Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS) is a project undertaken by Parks Australia Division of Australia's Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA).

ABRS was founded in 1973 from the recommendations of a 1972 Senate Select Committee report on Wildlife Conservation. Its purpose is to collate from the many libraries, museums and other collections the taxonomy of Australia's estimated 2 million species of flora and fauna, including aquatic species. These represent almost 20% of the earth's biodiversity, 80% of which are unique to Australia. ABRS has undertaken active funding for taxonomic research of Australia's biodiversity and is internationally recognised for its extensive data bases and publications.

The most important outputs of the ABRS has been the publication of the multi-volume Flora of Australia and Fauna of Australia series. Other outputs include The Banksia Atlas and the "Platypus" database package for taxonomists.

[edit] References

• "Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS)". Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. http://www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/index.html. Retrieved 2006-06-27.