Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS) is a project undertaken by the Parks Australia Division of
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
's
.
Background
ABRS was founded in 1973 from the recommendations of a 1972 Senate Select Committee report on Wildlife Conservation.
ABRS was first set up as an Interim Council in 1973, followed by the establishment of the Study proper in 1978. The main aim of the Interim Council was to stimulate the study of
taxonomy
image:Hierarchical clustering diagram.png, 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy
Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme o ...
, distribution and ecology of Australia's biological resources via research grants, and for assessing the long term national requirements for taxonomic studies and maintenance of national collections of biological specimens.
Research grants
A core aim of the ABRS is to provide funding to support research on taxonomy and systematics for Australia's biota.
The first grants offered by ABRS were to support the collection and scientific description of Australian plants and animals. Up to $750,000 was made available across three financial years: 1973–74, 1974–75 and 1975–76, with the scheme topped up with $250,000 for each of 1976–77 and 1977–78. In total, 89 projects were funded during the five year period.
Publications
The most important outputs of the ABRS has been the publication of the multi-volume ''
Flora of Australia
The flora of Australia comprises a vast assemblage of plant species estimated to over 21,000 vascular and 14,000 non-vascular plants, 250,000 species of fungi and over 3,000 lichens. The flora has strong affinities with the flora of Gondwana, ...
''
and ''
Fauna of Australia'' series.
Other output includes ''
The Banksia Atlas'' and the "Platypus"
database
In computing, a database is an organized collection of data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and a ...
package for taxonomists.
Sponsored publications from grants, or publishing projects include:
:
:
:
References
External links
* {{cite web , title = Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS) , url = http://www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/index.html , publisher =
Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts , access-date = 2006-06-27, archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060615220052/http://www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/index.html, archive-date= 15 June 2006 , url-status= live
Biota of Australia
Botany in Australia
Environment of Australia