ABSTRACT
The ecological status of national parks and nature reserves is usually considered to be healthy when compared to intensively managed landscapes and land that has been cleared for agriculture. The Stirling Range National Park (Figure 40.1) is a large area (115,600 ha) of original vegetation that was designated national park status in 1913 (Underwood and Burbidge, 1993). It is a zone of exceptional biodiversity and contains 1500 plant species, 87 of which are endemic to the park. Historical records of vertebrate fauna show that the park supported 27 species of terrestrial mammals; however, 12 of these are now extinct. Their decline is largely attributed to predation by introduced carnivores (Friend and Muir, 1993). The avifauna is more diverse with 140 species recorded, 90 of which are known to have bred or breed in the park (Burbidge and Rose, 1993). Location map. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780429143236/f1dfd849-b04a-4cca-a2ed-e9e96f7865f1/content/fig40_1.tif"/>
