Tropical Dry Forest in Australia
All tropical dry forest are located at the northern part of the continent because of the tropical and subtropical area. The distinction between a tropical dry forest and tropical rain forest is the length of the dry season. Tropical dry forest encounters extremely dry season; however, plants and animals have adapted to it. The tropical dry forest in Australia are covered by evergreens, mainly eucalyptus because it loses its leaves during the dry season in order to preserve water. The tropical dry forest in Australia is overlooked by the public, thus it is extremely endangered.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/ecozones/Australasia_ecozone
Tropical dry forest are all located between 30N and 30S in the tropical and subtropical areas. Therefore, all tropical dry forest in Australia are located at the northern part of the country as shown in the map above.
The tropical dry forest in Australia are covered with eucalyptus trees because it's able to survive during the dry season. During the dry season trees lose its leaves in order to adapt to less water. 
There are more mammalians living in the tropical dry forest because they're able to survive in the extreme season. Giraffes is one of the land animal that lives in this ecosystem. They're able to reach for the leaves on trees during the dry season.
http://www.ehow.com/list_6613627_types-animals-tropical-dry-forest.html
Historical State:
Ever since the existence of indigenous people in
Australia, the country was big on hunting and gathering, which made them
dependent on wood, bone, stone tools and weapons. Immigration increases after
World War II, which led to a vital improvement in the countries urbanization. Urbanization
can never mean a positive effect on the ecosystems. The tropical dry forest
started to interact with humans more due to the increase of migration. In
addition to human interaction, natural disasters also hit the ecosystem.
Cyclones and natural fire played a role in the development of the ecosystem as
well.
Human Impact:
Tropical
dry forest is the most endangered ecosystem because it does not bring enough attention
for conservation like others ecosystem such as tropical rainforests. Saying
that, with the increase human interaction the ecosystem is becoming more
endangered because the forest is turned into land for agriculture rather land
being conserved for its natural habitat. The use of fire for agriculture can
easily clear the forest since fields and pastures are easily suppressed with
fire. In addition, many areas are unintentionally cleared by fire since fire
spread. When humans practice land
clearing to convert land for other purposes, it results in the loss of
biodiversity. Land clearing is in demand due to the increase in population,
thus farmers have an increasing pressure to grow more crops. In addition to land clearing, humans
also increase their wood collecting for the use of building materials, fuel or
as stock for making charcoal.
Human’s
interaction with the tropical dry forest is increasing; however it is not
increasing its conservation but rather increasing its land usage.
The
tropical dry forests in Australia seem to be over looked at because of the
dominating tropical rainforest that more people give attention to. Although it
seems to be a bad future for the tropical dry forest due to its lack of conservation,
with numerous articles saying that it’s the most endangered ecosystem today,
attention is being brought closer to help conserve this ecosystem. First, I
think we should acknowledge the tremendous decrease in the tropical dry forest.
Then we should develop a plan on how to conserve the remainder tropical dry
forest, such as decrease clear cutting and wood collecting. Finally, we need to
spread the words to the public in order to successfully save the endangered
ecosystem and improve the conservation status of the forests in Northern
Australia. By saving the ecosystem, the adapted plants and animal are able to
live in their natural habitat.
What can be done to the forest:
Tropical
dry forests are poorly known, which makes it difficult to develop a restoring
process for the forest. However, people realizes that tropical dry forest has
to have its own formula to restoration rather than following restoration
processes for other type of forest. A step to restoring this ecosystem is to
collect seeds during the dry season and planting it when the soil is
moisturized during wet season in order to help with the growth of the forest. A
beneficial mechanism for the tropical dry forest is resprouting ability, which
should be taken into consideration for restoration. Fire can be both harmful
and beneficial for the ecosystem; thus, we should not be an extremist and take
it out. Fire helps simplify community species composition.
References:
-BBC. Australasia Ecozone. 2012. http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/ecozones/Australasia_ecozone
-Planet Earth. Australian Endangered Ecosystems. June 2012.
http://www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/grass2.htm
-National Academy Press. Tropical Dry Forest. 1988.
References:
-BBC. Australasia Ecozone. 2012. http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/ecozones/Australasia_ecozone
-Planet Earth. Australian Endangered Ecosystems. June 2012.
http://www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/grass2.htm
-National Academy Press. Tropical Dry Forest. 1988.
http://www.forestry.toronto.edu/courses/for201/Resources/tropical_dry_forests_janzen_1988.pdf
-Perspectives of Plant Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics. Tropical Forest Recovery. 2003.
http://www.agroparistech.fr/geeft/Downloads/Training/TropEcol/Archives_2009/4.2f.pdf
-National Academic Press. Tropical Dry Forest. 2012.
