Recovery Plan for Twelvve Threatened Spider-Orchid Caledenia R. Br. Taxa
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RECOVERY PLAN for TWELVE THREATENED SPIDER-ORCHID CALADENIA R. Br. TAXA OF VICTORIA AND SOUTH AUSTRALIA 2000 - 2004 March 2000 Prepared by James A. Todd, Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Victoria Flora and Fauna Statewide Programs Recovery Plan for twelve threatened Spider-orchid Caladenia taxa of Victoria and South Australia 2000-2004 – NRE, Victoria Copyright The Director, Environment Australia, GPO Box 636, Canberra, ACT 2601 2000. This publication is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, photocopying or other, without the prior permission of the Director, Environment Australia. Disclaimer The opinions expressed in this document are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Environment Australia, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Victoria, the Department of Environment and Heritage, South Australia or Parks Victoria. Citation Todd, J.A. (2000). Recovery Plan for twelve threatened Spider-orchid Caladenia taxa (Orchidaceae: Caladeniinae) of Victoria and South Australia 2000 - 2004. Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Melbourne. The Environment Australia Biodiversity Group, Threatened Species and Communities Section funded the preparation of this Plan. A Recovery Plan prepared under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. 2 Recovery Plan for twelve threatened Spider-orchid Caladenia taxa of Victoria and South Australia 2000-2004 – NRE, Victoria Contents Summary ...............................................................................................................................................................1 1 Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................4 2 Spider-orchids (Genus: Caladenia, Section: Calonema) ...............................................................................5 3 Conservation Status .....................................................................................................................................13 4 Decline and Threats .....................................................................................................................................14 5 Existing Conservation Measures..................................................................................................................19 6 Strategy for Recovery...................................................................................................................................21 7 Community Involvement...............................................................................................................................23 8 Recovery Objectives ....................................................................................................................................24 9 Recovery Criteria..........................................................................................................................................24 10 Recovery Actions .........................................................................................................................................24 11 Bibliography .................................................................................................................................................45 12 Glossary.......................................................................................................................................................48 13 Implementation Schedule ............................................................................................................................49 3 Recovery Plan for twelve threatened Spider-orchid Caladenia taxa of Victoria and South Australia 2000-2004 – NRE, Victoria Acknowledgments I would like to thank the following people who provided information, data and critical comment during the preparation of this recovery plan: Kath Alcock (Naracoorte, SA); Jenny Alexander (NRE, Bendigo); Helen Anderson (NRE, Hamilton); John Anthony (University of Melbourne, Burnley); Mary Argall (Kiata, Victoria); Gary Backhouse (NRE, Melbourne); Bob Bates (State Herbarium of South Australia, Adelaide); Dr. Andrew Batty (KPBG, Perth); Cam Beardsell (Cottles Bridge, Victoria); Doug Bickerton (EH, Adelaide); Colin Bower (Orange, NSW); Geoff Carr (Ecology Australia P/L, Melbourne); Dr. Stephen Clark (NSW NPWS); Dr. Fiona Coates (PV, Melbourne); Justin Cook (NRE, Hamilton); Prof. Roger Cousens (University of Melbourne, Parkville); Rob Cross (National Herbarium of Victoria, Melbourne); Dr. Kingsley Dixon (KPBG, Perth); Danny Drummond (PV, Wonthaggi); Felicity Faris (Threatened Species Network, Melbourne); David Fletcher (Murtoa, Victoria); Dr Gordon Friend (NRE, Melbourne); Geoff Glare (Cape Paterson, Victoria); Andy Govanstone (NRE, Portland); John Harris (PV, Horsham); Jeff Jeanes (National Herbarium of Victoria, Melbourne); Peter Lang (EH, Adelaide); Naomi Lawrence (Tasmanian Environment and Land Management, Hobart); Associate Professor Ann Lawrie (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne); Karen Lester (NRE, Melbourne); Ian and Thelma McCann (Stawell, Victoria); Dr. Cas McLean (University of Melbourne, Burnley); Di Marshall (NRE, Melbourne); Adrian Moorrees (NRE, Melbourne); Prof. David Morgan (University of Melbourne, Parkville); Sue Mudford (TFN, Warrnambool); Eddie Meulman (Glenelg Hopkins Catchment Management Authority, Hamilton); Tim Noyce (Department of Planning, South Australia, Adelaide); Rod Orr (Bendigo, Victoria); Doug Phillips (Portland, Victoria); Rob Price (NRE, Bendigo); Andrew Pritchard (Warrnambool); Geoff Robertson (NSW NPWS, Dubbo); Dr Adrian Stokes, (EH, Adelaide); David Venn (NRE, Horsham); Gidja Walker (Rye, Victoria) and Dave Warne (Dunkeld, Victoria). Abbreviations used in the Plan ANOS Australasian Native Orchid Society ANZECC Australian and New Zealand Environment Conservation Council BFNC Bendigo Field Naturalists Club, Victoria COM Committee of Management EH Department of Environment and Heritage, South Australia ESP Endangered Species Program (Natural Heritage Trust) FOBCCR Friends of Betty Clift Conservation Reserve, Victoria FOKFR Friends of Kiata Flora Reserve, Victoria FOMERP Friends of Mount Eliza Regional Park, Victoria FOWH Friends of Wonthaggi Heathlands, Victoria IUCN World Conservation Union KPBG Kings Park and Botanic Gardens, Western Australia NOGN Native Orchid Growers Network NRE Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Victoria NRE – Forests NRE, Forests Service Division NRE – NW NRE, North West Region NRE – PFF NRE, Parks Flora and Fauna Division NRE – PP NRE, Port Phillip Region NRE – SW NRE, South West Region NSW NPWS National Parks and Wildlife Service, New South Wales PA Portland Aluminium, Victoria PFNC Portland Field Naturalists Club, Victoria PIF Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, Northern Territory PV Parks Victoria RBG Royal Botanic Gardens, Victoria RFA Regional Forest Agreement RMIT Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Victoria ROTAP Rare or Threatened Australian Plants SFNC Stawell Field Naturalists Club, Victoria SHSA State Herbarium of South Australia SPIFFA Southern Peninsula Indigenous Flora and Fauna Association, Victoria TFN Trust for Nature, Victoria UMILFR University of Melbourne, Institute of Land and Food Resources (Burnley Campus), Victoria 4 Recovery Plan for twelve threatened Spider-orchid Caladenia taxa of Victoria and South Australia 2000-2004 – NRE, Victoria Summary Current Species Status Ten of the twelve Caladenia taxa addressed in this plan are currently listed as Endangered under Commonwealth endangered species legislation, the list of threatened species maintained by the Endangered Flora Network of ANZECC and the IUCN Red List (Walter and Gillet 1998). The remaining two species are listed as Vulnerable under the same lists. Subsequent revisions of these lists will take account of the new information summarised in this plan, which recommends that Caladenia tensa be re-categorised from endangered to vulnerable and Caladenia versicolor be re-categorised from vulnerable to endangered. Habitat Requirements and Limiting Factors The threatened Caladenia taxa occupy a range of different habitats. Five of the taxa (C. formosa, C. lowanensis, C. tensa, C. versicolor and C. xanthochila) occupy dry woodlands of western Victoria and southeast South Australia mostly on Quaternary sand deposits. Three taxa (C. amoena, C. audasii and C. rosella) occupy box-ironbark forests and woodlands of inland Victoria on sandstone. Three taxa (C. fragrantissima ssp. orientalis, C. robinsonii and C. hastata) occupy near coastal heaths and heathy woodlands of eastern and western Victoria while C. thysanochila occupies grassy woodlands on granodiorite on the Mornington Peninsula. A defining feature of most of the species is that they occupy uncommon habitats. These may have been naturally uncommon prior to European settlement, or more typically, because of clearing for agriculture and urbanisation since European settlement. Most species occur within severely fragmented ecosystems that are subject to a range of potentially threatening processes typical of such environments. These include weed invasions, grazing by native and introduced herbivores,