The Bassian ecoregion is a

biogeographic Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, ...

region 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 coastal and

continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an islan ...

waters. It includes the cold-temperate waters surrounding Tasmania, including the central

Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The ...

between

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

and the southern Australian mainland. This ecoregion, designated in the Marine Ecoregions of the World system by the

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the ...

(WWF), includes both the Bass Strait Shelf and Tasmanian Shelf provincial level bioregions from the

Integrated Marine and Coastal Regionalisation of Australia The Integrated Marine and Coastal Regionalisation of Australia (IMCRA), formerly the Interim Marine and Coastal Regionalisation for Australia, is a biogeographic regionalisation of the oceanic waters of Australia's exclusive economic zone (EEZ ...

(IMCRA) system."A Guide to the Integrated Marine and Coastal Regionalisation of Australia Version 4.0". Department of Environment and Heritage, Government of Australia. June 2006. ISBN 0 642 552274.

Geography

The Bassian ecoregion extends around Tasmania, and across the central Bass Strait to the central coast of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

on the Australian mainland. On the southeast, south, and southwest it extends to the edge of the continental shelf. On the Victorian Coast it extends from east of

Cape Otway Cape Otway is a cape and a bounded locality of the Colac Otway Shire in southern Victoria, Australia on the Great Ocean Road; much of the area is enclosed in the Great Otway National Park. The cape marks the boundary between the Southern Ocea ...

to Waratah Bay. It excludes King Island and the western end of the Bass Strait, which belongs to the adjacent Western Bassian ecoregion, and to the east it excludes the

Furneaux Group The Furneaux Group is a group of approximately 100 islands located at the eastern end of Bass Strait, between Victoria and Tasmania, Australia. The islands were named after British navigator Tobias Furneaux, who sighted the eastern side of ...

of islands and the eastern end of the Bass Strait, which belong to the adjacent

Cape Howe Cape Howe is a coastal headland in eastern Australia, forming the south-eastern end of the Black-Allan Line, a portion of the border between New South Wales and Victoria. History Cape Howe was named by Captain Cook Captain James Cook ...

ecoregion. The Otway and Cape Howe ecoregions are transitions between the cold-temperate Bassian ecoregion and warm-temperate regions further to the northwest and northeast.

Ecology

The province is characterised by cold temperate species which also dwell in the adjacent transitions. It also is home to warm temperate species from the Central Eastern Shelf Province and Southwest Shelf Province, and widespread southern temperate species. The bioregional endemics are a focus of national biodiversity conservation efforts.

References

{{reflist Biogeography of Victoria (state) Biogeography of Tasmania Ecoregions of Australia Temperate Australasia Coastline of Tasmania Coastline of Victoria (state)