ABSTRACT
The Arctic presents some of the harshest conditions on the planet but is home to unique and fragile communities. Plants are dormant for most of the year blossom during the brief Arctic summer. Vast numbers of birds, including over a hundred species of waterfowl and waders, breed and then migrate all over the world. The Antarctic is a continent larger than Europe, measuring 5.4 million square miles. Temperatures rarely rise above freezing, and most of the land is covered in ice. Glaciers flow from the interior into the oceans, creating enormous, ice-shelves, half a mile thick. Australias rich biodiversity is, however, protected by a network of nearly 9,000 protected areas. They include islands in the Indian Ocean and Tasman Sea for which Australia has responsibility. Madagascars geographical isolation has led to separate evolution, producing many endemic species and a diverse range of habitat: tropical conditions along the coast, temperate inland areas and arid deserts in the south.
