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 Persoonia acerosa
This Conservation Advice has been developed based on the best available information at the time this conservation advice was approved.
Description Persoonia acerosa, Family Proteaceae, is an erect to spreading shrub growing to 0.5–2 m tall (Weston, 1995), with distinctive bright green, pine-like foliage (DECC, 2005). Flowers are 8- 10 mm long and appear from December to May (Weston, 1995) and are pollinated by native bees (NSW NPWS, 2000).
Conservation Status Persoonia acerosa 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). The species is also listed as vulnerable on the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 (NSW).
Distribution and Habitat Persoonia acerosa is restricted to the central coast and the Blue Mountains, south to Hill Top in central-eastern NSW (Harden, 1991; Weston, 1995), though the Hill Top population is now thought to be extinct (PH Weston, 2000, pers. comm.). A specimen of P. acerosa was also recently collected from the Cordeaux catchment area, south of Sydney (confirmed by the Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens) (N Smith, 2007, pers. comm.). The species inhabits heath, low woodland or dry sclerophyll forest on sandstone, in well drained soils of sandstone admixtures, laterite and gravels, from 550–1000 m altitude (Harden, 1991; Blombery & Maloney, 1992; Weston, 1995; DECC, 2005). It prefers ridge- tops and plateaux and typical associates are Eucalyptus sieberi, E. piperita, E. sclerophylla, Lambertia formosa, Leptospermum trinervium, Hakea dactyloides, Platysace linearifolia, Petrophile pulchella, Acacia terminalis and Acacia obtusifolia (NSW NPWS, 2000). The species frequently occurs on disturbance margins, such as roadsides, appearing to benefit from the reduced competition and increased light (DECC, 2005). Regeneration is solely from seed (DECC, 2005). Records of Persoonia acerosa are known from the Blue Mountains National Park (NP) and Kanangra-Boyd NP and at a number of council reserves, but most records occur outside conservation areas in the urban areas of the Blue Mountains (NSW NPWS, 2000). This species occurs within the Hawkesbury–Nepean (NSW) Natural Resource Management Region (DECC, 2005). The distribution of the species overlaps with the following EPBC Act-listed threatened ecological communities: • Shale/Sandstone Transition Forest, • White Box-Yellow Box-Blakely’s Red Gum Grassy Woodland and Derived Native Grassland, • Cumberland Plain Woodlands, • Turpentine-Ironbark Forest in the Sydney Basin Bioregion, and • Temperate Highland Peat Swamps on Sandstone.
Persoonia acerosa Conservation Advice - Page 1 of 4 This Conservation Advice was approved by the Minister / Delegate of the Minister on: 3/7/2008 Threats The main identified threats to P. acerosa include habitat loss through clearing for urban and periurban development, too frequent fire, habitat disturbance during road maintenance, weed invasion and dieback caused by Phytophthora cinnamomi.
Research Priorities Research priorities that would inform future regional and local priority actions include: • Design and implement a monitoring program. • Undertake survey work in suitable habitat and potential habitat to locate any additional populations/occurrences/remnants. • Investigate impacts of the establishment or intensification of honey bee apiaries in or near P. acerosa habitat (DECC, 2005).
Regional Priority Actions The following regional priority recovery and threat abatement actions can be done to support the recovery of Persoonia acerosa. Habitat Loss, Disturbance and Modification • Identify populations of high conservation priority. • Manage threats to areas of vegetation that contain populations/occurrences/remnants of Persoonia acerosa. • Ensure chemicals or other mechanisms used to eradicate weeds do not have a significant adverse impact on Persoonia acerosa. • Ensure road widening and maintenance activities (or other infrastructure or development activities) involving substrate and vegetation disturbance do not adversely impact on known populations. • Investigate formal conservation arrangements such as the use of covenants, conservation agreements or inclusion in reserve tenure. Fire • Develop and implement a suitable fire management strategy for P. acerosa. The species is thought to require fire no more than once every 10 years (NSW RFS, 2004). • Avoid Hazard Reduction Techniques that include slashing, tree removal or trittering (NSW RFS, 2004). • Identify appropriate intensity and interval of fire to promote seed germination. • Provide maps of known occurrences to local and state rural fire services and seek inclusion of mitigative measures in bush fire risk management plans, risk register and/or operation maps. Diseases, Fungi and Parasites • Implement appropriate management recommendations outlined in the Threat Abatement Plan for Dieback Caused by the Root-rot Fungus Phytophthora cinnamomi (EA, 2001) to protect known sites from further outbreaks of dieback. Conservation Information • Raise awareness of P. acerosa within the local community. • Negotiate with public and private landowners to prepare and implement management plans to address threats at known sites (DECC, 2005). • Develop a conservation plan for the species with Blue Mountains Council (DECC, 2005). Enable Recovery of Additional Sites and/or Populations • Undertake appropriate seed collection and storage. • Investigate options for linking, enhancing or establishing additional populations.
Persoonia acerosa Conservation Advice - Page 2 of 4 This Conservation Advice was approved by the Minister / Delegate of the Minister on: 3/7/2008 • Implement national translocation protocols (Vallee et al., 2004) if establishing additional populations is considered necessary and feasible. Local Priority Actions The following local priority recovery and threat abatement actions can be done to support the recovery of Persoonia acerosa. 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. • Control access routes to suitably constrain public access to known sites on public land. This could include closing or moving tracks that are impacting on known populations (DECC, 2005). • Investigate the status of the Hill Top population (DECC, 2005). • Protect known habitat from clearing and disturbance (DECC, 2005). • Minimise adverse impacts from land use at known sites. • Protect populations of the listed species through the development of conservation agreements and covenants. Invasive Weeds • Identify and remove weeds in the local area, which could become a threat to P. acerosa, using appropriate methods. • Manage sites to prevent introduction of invasive weeds, which could become a threat to P. acerosa, using appropriate methods. • Avoid spraying herbicide in close proximity to Persoonia acerosa plants (DECC, 2005). Fire • Implement an appropriate fire management regime for local populations. • Ensure the species and its habitat are considered in planning of hazard reduction activities (DECC, 2005). • Following burning, protect populations from further fire until plants have reached reproductive maturity (DECC, 2005). This list does not necessarily encompass all actions that may be of benefit to P. acerosa, but highlights those that are considered to be of highest priority at the time of preparing the conservation advice. Existing Plans/Management Prescriptions that are Relevant to the Species • Blue Mountains fire management strategy (NSW NPWS, 2004) and plan of management (NSW NPWS, 2001a), • Kanangra–Boyd National Park fire management strategy (NSW NPWS, 2006) and plan of Management (NSW NPWS, 2001b), and • Threat Abatement Plan for Dieback Caused by the Root-Rot Fungus Phytophthora cinnamomi (EA, 2001). These prescriptions were current at the time of publishing; please refer to the relevant agency’s website for any updated versions.
Information Sources: Blombery, AM & Maloney, B 1992, The Proteaceae of the Sydney Region, Kangaroo Press, Kenthurst, NSW. Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC) 2005, Threatened Species Profile Database, Needle Geebung, viewed 13 March 2008,
Persoonia acerosa Conservation Advice - Page 3 of 4 This Conservation Advice was approved by the Minister / Delegate of the Minister on: 3/7/2008 Environment Australia (EA) 2001, Threat Abatement Plan for Dieback Caused by the Root-Rot Fungus Phytophthora cinnamomi, viewed 13 March 2008,
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