‘Bassian’ species

Further to Andrew Bell’s post re. ‘Bassian’ the following is my explanation to a couple of people who asked me directly:

I have used the term ‘Bassian’ to refer to the bio-geographical region of that name which overlaps another bio-geographical region ‘the Torresian region’ in north-east New South Wales and south-east Queensland. This overlap forms the Macleay-McPherson Overlap and explains why this area is one of the most biodiverse in Australia. In a number of plant and animal groups this region has more species than even the wet tropics. The Bassian floras and faunas are those of southern Australia that inhabit temperate regions. The Torresian floras and faunas are those of northern Australia inhabiting the tropical regions. By checking distribution maps you can see which species peter out in southern Queensland and those that are found in the north and just make it into northern New South Wales. Climate Change is starting to affect this pattern though with tropical species such as White-headed Pigeons and Australasian Figbird now reaching Victoria.

Many Bassian species of fauna are absent from the humid lowlands of north-east New South Wales-south-east Queensland but occur at higher altitudes there. Examples are the Crimson Rosella, New Holland Honeyeater, Tiger Snake, White-eared Honeyeater, Australian Raven, Bassian Thrush, Gibraltar Waratah, Stuttering Frog.

Regards

Greg
Dr Greg. P. Clancy
Ecologist and Birding-wildlife Guide
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