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Lockerbie Scrub
Lockerbie Scrub is a 230 km2 area of closed forest and woodland, surrounded by open tropical savanna woodland, at the northern tip of the Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, Australia. Description The Scrub consists of lowland rainforest, eucalypt tall open forest and closed eucalypt woodland. The rainforest type represented there is predominantly semi-deciduous notophyll vine forest growing upon a number of different soil types.Abrahams, H.; Mulvaney, M.; Glasco, D.; & Bugg, A. (1995). Areas of Conservation Significance on Cape York Peninsula. accessed 9 January 2008 The climate is monsoonal with well-defined wet and dry seasons. Land tenure is mainly Aboriginal (Deed of Grant in Trust) land, with pockets of freehold around the communities of New Mapoon and Bamaga.BirdLife International. (2011). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Lockerbie Scrub. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 07/08/2011. Fauna Mammals Northern quolls, spectacled flying foxes and ba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freehold (law)
In common law jurisdictions such as England and Wales, Australia, Canada, and Ireland, a freehold is the common mode of ownership of real property, or land, and all immovable structures attached to such land. It is in contrast to a leasehold, in which the property reverts to the owner of the land after the lease period expires or otherwise lawfully terminates. For an estate to be a freehold, it must possess two qualities: immobility (property must be land or some interest issuing out of or annexed to land) and ownership of it must be forever ("of an indeterminate duration"). If the time of ownership can be fixed and determined, it cannot be a freehold. It is "An estate in land held in fee simple, fee tail or for term of life." The default position subset is the perpetual freehold, which is "an estate given to a grantee for life, and then successively to the grantee's heirs for life." England and Wales Diversity of freeholds before 1925 In England and Wales, before the Law of P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lovely Fairywren
The lovely fairywren (''Malurus amabilis''), or lovely wren, is a species of bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is endemic to northeastern Australia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest. Taxonomy and systematics It is one of twelve species of the genus '' Malurus'', commonly known as fairywrens, found in Australia and lowland New Guinea. Within the genus it belongs to a group of five very similar species known collectively as chestnut-shouldered fairywrens. The other four species are the variegated fairywren, purple-backed fairywren, red-winged fairywren, and the blue-breasted fairywren. A 2011 analysis of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA found that the lovely fairywren is the sister taxon of the Purple-backed fairywren. The lovely fairywren was first described by the ornithologist John Gould in 1852, from a male specimen collected by Captain Owen Stanley in Cape York. Gould expec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rainbow Bee-eater
The rainbow bee-eater (''Merops ornatus'') is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family Meropidae. Taxonomy The rainbow bee-eater is the only species of Meropidae found in Australia and is monotypic. Its closest relative is most likely the olive bee-eater (''Merops superciliosus'') of southern and eastern Africa, but molecular phylogenetic analysis places the rainbow bee-eater as closest relative with the European bee-eater (''M. apiaster''). It was first described by John Latham in 1801. The generic name is Ancient Greek ''merops'' which means 'bee-eater' and the specific epithet is Latin ''ornatus'' 'ornate, adorned'. Description Rainbow bee-eaters are brilliantly coloured birds that grow to be in length, including the elongated tail feathers, and weighing . The upper back and wings are green in colour, and the lower back and under-tail coverts are bright blue. The undersides of the wings and primary flight feathers are rufous to copper with green edges and tipped with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spangled Drongo
The spangled drongo (''Dicrurus bracteatus'') is a bird of the family Dicruridae. It is the only drongo to be found in Australia, where it can be recognised by its black, iridescent plumage and its characteristic forked tail. It feeds on insects and small vertebrates. It has complex and varied calls and is a mimic of the sounds it hears. It arrives in Queensland in late spring and breeds high in an isolated tree, producing three to five young each year. Description Its basically black plumage is iridescent with blue and purple highlights. Its eyes are crimson. The most remarkable characteristic of its appearance is its tail, which is described by Morcombe as "long, outcurved and forked" and on first examination looks like its feathers are crossed over – like crossing your fingers. Young drongos lack the highlights and spots and their eyes are dark brown. Behaviour The spangled drongo displays uninhibited and sometimes comical behaviour as it swoops and perches in search of i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Traffic Bottleneck
A traffic bottleneck is a localized disruption of vehicular traffic on a street, road, or highway. As opposed to a traffic jam, a bottleneck is a result of a specific physical condition, often the design of the road, badly timed traffic lights, or sharp curves. They can also be caused by temporary situations, such as vehicular accidents. Bottlenecks can also occur in other methods of transportation. Capacity bottlenecks are the most vulnerable points in a network and are very often the subject of offensive or defensive military actions. Capacity bottlenecks of strategic importance - such as the Panama Canal where traffic is limited by the infrastructure - are normally referred to as choke points; capacity bottlenecks of tactical value are referred to as mobility corridors. Causes Traffic bottlenecks are caused by a wide variety of things: * Construction zones where one or more existing lanes become unavailable (as depicted in the diagram on the right) * Accident sites that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bird Migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal movement, often north and south along a flyway, between breeding and wintering grounds. Many species of bird migrate. Migration carries high costs in predation and mortality, including from hunting by humans, and is driven primarily by the availability of food. It occurs mainly in the northern hemisphere, where birds are funneled onto specific routes by natural barriers such as the Mediterranean Sea or the Caribbean Sea. Migration of species such as storks, turtle doves, and swallows was recorded as many as 3,000 years ago by Ancient Greek authors, including Homer and Aristotle, and in the Book of Job. More recently, Johannes Leche began recording dates of arrivals of spring migrants in Finland in 1749, and modern scientific studies have used techniques including bird ringing and satellite tracking to trace migrants. Threats to migratory birds have grown with habitat destruction, especially of stopover and wintering sites, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Important Bird Area
An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife International. There are over 13,000 IBAs worldwide. These sites are small enough to be entirely conserved and differ in their character, habitat or ornithological importance from the surrounding habitat. In the United States the Program is administered by the National Audubon Society. Often IBAs form part of a country's existing protected area network, and so are protected under national legislation. Legal recognition and protection of IBAs that are not within existing protected areas varies within different countries. Some countries have a National IBA Conservation Strategy, whereas in others protection is completely lacking. History In 1985, following a specific request from the European Economic Community, Birdlife International ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding important sites for birds, maintaining and restoring key bird habitats, and empowering conservationists worldwide. It has a membership of more than 2.5 million people across 116 country partner organizations, including the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the Wild Bird Society of Japan, the National Audubon Society and American Bird Conservancy. BirdLife International has identified 13,000 Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas and is the official International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List authority for birds. As of 2015, BirdLife International has established that 1,375 bird species (13% of the total) are threatened with extinction ( critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable). BirdLife Internation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bare-backed Fruit Bat
The bare-backed fruit bat or Moluccan naked-backed fruit bat (''Dobsonia moluccensis'') is a fruit bat in the family Pteropodidae. Taxonomy and etymology It was described as a new species in 1830 by Jean René Constant Quoy and Joseph Paul Gaimard who placed it in the now-defunct bat genus ''Hypoderma'', with the scientific name ''H. moluccensis''. Its relationship with '' Dobsonia magna'' requires further investigation. Its species name "'' moluccensis''" means "belonging to the Moluccas," which is where the species is found. Description Its fur is brown and its feet have distinctive white claws. It is smaller than the New Guinea naked-backed fruit bat. Males weigh while females weigh . Its ears are pointed, and its second digits lack claws, unlike flying foxes. Its wings attach at the back along the spine rather than along the sides of the body. Biology and ecology The bare-backed fruit bat is a seasonal breeder, with the mating season from April to June. Females give birth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spectacled Flying Fox
The spectacled flying fox (''Pteropus conspicillatus''), also known as the spectacled fruit bat, is a megabat that lives in Australia's north-eastern regions of Queensland. It is also found in New Guinea and on the offshore islands including Woodlark Island, Alcester Island, Kiriwina, and Halmahera. The spectacled flying fox was listed as a threatened species under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. They were considered vulnerable due to a significant decline in numbers as a result of loss of their prime feeding habitat and secluded camp sites. It has also been reported that spectacled flying foxes skim over the surface of water to drink and are sometimes eaten by crocodiles. The species was classified as endangered by the IUCN in 2020. In February 2019 the Australian government upgraded the threatened status from vulnerable to endangered, after almost a third of the bat population died in a severe heatwave in Queensland in late 2018. Descripti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
