stonehenge. Diabase serves as local building stone. In Tasmania, where it is one of the most common rocks found, it is used for building, for landscaping and to erect dry-stone farm walls. In northern County Down, Northern Ireland, "dolerite" is used in buildings such as Mount Stewart together with Scrabo Sandstone as both are quarried at Scrabo Hill.
The Blackbird is made of black diabase. List of rock types Collection of dikes in the Fish River Canyon, Namibia
Douglas-Apsley National Park
Douglas-Apsley is a national park on the east coast of Tasmania, Australia, 149 km northeast of Hobart, a few kilometres north of Bicheno. It is one of Tasmania's newer National Parks, having been declared on 27 December 1989; the park preserves remnant east coast dry forested catchment of three main streams, Apsley River, Denison Rivulet and Douglas River. Highlights include wildflower displays and mild inland climate. Visitors can do a three-day trek; the park has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area because it supports 11 of Tasmania's endemic bird species as well as flame and pink robins and swift parrots. Protected areas of Tasmania Douglas Apsley
Endangered species
An endangered species is a species, categorized as likely to become extinct. Endangered, as categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, is the second most severe conservation status for wild populations in the IUCN's schema after Critically Endangered. In 2012, the IUCN Red List featured 3,079 animal and 2,655 plant species as endangered worldwide; the figures for 1998 were 1,102 and 1,197. Many nations have laws that protect conservation-reliant species: for example, forbidding hunting, restricting land development or creating preserves. Population numbers and species' conservation status can be found at the lists of organisms by population; the conservation status of a species indicates the likelihood. Many factors are considered; the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is the best-known worldwide conservation status listing and ranking system. Over 50% of the world's species are estimated to be at risk of extinction. Internationally, 199 countries have signed an accord to create Biodiversity Action Plans that will protect endangered and other threatened species.
In the United States, such plans are called Species Recovery Plans. Though labelled a list, the IUCN Red List is a system of assessing the global conservation status of species that includes "Data Deficient" species – species for which more data and assessment is required before their status may be determined – as well species comprehensively assessed by the IUCN's species assessment process; those species of "Near Threatened" and "Least Concern" status have been assessed and found to have robust and healthy populations, though these may be in decline. Unlike their more general use elsewhere, the List uses the terms "endangered species" and "threatened species" with particular meanings: "Endangered" species lie between "Vulnerable" and "Critically Endangered" species, while "Threatened" species are those species determined to be Vulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered; the IUCN categories, with examples of animals classified by them, include: Extinct no remaining individuals of the species Extinct in the wild Captive individuals survive, but there is no free-living, natural population.
Critically endangered Faces an high risk of extinction in the immediate future. Endangered Faces a high risk of extinction in the near future. Vulnerable Faces a high risk of endangerment in the medium term. Near-threatened May be considered threatened in the near future. Least concern No immediate threat to species' survival. A) Reduction in population size based on any of the following: An observed, inferred or suspected population size reduction of ≥ 70% over the last 10 years or three generations, whichever is the longer, where the causes of the reduction are reversible AND understood AND ceased, based on any of the following: direct observation an index of abundance appropriate for the taxon a decline in area of occupancy, extent of occurrence or quality of habitat actual or potential levels of exploitation the effects of introduced taxa, pathogens, competitors or parasites. An observed, inferred or suspected population size reduction of ≥ 50% over the last 10 years or three generations, whichever is the longer, where the reduction or its causes may not have ceased OR may not be understood OR may not be reversible, based on any of to under A1.
A population size reduction of ≥ 50%, projected or suspected to be met within the next 10 years or three generations, whichever is the longer, based on any of to under A1. An observed, inferred, projected or suspected population size reduction of ≥ 50% over any 10 year or three generation period, whichever is longer, where the time period must include both the past and the future, where the reduction or its causes may not have ceased OR may not be understood OR may not be reversible, based on any of to under A1. B) Geographic range in the form of either B1 OR B2 OR both: Extent of occurrence estimated to be less than 5,000 km², estimates indicating at least two of a-c: Severely fragmented or known to exist at no more than five locations. Continuing decline, observed or projected, in any of the following: extent of occurrence area of occupancy area, extent or quality of habitat number of locations or subpopulations number of mature individuals Extreme fluctuations in any of the following: extent of occurrence area of occupancy number of locations or subpopulations number of mature individuals Area of occupancy estimated to be less than 500 km², estimates indicating at least two of a-c: Severely fragmented or known to exist at no more than five locations.
Continuing decline, observed or projected, in any of the following: extent of occurrence area of occupancy area, extent or quality of habitat number of locations or subpopulations number of mature individuals Extreme fluctuations in any of the following: extent of occurrence area of occupancy number of locations or subpopulations number of mature individualsC) Population estimated to number fewer than 2,500 mature individuals and either: An estimated continuing decline of at least 20% within five years or two generations, whichever is longer, OR A continuing decline, projected
Hartz Mountains National Park
Hartz Mountains National Park is located in the south of Tasmania, Australia. It is one of 19 Tasmanian National Parks, in 1989 it was included in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, in recognition of its natural and cultural values; the Hartz Mountains were named after the Harz mountain range in Germany. Most of the park is over 600 metres above sea level, with altitudes ranging from 160 m at the Picton River to 1,255 m at Hartz Peak; the backbone of rock in the park is dolerite, while the southern areas at lower altitudes are constituted from sedimentary rocks formed from sediments deposited by marine and freshwater sources between 355 and 180 million years ago. The relief has been modified over time by several ice ages, forming cirques, horn peaks and glacial troughs; the varied vegetation includes wet eucalypt forests, mixed forests dominated by stringybark, sub-alpine and alpine forests. The rainforest communities are dominated by myrtle, sassafras and native laurel; the sub-alpine forests are dominated by three eucalypt types: snow gum, varnished gum, Australia's smallest eucalypt, yellow gum.
Much of the understorey is made including the Tasmanian waratah. Most mammals in the park are nocturnal, include Bennett's wallabies, Tasmanian pademelons, brushtail possums and platypus. Among amphibians outstanding is the moss froglet, discovered at Hartz Mountains in 1992; some of the common birds in the park include the eastern spinebill, green rosella, forest raven and several honeyeaters. The area of the park was once inhabited by the Mellukerdee aboriginal people; the first Europeans came to the area in the 19th century in search of Huon pine timber. In the 1840s early settlers including the Geeves family founded the township of Geeveston, laid the first track to the Hartz Mountains; as a result, the area became one of Tasmania's earliest popular bushwalking destinations. The increasing popularity of the area for recreation led to it being declared a scenic reserve in 1939. In 1951 it was proclaimed to a national park, in 1989 it was included in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.
List of national parks of Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service Tasmania
