The Southern Cassowary is the keystone species of Australia.
Cassowaries are considered a keystone species because they play an important role in the ecology of the rainforest and bushland areas where they live, as they are vital in dispersing seeds in their native forests.
They are frugivores which feed on the fruit of up to 238 different species of plants. Because they are able to eat larger fruits, they can therefore can disperse large rainforest fruits after the seeds have passed through their digestive system, which is gentle enough to allow the seeds to remain viable. The cassowary has a wide range, so is also the only long distance means for dispersing large seeded fruits. The seeds are excreted into a pile of the cassowary's own dung, meaning the seeds have their own ready-made pile of fertiliser. The smell of the dung even helps to deter seed-eating predators such as the white-tailed rat. Of the hundreds of fruit-bearing species on which the cassowary feeds, between 70 and 100 of them appear to rely completely on the cassowary for dispersal.
The Great Barrier Reef poses no threat to any species. It is the species that already live within the waters of the Great Barrier Reef that are under threat from external sources.
According to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, there are about 1625 species of fish that live in and around the Great Barrier Reef, not including the shark species. Of these, 1400 are coral reef species. In addition, there are over 3000 species of molluscs, 630 species of echinoderm such as starfish and sea urchins, 14 known species of sea snakes, 30 species of whales and dolphins, dugongs and 133 species of sharks and rays.
Yes. Many species of jellyfish live in the Great Barrier Reef.
The Great Barrier Reef does not yet have an official listing of "endangered". However, around 40 species which live in and around the Great Barrier Reef are listed as endangered.
Yes. Seals are one of several protected species in the Great Barrier Reef.
Shark species in the Great Barrier reef include:various species of reef shark (the most common of the sharks in the Great Barrier Reef) such as grey reef shark and whitetip reef sharklemon sharkvarious species of wobbegong sharkcoral catsharkleopard sharktiger shark
As far as I know the smallest fish in the great barrier reef is the stout infantfish
There are around 215 species of birds found around the Great Barrier Reef. Of these, between 22 and 29 are seabirds.
Yes, many species of crabs live in the Great Barrier Reef.
The Great Barrier Reef is a marine biome, so the only grass that grows there is seagrass, which is not a true grass. There are 15 known species of seagrass in the Great Barrier Reef.
millions
fish.