This Conservation Advice was approved by the Minister / Delegate of the Minister on: 3/7/2008 Approved Conservation Advice (s266B of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999) Approved Conservation Advice for Eucalyptus scoparia (Wallangarra White Gum)
This Conservation Advice has been developed based on the best available information at the time this conservation advice was approved.
Description Eucalyptus scoparia, Family Myrtaceae, also known as the Wallangarra White Gum, is a slender tree growing to 20 m with an open, pendulous canopy. The bark is white, sometimes with light-grey patches, smooth and powdery. The bark decorticates in narrow strips to the ground. The adult leaves are long, narrow, and light green on both sides. The flowers are borne in umbels (rounded indeterminate inflorescence in which the individual flower stalks arise) of seven, with flattened peduncles. Stamens are white and are mainly visible in November. The capsules are ovoid to cupular (Hall et al., 1980; Pryor, 1981; Brooker & Kleinig, 1990).
Conservation Status The Wallangarra White Gum is listed as vulnerable. This species is eligible for listing as vulnerable under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cwlth) (EPBC Act) as, prior to the commencement of the EPBC Act, it was listed as vulnerable under Schedule 1 of the Endangered Species Protection Act 1992 (Cwlth). Wallangarra White Gum is also listed as endangered under the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 (NSW) and vulnerable under Schedule 3 of the Nature Conservation (Wildlife) Regulation 2006 (Queensland).
Distribution and Habitat The Wallangarra White Gum has a very restricted distribution in the east of the Wallangarra district, on the Queensland–NSW border. This species occurs within the Northern Rivers (NSW) and Stanthorpe Plateau sub-region (Queensland) Natural Resource Management Regions. Most populations occur in clefts on large granite outcrops at altitudes to 1300 m, on skeletal soils and mostly as individuals or small groups. At lower altitudes, individuals mainly occur on podsolics in damp situations (Hall et al., 1980; Chippendale, 1988). Associated species include E. approximans and Ribbon Gum (E. nobilis) on upper slopes and New England Blackbutt (E. campanulata), Sydney Blue Gum (E. saligna) and Grey Gum (E. punctata) on lower sites. In Queensland, it is confined to the extreme southern part of the State, in the vicinity of Stanthorpe, where three populations are known. The largest and best known is around Mt Norman in the Girraween National Park. The exact number of trees here is not known, but is in excess of 500 (WJF McDonald, 2001, pers. comm.). A population on Mt Ferguson near Amiens comprises about 12 trees. The third population on Christie Target also comprises about 12 trees (AR Bean, 2001, pers. comm.). There are only three known locations within NSW, all near Tenterfield in the far northern New England Tableland bioregion. It has been recorded from Bald Rock National Park, north east of Tenterfield, western side of Donnybrook State Forest and Back Creek west of Donnybrook, west of Tenterfield (Sheringham & Westaway, 1995).
Eucalyptus scoparia Conservation Advice - Page 1 of 3 This Conservation Advice was approved by the Minister / Delegate of the Minister on: 3/7/2008 The Wallangarra White Gum is conserved in Girraween National Park, Queensland. The three known populations in NSW are all on private land. The distribution of this species overlaps with the “White Box-Yellow Box-Blakely’s Red Gum Grassy Woodland and Derived Native Grassland” EPBC Act-listed threatened ecological community.
Threats The main identified threats to Wallangarra White Gum are clearing and fragmentation of open forest and woodland habitat for agriculture and development, timber collection, damage to juvenile plants by bushwalkers (DEC NSW, 2005), illegal seed collection, limited gene pool due to small population sizes and stochastic events.
Research Priorities Research priorities that would inform future regional and local priority actions include: • Design and implement a monitoring program. • More precisely assess population size, distribution, ecological requirements and the relative impacts of threatening processes. • Undertake survey work in suitable habitat and potential habitat to locate any additional populations/occurrences/remnants. • Undertake seed germination and/or vegetative propagation trials to determine the requirements for successful establishment.
Regional and Local Priority Actions The following priority recovery and threat abatement actions can be done to support the recovery of Wallangarra White Gum Habitat Loss, Disturbance and Modification • Monitor known populations to identify key threats. • Monitor the progress of recovery, including the effectiveness of management actions and the need to adapt them if necessary. • Identify populations of high conservation priority. • Control access routes to suitably constrain public access to known sites on public land. • Ensure road widening and maintenance activities (or other infrastructure or development activities as appropriate) in areas where Wallangarra White Gum occurs do not adversely impact on known populations. • Investigate formal conservation arrangements such as the use of covenants, conservation agreements or inclusion in reserve tenure. Conservation Information • Raise awareness of Wallangarra White Gum within the local community, particularly among developers and bushwalkers. • Encourage people to only buy specimens from licensed growers. Enable Recovery of Additional Sites and/or Populations • Undertake appropriate seed collection and storage. • Investigate options for enhancing or establishing additional populations. • Implement national translocation protocols (Vallee et al., 2004) if establishing additional populations is considered necessary and feasible.
This list does not necessarily encompass all actions that may be of benefit to this species, but highlights those that are considered to be of highest priority at the time of preparing the conservation advice. Eucalyptus scoparia Conservation Advice - Page 2 of 3 This Conservation Advice was approved by the Minister / Delegate of the Minister on: 3/7/2008 Existing Plans/Management Prescriptions that are Relevant to the Species • Northern Rivers Catchment Action Plan (Northern Rivers CMA, 2005), and • Bald Rock and Boonoo Boonoo National Parks Plan of Management (NSW NPWS, 2002). These prescriptions were current at the time of publishing; please refer to the relevant agency’s website for any updated versions.
Information Sources: Bean, AR (Queensland Herbarium, EPA). Personal Communication. 2001. Brooker, MIH & Kleinig, DA 1990, Field Guide to Eucalypt, Vol. 1, South-eastern Australia, Inkata Press, Melbourne. Chippendale, GM 1988, ‘Myrtaceae - Eucalyptus, Angophora’, Flora of Australia, vol. 19, pp. 1-540. Canberra: AGPS. Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) NSW 2002, Eucalyptus scoparia (a tree) an endangered species listing – NSW Scientific Committee Final Determination, 23/08/02. Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC) NSW 2005, Wallangarra White Gum – profile, viewed 18 March 08,
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