Great Barrier Reef Islands, Biology

Abstract

The biota of the islands of the Great Barrier Reef of Australia varies enormously from island to island owing to the great diversity of geological origins and history of the islands, their differences in isolation from each other and from the mainland, their great latitudinal extent, the extent of disturbance by humans, their diversity of soil, and the variety of weather and patterns of sea currents that impinge upon them. The islands and their resident life are in a continual state of flux.