Editing Western Australia (section)

===Flora and fauna===
[[File:RottnestQuokka.jpg|alt=|thumb|A [[quokka]] on [[Rottnest Island]]]]
[[File:Black Swans.jpg|thumb|right|upright|The [[black swan]] is the state bird of Western Australia]]
Western Australia is home to around [[List of Western Australian birds|630 species of birds]] (depending on the taxonomy used). Of these around 15 are [[endemic species|endemic]] to the state. The best areas for birds are the southwestern corner of the state and the area around Broome and the Kimberley.

The [[Flora of Western Australia]] comprises 10,162 published native [[vascular plant]] species, along with a further 1,196 species currently recognised but unpublished. They occur within 1,543 [[genus|genera]] from 211 [[Family (biology)|families]]; there are also 1,276 naturalised alien or [[invasive plant]] species, more commonly known as weeds.<ref>{{cite web|title=2016 Vascular Flora Statistics|publisher=Flora Base |url=https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/statistics/|access-date=3 June 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=New linear systematic sequence for vascular plants |publisher=Flora Base |url=https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/articles/sequence/sequence |access-date=3 June 2017|archive-date=15 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215190326/https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/articles/sequence/sequence}}</ref> In the southwest region are some of the largest numbers of plant species for its area in the world. 

Western Australia's [[ecoregion]]s include the sandstone gorges of [[Kimberley tropical savanna|the Kimberley]] on the northern coast, and below that the drier [[Victoria Plains tropical savanna]] inland, and the semi-desert [[Pilbara shrublands]], [[Carnarvon xeric shrublands]], and [[Western Australian mulga shrublands]] to the southwest. Southwards along the coast are the [[Southwest Australia savanna]] and the [[Swan Coastal Plain]] around Perth, with the [[Warren bioregion|Jarrah-Karri forest and shrublands]] on the southwest corner of the coast around the [[Margaret River]] wine-growing area. Going east along the Southern Ocean coast is the [[Goldfields-Esperance]] region, including the [[Esperance mallee]] and the [[Coolgardie woodlands]] inland around town of [[Coolgardie]]. Deserts occupy the interior, including the [[Great Sandy-Tanami desert]], [[Gibson Desert]], [[Great Victoria Desert]], and [[Nullarbor Plain]].

In 1831, Scottish botanist [[Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)|Robert Brown]] produced a scientific paper, titled ''[[General view of the botany of the vicinity of Swan River]]''. It discusses the vegetation of the [[Swan River Colony]].<ref>{{cite book | author = Diels, Ludwig |translator=Carr, D. J. | year = 1981 | chapter = Extra-tropical Western Australia | pages = 47–78 | editor1 = Carr, D. J. | editor2=Carr, S. G. M. | title = People and plants in Australia | publisher = Academic Press Australia | isbn = 978-0-12-160720-3}}</ref>