Saturday, February 25, 2012

Atlas of Living Australia

Heard about this website (called ALA for short) on the radio. You can search by 'Species in your area' - as specific as your home address - to find out what species (of any kind) live nearby, or anywhere in Australia. You can also contribute to the website if you think you've discovered a species that is not on it ('Contributed by Australia’s academic, scientific, environmental communities and you').

It sounded great, and I've done a search for my area. But do you think I can understand the results and how I might use them, even as simply as in a conversation at a party (should I happen to go to one)? No. But I am sure it is an interesting site, so may revisit sometime with a botanist, entymologist etc in tow. Within a 1 km range of home at the time of writing there were 114 animal species (one my dog?), 93 bird species, 5 reptile species (one presumably a snake - scary thought when I am walking through the dunes), 212 plant species, 0 bacteria (phew!), and so on. To revisit in 1 year to see how it's changed? An increase will mean more input/recordings/sightings. A decrease will mean...? (More development? Less natural habitat?) To find out.

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