For Shale Sandstone Transition Forest of the Sydney Basin Bioregion (EC25R)
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Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) Approved Conservation Advice (including listing advice) for Shale Sandstone Transition Forest of the Sydney Basin Bioregion (EC25R) 1. The Threatened Species Scientific Committee (the Committee) was established under the EPBC Act and has obligations to present advice to the Minister for the Environment (the Minister) in relation to the listing and conservation of threatened ecological communities, including under sections 189, 194N and 266B of the EPBC Act. 2. The Committee provided its advice on the Shale Sandstone Transition Forest of the Sydney Basin Bioregion ecological community to the Minister as a draft of this approved conservation advice. In 2014, the Minister accepted the Committee’s advice, adopting this document as the approved conservation advice. 3. The Minister amended the list of threatened ecological communities under section 184 of the EPBC Act to remove Shale/Sandstone Transition Forest from the endangered category and include the Shale Sandstone Transition Forest of the Sydney Basin Bioregion ecological community in the critically endangered category. It is noted that the equivalent ecological community Shale Sandstone Transition Forest in the Sydney Basin Bioregion is listed under the New South Wales Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995. 4. A draft conservation advice for this ecological community was made available for expert and public comment for a minimum of 30 business days. The Committee and Minister had regard to all public and expert comment that was relevant to the consideration of the ecological community. 5. This approved conservation advice has been developed based on the best available information at the time it was prepared; this includes scientific literature, advice from consultations, existing plans, records or management prescriptions for this ecological community. Table of Contents 1 Description .................................................................................................................................4 1.1 Name of the ecological community ....................................................................................4 1.2 Location and Physical environment ....................................................................................4 1.2.1 Climate .........................................................................................................................4 1.3 Vegetation ...........................................................................................................................5 1.4 Fauna ...................................................................................................................................6 1.5 Key diagnostic characteristics and condition thresholds .....................................................7 1.5.1 Key diagnostic characteristics ......................................................................................7 1.5.2 Condition thresholds ....................................................................................................8 1.5.3 Further information to assist in determining the presence of the ecological community and significant impacts .......................................................................................9 1.6 Other existing protection ...................................................................................................13 2 Summary of threats ..................................................................................................................14 2.1 Key Threatening Processes ...............................................................................................14 3 Summary of eligibility for listing against EPBC Act criteria ..................................................15 Criterion 1 - Decline in geographic distribution .....................................................................15 Criterion 2 - Limited geographic distribution coupled with demonstrable threat ...................15 Criterion 3 - Loss or decline of functionally important species ..............................................16 Criterion 4 - Reduction in community integrity ......................................................................16 Criterion 5 - Rate of continuing detrimental change ...............................................................16 Criterion 6 - Quantitative analysis showing probability of extinction ....................................16 4 Priority Conservation Actions ..................................................................................................17 4.1 Conservation Objective .....................................................................................................17 4.2 Research and monitoring priorities ...................................................................................17 4.3 Priority recovery and threat abatement actions .................................................................17 4.4 Existing plans/management prescriptions .........................................................................19 4.5 Recovery plan recommendation ........................................................................................19 Appendix A - Species lists ..........................................................................................................20 Appendix B Detailed description of Shale Sandstone Transition Forest biology and ecological processes ......................................................................................................................................26 Examples of faunal roles and interactions ...............................................................................26 Role of connectivity and broad landscape context ..................................................................28 Role of fire ..............................................................................................................................28 Appendix C Detailed description of national context ................................................................29 Distribution ..............................................................................................................................29 Relationships to other vegetation classifications ....................................................................29 Differences to similar or intergrading ecological communities ..............................................30 Level of protection in reserves ................................................................................................32 Appendix D Description of threats .............................................................................................33 2 Clearing and fragmentation .....................................................................................................33 Inappropriate grazing and mowing regimes ............................................................................33 Urbanisation ............................................................................................................................34 Introduced animals and aggressive native species ..................................................................35 Loss of fauna and associated ecological functions ..................................................................35 Hydrological changes ..............................................................................................................36 Invasion by weeds ...................................................................................................................36 Mining .....................................................................................................................................37 Altered fire regimes .................................................................................................................37 Climate Change .......................................................................................................................38 Appendix E - Eligibility for listing against the EPBC Act criteria .............................................39 Criterion 1 - Decline in geographic distribution .....................................................................39 Criterion 2 - Limited geographic distribution coupled with demonstrable threat ...................40 Criterion 3 - Loss or decline of functionally important species ..............................................41 Criterion 4 - Reduction in community integrity ......................................................................42 Criterion 5 - Rate of continuing detrimental change ...............................................................44 Criterion 6 - Quantitative analysis showing probability of extinction ....................................44 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................45 3 1 DESCRIPTION 1.1 Name of the ecological community Shale Sandstone Transition Forest of the Sydney Basin Bioregion ecological community The Shale Sandstone Transition Forest of the Sydney Basin Bioregion ecological community (hereafter referred to as Shale Sandstone Transition Forest or the ecological community) was listed in 2001 under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) as Shale/Sandstone Transition Forest. The definition and extent of the ecological community under the EPBC Act has been refined (and presented here