Flora and Fauna

Most of Australia is semi arid or desert, although it covers a diverse range of habitats, from alpine heaths to tropical rainforests. The long-term geographic isolation and the extremely variable weather of Australia unique and diverse. About 85% of flowering plants, 84% of mammals, more than 45% of birds, and 89% of in-shore, temperate-zone fish are endemic. Many of Australia's ecoregions, and the species within those regions, are threatened by human activities and introduced plant and animal species.

Many of Australian woody plant species are evergreen and most are adapted to fire and drought, including eucalyptus and acacias. Well-known Australian fauna include monotremes (the platypus and echidna); a host of marsupials, including the kangaroo, koala, wombat; and birds such as the emu, and kookaburra. The dingo was introduced by Austronesian people that traded with Indigenous Australians around 4000 BCE. Most plant and animal species became extinct soon after humans have settled in Australia, including the Australian megafauna; others have become extinct since European settlement, among them the Thylacine.