What is biodiversity?

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Biodiversity, or biological diversity is the variety of all living life-forms including plants, animals and micro-organisms, the genes they all contain and the ecosystems of which they form a part.

Why is biodiversity important?

Biodiversity encompasses a range of living things and ecosystems, which are constantly evolving and adapting to environmental changes. Our living wealth needs to be maintained and enhanced for our economic, cultural, social and spiritual well-being.

The bioregional approach

Victorian bioregions nest within the national categorisation for terrestrial environments (the Interim Bioregionalisation for Australia, IBRA) and marine environments (the Interim Marine and Coastal Regionalisation for Australia, IMCRA).

Native flora and fauna are inherently diverse and exist within complex systems. There is need for a framework which can both simplify this complexity and connect us more directly to the biodiversity assets and challenges in our own neighbourhoods and working environments. Biogeographic regions (bioregions) capture the patterns of ecological characteristics in the landscape or seascape, providing a natural framework for recognising and responding to biodiversity values. As bioregions reflect underlying environmental features, they can also be related to the patterns of use of land and sea. Five bioregions occur in Victorian waters. The 12 national terrestrial bioregions have been broken down in to 21 Victorian Bioregions.

The bioregional areas at the time of publication of the Biodiversity Strategy (November 1997) are illustrated in the map below. Bioregional networks are being established to facilitate partnerships between the wide range of land managers who share responsibilities for biodiversity conservation.

Victoria's bioregions have been updated since the strategy was released in 1997. The changes were made with the finalisation of vegetation mapping in November 2004.
Victoria's bioregions - Updated in 2004

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Victorian Bioregions

Biogeographic Regions (IBRA) in adjacent States

Victoria’s Biodiversity is characterised by a complexity of 3140 native species of vascular plant, 900 lichens, 750 mosses and liverworts, 111 mammals, 477 birds, 46 freshwater and 600 marine fish, 133 reptiles, 33 amphibians, and an untold number of invertebrates, fungi and algae occurring within hundreds of ecological communities. The Strategy uses a range of tables and charts (illustrated below) to define these assets in each bioregion.

Native Terrestrial Vertebrates of the Victorian Volcanic Plain
Vertebrates	Victorian Volcanic Plain
Amphibians	20
Birds	434
Mammals	106
Reptiles	47

Broad Vegetation Types in the Glenelg Plain
	Glenelg Plain
Broad Vegetation Types	Pre-European Area (ha)	% of BVT Remaining
Coastal Grassy Woodland Complexes	21448	9.4
Heathy Woodland Complexes	373280	51.3
Lowland Forest Complexes	-1	21.4
Plains Grassy Woodland Complexes	42738	20.9

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