They eventually colonised the steep, soft-soiled hillsides and the plateau regions and the impacts of rabbit grazing on vegetation and soil stability became severe. After several years of detailed planning, in funding was provided to implement an eradication plan that would simultaneously target mice, ship rats and rabbits. The project involved an extensive phase of aerial baiting, which was completed in July The last rabbit was recorded on the island in November , and after three years of intensive patrolling with by hunting teams and their dogs, the project was declared a success in With the removal of rabbits and the resulting intensive grazing pressure, the island's vegetation is rapidly rebounding.
Sea birds, which had suffered predation of eggs and chicks by rats, are also returning in numerous areas. Invertebrates too, are recovering. Macquarie Island Nature Reserve - Marine area. The Macquarie Island Nature Reserve also occupies all of Macquarie Island's State waters from nautical miles outward, and is about 75, ha in size. The island and surrounding area are unique in their geological characteristics.
It is the only known location where oceanic crust, from a normal mid-ocean ridge, has been lifted above sea level in a major oceanic basin. Moreover, its overall north-south trend means that it acts as a major barrier to the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, the earth's largest and most important oceanic current, which flows eastward about the Antarctic landmass. This impacts on the balance of oceanic and atmospheric heat and chemical exchange, which in turn has an effect on the southern hemisphere's weather patterns.
There are no trees but 41 species of native vascular flora, 80 species of moss, more than 50 liverworts, plus fungi species and types of lichen grow on Macquarie Island. These occur in four major vegetation communities - tall and short tussock grasslands, mire and feldmark.
Extensive areas of tall tussock grassland on steep coastal slopes, coastal terraces and inland valleys are recovering from decimation by rabbits. Until their eradication by , rabbits had an even bigger impact on the island's herbfields and short tussock grasslands found on the poorly-drained plateau and wetter beach-raised terraces. In heavily-grazed areas, vascular plants have been gradually replaced by mosses and liverworts.
Communities of mosses, herbs and grasses grow on the surface of deep peat bogs forming a spongy mire landscape. In some places the vegetation is so thin it is unsafe for walkers. The majority of the island is covered with cushion plants , mosses, liverworts and lichen. These feldmark plant communities proliferate on the high and exposed areas of the plateau and peaks. Macquarie Island is recognised for its rich and diverse animal life.
The majority of these are penguins. Gentoos, rockhoppers, kings and endemic royals gather in vast colonies which made them easy targets of exploitation for oil in the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries. Four of the world's albatross species nest among the tall tussocks and on coastal slopes while petrels, prions, kelp gulls, great skuas, shearwaters, terns and endemic Macquarie Island cormorants breed in significant numbers. Macquarie is the only island where all three fur seals - Antarctic, sub-Antarctic and New Zealand - have established populations.
Macquarie Island lies almost 1, kilometres to the southeast of Tasmania, about half-way between Australia and Antarctica. The property includes Macquarie Island, Judge and Clerk Islets 11 kilometres to the north, the Bishop and Clerk Islets 37 kilometres to the south, rocks, reefs and the surrounding waters to a distance of 12 nautical miles. The main island is approximately 34 kilometres long and 5.
The property covers an area of , hectares. Macquarie Island has outstanding universal value for two reasons. Second, its remote and windswept landscape of steep escarpments, lakes, and dramatic changes in vegetation provides an outstanding spectacle of wild, natural beauty complemented by vast congregations of wildlife including penguins and seals. Criterion vii : Macquarie Island provides an outstanding spectacle of wild, natural beauty with huge congregations of penguins and seals populating what has been described as a small speck thrust up into the vast Southern Ocean.
This is framed by steep escarpments which rise spectacularly to a plateau surface dotted with innumerable lakes, tarns and pools. The continual westerly winds, which increase in force as they rise over the barrier of the island, and changes in topography result in dramatic changes in the vegetation cover which can vary from lush grassland to sparse feldmark within the space of a few metres.
Among the most aesthetically appealing features of the island are the vast congregations of wildlife, particularly penguins, during the breeding season. The breeding population of Royal Penguins Eudyptes schlegeli , a species endemic to Macquarie Island and nearby Bishop and Clerk Islets, is estimated at over , pairs, one of the greatest congregations of seabirds in the world. The breeding population of King Penguins Aptenodytes patagonicus , estimated at around ,—, breeding pairs in , is still expanding.
As the King Penguin chicks do not leave the vicinity of the nest for a year, they survive the rigours of winter by huddling together on the windy and snow-swept beaches. Four species of albatross nest on steep and rugged cliffs and are easily viewed when nesting. Elephant Seals Mirounga leonina also form impressive colonies during the breeding season.
The geological evolution of Macquarie Island began 10 million years ago and continues today with the island experiencing earthquakes and a rapid rate of uplift, all of which are related to active geological processes along the boundary between the two plates.
Sequences from all crustal levels, down to 6 kilometres below the ocean floor, are exposed as a result of tilting and differential uplift on Macquarie Island. This provides rare evidence for sequences that are common from the bottom of the oceans to the upper mantle, but not seen elsewhere in surface outcrops. The lack of deformation of this exposed crust is highly significant as it exhibits key interrelated and interdependent oceanic crustal elements in their natural relationship.
Macquarie Island is the only ophiolite a well-developed and studied geological complex recognised to have been formed within a major ocean basin. The geology of the island is therefore considered to be the connecting link between the ophiolites of continental environments and those located within the oceanic crust. The property is of sufficient size and contains the necessary elements to demonstrate the key aspects of the geological processes of Macquarie Island and the outlying Bishop and Clerk and Judge and Clerk islets.
All major elements of the Macquarie deformational zone are included in the property. Human impacts, commencing on Macquarie Island in , have resulted in major changes to the biota of the reserve. Scientists with Captain Robert Scott in and Sir Ernest Shackleton in also collected specimens on the island.
In addition to conducting geomagnetic observations and mapping the island, studies were made of the island's botany, zoology, meteorology and geology.
The Macquarie Island expedition also established the first radio link between Australia and Antarctica by setting up a radio relay station on Wireless Hill. This station could communicate with both Mawson's main expedition group at Commonwealth Bay, and Australia. They discontinued after the loss of the relief ship Endeavour with all crew and passengers in The island was declared a wildlife sanctuary in It was upgraded to a state reserve in and in was renamed the Macquarie Island Nature Reserve.
In , Macquarie Island was granted World Heritage status. It has been operating continuously ever since. Why live in Antarctica? How many people? The sealing era Discovery of the island is attributed to Captain Frederick Hasselborough of the brig Perseverance. A place for science Macquarie Island has been of interest to scientists since its discovery. Wildlife sanctuary The island was declared a wildlife sanctuary in
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