Творческая работа на тему "Фауна и флора Австралии" с презентацией

 Творческая  работа на тему «Фауна и флора Австралии»                          Алимурадова Эдуарда  ученика  10 класса                                                                                                          МБОУ Екатериновская сош, М-Курганского района, Ростовской области                                                          

Fauna and flora of Australia

I want to tell you about fauna and flora of Australia. This is the unique world. The isolated geographical position of Australia had great influence on its fauna and flora. That is why many animals and plants developed differently from those on other continents. Australia is a land of birds and animals which cannot be found anywhere else in the world. This is reflected in the country's coat-of-arms by the symbols of Australia's native animals and plants: the kangaroo and the emu and a twig of wattle. It is also reflected in Australia's poetic name: "Land of Wattle".                                                    Australia is a land like no other, with about one million different native species. More than 80 per cent of the country’s flowering plants, mammals, reptiles and frogs are unique to Australia, along with most of its freshwater fish and almost half of its birds.  Australia’s marine environment is home to 4000 fish species, 1700 coral species, 50 types of marine mammal and a wide range of seabirds. Most marine species found in southern Australian waters occur nowhere else.  In Australia there are more than 378 species of mammals, 828 species of birds, 300 species of lizards, 140 species of snakes and two species of crocodiles. The half of the mammals is marsupials. The rest are either placental or monotremes.                                                                                                                                                         Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef.  It is a garden under the sea, which contains 1500 species of coral fish, 4000 types of clams and snails, and countless other marine species, 300 kinds of coral. And it is not the only coral reef in Australia. Tropical fruit and flowers grow on the beautiful islands. It's not surprising that more holiday-makers come to Queensland every year. Tasmania, the island south of Australia, is small. It is the same size as England. It is also very different from the other states. There are no deserts in Tasmania. It often rains, both in winter and summer. Only a half of million people live in Tasmania, and a large part of the island is still covered with wild, beautiful wild forests. These forests are full of wonderful flowers and interesting animals. In the Northern Territory you will find the red heart of Australia. And it really is red, with red rocks, red sand, and red skies in the evening. Every year, thousands of tourists visit Ayers Rock and a strange group of huge red stones called "the Olgas".  But these places are also holy to the Aboriginals. They believe that the land itself has life.                                                                                                                                  Australia’s endemic animals and birds are:                                                                           the kangaroo                                                                                                                                 the koala                                                                                                                               the wombat                                                                                                                               the echidna                                                                                                                         the platypus                                                                                                                                           the dingo (wild dog)                                                                                                             the emu                                                                                                                                the kookaburra                                                                                                                                                      Monotreme animals - the only mammals in the world that lay eggs are found only in Australia and Papua New Guinea. There used to be more of them but nowadays only two species remain. They are: the duck billed platypus that lives in freshwater streams and the hedgehog-looking ant- eater echidna, which is a land animal. Platypus is found along the eastern coast of Australia, while echidna is one of the very few species that has adapted to every habitat on this huge continent, from snowy mountains to dry deserts and steamy hot rainforests. The platypus is a small animal with a beak of a duck, a furry body and webbed feet. The length of its body is 30-40 centimeters; the length of tail is 10-15 centimeters. It weighs 2 kilos. The platypus is poisonous (not for people).                                                                                                                               The second group of Australian mammals is marsupial animals – so classified because they carry their young in the pouch. The best known of them are kangaroos,  koalas, wombats, possums and Tasmanian Devils. There are numerous less famous ones like bandicoots, bilbies, quolls, dunnarts, numbats and gliders.                                         The kangaroo is an animal that carries babies in the pouch for eight months. It is the largest marsupial in the world. It can weigh 85 kilogrammes. The biggest are the great grey kangaroos. They are 213 centimetres tall and can run at 56 kilometres per hour.  The Australians call a male kangaroo "a boomer", a female kangaroo —                     "a flyer" and a baby kangaroo — "a joye".  Why a "kangaroo"? When European explorers first saw these strange hopping animals they asked a native Australian Aborigine about their name. He answered "kangaroo" to say "I don’t understand your question".  The explorers thought this was the animal’s name. That is how the kangaroo got its name.                                                                                                         The koala is a small bear - like animal which lives in the eucalyptus trees. Most of its time the koala spends in these trees sleeping. However, they like to eat only some kinds of eucalyptus trees that grow in Australia.  Koala has a black nose and thick furry coat. It can weigh 10 kilogrammes. Though it looks very cuddly it has very sharp teeth and very sharp claws. The koala’s nickname is a "native bear". Many people believe that koala is a bear but it is not even related to bears. The koala is related to the kangaroo and the wombat. The reason why it is called "bear" is that it looks very much like a teddy bear. The name "koala" is the Aboriginal name for "no water". The number of koalas is getting smaller. This is partly because of fumes from bush fires. Rescue teams help the koalas by catching them, putting them on respirators, then returning them to their original location when they are better.                                                                                                                  The wombats and koalas have many similarities and are probably related. Both have pockets inside their mouths to store food and neither has a tail.                              Wombats can grow to 40kg or more, although 30kg is more common.

Because of their strength and size they are called "bulldozers of the bush".

They are found mostly in the south eastern part of Australia.  Roughly from

south- east Queensland down the coastal and mountainous area through

Victoria and into southern South Australia, and of course Tasmania.                  Wombats are burrowing animals and have powerfully built forearms

with short flattened claws.  They can build quite long burrows (20m.) that

they generally occupy alone. Wombats are herbivores and eat grasses, herbs, and roots. They may breed at any time of the year.  Usually only one baby is

produced at a time and remains in the pouch for about six months.  When it

has left (or been kicked out) of the pouch it will follow its mother for

nearly another year.  They become sexually mature at about 2 years of age.

They can live up to five years in the wild and to 20 years in captivity.                                                                                                                            Australia also has a lot of native marsupial mice that live in the desert. Many of them come out at night.                                                                                                         .                                                                                                                                                            The Tasmanian Devils live on their own, and come out at night to hunt for food. They eat small birds and mammals, as well as insects. They have black coat with white spot and a small bear-shaped head. The length of their body is 2 metres.                             The opossums (or possums) are marsupials with long thick tails.  The smallest possum is the Tasmanian pygmy possum, with an adult head-body length of 70 mm and a weight of 10 g. The largest is the bear cuscus that may exceed 7 kg.                                                  The third group of mammals - placental animals. They don't originate in Australia, but they are considered to be Australian native animals. Bats arrived air ways while dugongs, whales, dolphins, seals and sea lions arrived water ways, and are all Australian native animals. Dingoes were introduced so long ago that they, too, are most often considered natives. The dingo is a wild dog about 50 centimeters high and usually sandy-coloured.                                                                                                       Though the emu and the kangaroo are symbols of Australia, there is a very popular animal which is less exotic but it also symbolizes the country. It is a sheep merino which is famous for its fine wool. There is even a monument to the sheep in one of the Australian cities. Because Australian climate is good for sheep-farming there are a lot of sheep farms (called "sheep stations") in many parts of the country where wool is produced for export. There are around 150 million of sheep.                                                                                                                                            Mammals are not the only interesting group of Australian animals. Australian birds also amaze with their colours, size, sounds and smartness. The most sizeable ones are the flightless emu and cassowary. The largest flying birds are jabirus and brolgas, while the heaviest ones are pelicans. The most colourful ones are parrots, and the smartest ones are cockatoos - both quite common birds everywhere in Australia – from the streets of cities to the most remote outback. There are 800 varieties of birds in Australia. The emu is a large bird which runs well but cannot fly. It stands nearly two metres tall and weighs 60 kilos. Its wings are tiny and useless, while the legs are strong enough to rip down fences, fend off dingoes and propel them at speeds of up to 50 kilometres per hour. The emu’s gender politics are excellent, with the male taking on most of the work of bringing up the young. He spends two months incubating around a dozen beautiful green eggs. Emu eggs are huge with a thick, dark-green shell. Hatched chicks leave their nest after a few days and are protected by their fathers. Emus in the wild get 10 to 20 years old. The birds are active during the day, their diet consists of plants and insects. The second flightless bird native to Australia is the Cassowary, distributed in the rainforests of northeast Queensland.                                                                                    The kookaburra is a popular Australian bird that sounds like a human laughing. He's native to eastern Australia, but has been introduced to Kangaroo Island, Tasmania and the southwest of Western Australia. When you hear a Kookaburra laughing it seems as he is laughing at you. The birds are hunters and feed on small lizards, mice and snakes.                                                                                                                      There are 55 species of parrots in Australia, and the birds are as numerous as they are colourful. A map by one of the earliest navigators suggested the Australian continent should be called Terra psittacorum, ‘land of parrots’. Parrots usually feed on nuts, seeds and fruits while cockatoos add insects to their diet. 
Cockatoos have a showy crest that is often of a different colour than the body.
Most parrots and cockatoos are monogamous and a pair stays close even if they join larger flocks. They love to breed in tree hollows which they can't carve themselves. So they depend on old and even dead trees for breeding.                                       Although you will hear lovely birds singing in so many places, it is often hard to spot the marvelous singer. Most of them are tiny and hide in the trees. Songbirds include robins, wrens, honeyeater, bowerbirds, magpies and many more. But many beautiful Australian birds have unmelodious voices too.                                                                                                             Australia is also home to a large range of water birds along the coasts and the rivers. Pelicans and gulls are common on the coasts but also at rivers and lakes in the inland. The Little Penguin can be found around the southern coastlines.
The Cormorans, Ibis, Black Swan are also common around the waterways.              

Some of Australia’s fauna can be very dangerous to people.                                        There are crocodiles in the North. There are also spiders and poisonous snakes (death-adder and tiger snake, for example).  The Australian animals can be divided into three categories: the good, the bad, the ugly. Talking of the good animals, we should mention kangaroos in the first place.  You know, there are many animals that are "unpopular" in Australia including spiders which are dangerous. You can find these in Sydney. If they are hungry, they will attack anything that moves. They have sharp teeth and poison. Luckily, there is an antidote if you can get to hospital quickly. There have been 12 deaths since 1927. Another animal with sharp teeth and a fatal bite is the shark. Other animals that are a problem for beach lovers are jellyfish. They look like bubbles of blue bubble gum and they have a painful sting therefore people do not swim when there are many in the water. Now what about the ugly animals? A word that people often use to describe a cane toad is ugly. Other words include fat, noisy and disgusting. They are also as big as footballs!' The Queensland Government brought cane toads to Australia to eat cane beetles. Unfortunately cane toads can't fly but cane beetles can. Now the toads are more of a problem than the beetles. Hundreds of thousands are born every year. The toads eat everything including rare Australian animals. The toads are also poisonous to eat. Animals that eat them die. Though they are unpopular animals, some people like them and keep them as pets or write songs about them. There are a number of types of crocodiles found in northern Australia, ranging from the potentially dangerous saltwater crocodiles to smaller, more shy, harmless varieties. There are about 2500 snake species in the world. In Australia live only 110 land and 32 sea snakes. Now, why is everyone talking about the danger of snakes in Australia? 
Well, Australia is the only country, or region, that has more venomous snakes than non-venomous species. But not all of the snakes considered poisonous have venom that is capable to kill humans, or even cause severe illness. Snakes can be found all over Australia, not only in the Outback. The taipan and the tiger are worth keeping away from. Taipan is №1 poisonous snake in the world.  As for venomous snakes Australia is the absolute recorder in the world, because 9 of 10 poisonous snakes in the world live in Australia. Australia is famous for its unique species in the world too.                                          The Frilled Neck Lizard is an amazing little reptile. It is also an Australian icon. They are between 70 to 90 cms long, and have a 'frill' around their head. When the lizard gets frightened, it opens its mouth and the frill is folded out. This is to make the lizard appear larger and is one of its defensive strategies against predators. The lizard can also run very fast, and it runs on its two hind legs. They live in hot tropical climates, so are found all over the northern part of Australia. They like to bathe themselves in the sun like other reptiles. They feed on all kinds of small insects. The frilled neck lizard can stay very still, and match the colour of its surroundings. It goes unnoticed by insects, and the frilled neck lizard can easily catch them before they have a chance to escape.                                    

The venomous species of Australia

The climate in Australia is very dry. Because of this there are places like deserts where very little or almost nothing grows. In the North there are tropical forests, in the north-east there are savannas and grassland, in the south-east there are forests of eucalyptus or other ever-green trees which never lose their leaves, even in winter. Some plants cannot be found in other parts of the world either. The first feature of the Australian flora is its antiquity and the high percentage of endemic species. Its main native plants are wattle (or acacia), eucalyptus (or gum), mulga (mimosa), palm, fern and cedar. The second feature of flora is its strong kserofitnyj. The third feature - Australia gave little cultivated plant species.  Australia has 20,000 species of plants: over 1000 species of acacia, which Australians call ‘wattle’, and around 2800 species in the Myrtaceae family, which includes eucalypts (or gum trees) and melaleucas.   The high diversity of flora includes large numbers of species in ecologically significant genera such as Acacia, Eucalyptus,  Melaleuca,  Grevillea  and  Allocasuarina.  Acacias tend to dominate in drier inland parts of Australia, while eucalypts dominate in wetter parts. Allocasuarinas occur in the south, they are commonly called sheoaks.  Australia’s unique flora includes the Proteaceae family of Banksia,  Dryandra, Grevillea,  Hakea and Telopea (waratah).  Australian cycad plants are very old. Cycads grow slowly and live for a very long time - sometimes up to thousands of years. They are very unpretentious. They can grow up in a semi desert and in the humid jungles, on the sand and on the rocky soil, boggy swamps and salty soil. “Cycad” in Greece means “palm”.  The height of the trunk of the cycads can vary from a few centimeters to a few meters.                                                                                                                     Wildflowers turn the arid and savanna grassland areas of Australia into carpets of colour after rain.  The most common vegetation types today are those that have adapted to arid conditions, where the land has not been cleared for agriculture. The dominant type of vegetation in Australia—23 per cent—is the hummock grasslands in Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory. Native forests are limited mainly to wetter coastal districts and rainforests are mainly in Queensland. This is just a tiny bit of the wonderful world of flora of the fifth continent and the beginning of study of this flora was put by the nerds in May, 1770.                                              I prepare this presentation to show the people how beautiful is our planet. I am very concerned that forests are destroyed and animals are killed. There are a lot of zoos in the world and millions of people visit them every year. But I think that we should not keep animals in zoos because captivity is not natural for them. Keeping animals in zoos harms them by denying them freedom of movement. In my opinion, people must create nature reserves, where wild animals will be able to live in their natural environment. Our Earth is our home. People must take care of our Motherland. Our main aim is protection. What must we do? We must control atmospheric and water pollution, to study man’s influence on the climate. I hope that people all over the world will do a lot to protect nature, to make their countries richer, to make their lives happier.

Литература:

1.www.koalanet.com.au/Australian-fauna.net.html                                                                                2. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flora-of-Australia                                                                                                                            3. www. Dfat.gov.au/facts/flora-and-fauna.html                                                                                                                4. www.travelaustralia360.com/australian-flora-and-fauna.html                                                                                                                                     5. wiki.answers.com/Q/what-are-the-state-of-flora-and-fauna-of-Australia                                           6. www.infoniac.ru/news/Top-10-samyh-opasnyh-zhivotnyh-Avstralii.html.                                                                           7. www. avstralialife.ru                                                                                                                                                8. http:en.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/                                                                                              9. http://www.gondwananet.com/australian-animals              etc.