This Conservation Advice was approved by the Delegate of the Minister on 11 April 2014

Approved Conservation Advice for weinthalii (blotched sarcochilus)

(s266B of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999)

This Conservation Advice has been developed based on the best available information at the time this Conservation Advice was approved; this includes existing and draft plans, records or management prescriptions for this species.

Description

Sarcochilus weinthalii (blotched sarcochilus), family , also known as Weinthals sarcanth, is an orchid that grows on rainforest trees, either projecting or hanging from the trunk, or grows on rock surfaces (DECCW, 2010; OEH, 2013). It has fleshy aerial roots and a short stem with several leathery leaves. The hanging flowering stems are up to 7 cm long with as many as 12 flowers. Each flower is 15 mm across, and is cream to greenish with purple to reddish blotches (OEH, 2013). The species flowers from June to October and fruits persist for 6–8 months after fertilisation (Barker & Borsboom, 1997, cited in DEHP, 2013).

Conservation Status

The blotched sarcochilus is listed as vulnerable under the name Sarcochilus weinthalii. 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 under the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 (New South Wales) and endangered under the Nature Conservation Act 1992 (Queensland).

Distribution and Habitat

The blotched sarcochilus occurs in northern New South Wales and south-east Queensland. The species occurs north of the Richmond River (OEH, 2013) to the Bunya Mountains and the Gallangowan area (ALA, 2013). There are no available data on area of occupancy, extent of occurrence or population numbers. Illegal collection has occurred in accessible areas (Quinn et al., 1995).

The blotched sarcochilus occurs in rainforest, dry rainforest and drier scrub of sub-coastal ranges and associated foothills inland from the coast at altitudes of 400–700 m above sea level (Barker & Borsboom, 1997, cited in DEHP, 2013; OEH, 2013). In south-east Queensland, the blotched sarcochilus grows in a number of microphyll and notophyll rainforest types (Queensland CRA/RFA Steering Committee, 1998) and also occurs in patches of isolated scrub (Barker & Borsboom, 1997, cited in DEHP, 2013).

This species occurs within the Brigalow Belt South and South Eastern Queensland IBRA Bioregions and the Condamine, Northern Rivers and South East Queensland Natural Resource Management Regions. The distribution of this species is associated with the ‘Lowland Rainforest of Subtropical Australia’ EPBC Act-listed threatened ecological community.

Sarcochilus weinthalii (blotched sarcochilus) Approved Conservation Advice Page 1 of 4 This Conservation Advice was approved by the Delegate of the Minister on 11 April 2014

Threats

The main identified threats to the blotched sarcochilus are habitat loss through land clearing (for agriculture and development) and forestry operations (including track maintenance), inappropriate fire regimes and illegal collection (particularly in accessible areas) (Quinn et al., 1995; DEHP, 2013; OEH, 2013). This species, and the habitat where it occurs, are sensitive to fire. The species may be at risk of localised extinction as a result of small population sizes with restricted distribution (OEH, 2013).

Research Priorities

Research priorities that would inform future regional and local priority actions include:

• Establish the degree of genetic variability and investigate whether there is a need to manage it. • Support investigations into the precise taxonomic relationship of species in the Sarcochilus genus (e.g. Hidayat et al., 2012). • Support existing seed germination and establishment requirement trials, and investigations into management options to stimulate field regeneration (e.g. Graham & Dearnaley, 2012).

Regional Priority Actions

The following regional priority recovery and threat abatement actions can be done to support the recovery of the blotched sarcochilus:

Habitat Loss, Disturbance and Modification • Identify populations of high conservation priority. • Ensure there is no disturbance in areas where the blotched sarcochilus occurs, excluding necessary actions to manage the conservation of the species. • Investigate formal conservation arrangements, management agreements and covenants on private land, and for crown and private land investigate and/or secure inclusion in reserve tenure if possible. Fire • Develop and implement a suitable fire management strategy for the habitat of the blotched sarcochilus, including the protection of rainforest and dry scrub edges (OEH, 2013). Conservation Information • Raise awareness of the blotched sarcochilus and the damage caused by illegal collection. • Engage with private landholders and land managers responsible for the land on which populations occur and encourage these key stakeholders to contribute to the implementation of conservation management actions. • Investigate DNA-based or other approaches for the identification of individual and/or populations to provide a means for detecting and prosecuting illegal collection from the wild (see for example Palsboll et al., 2006). • Enable recovery of additional sites and/or populations. • Investigate desirability of linking, enhancing or establishing additional populations.

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Local Priority Actions

The following local priority recovery and threat abatement actions can be done to support the recovery of the blotched sarcochilus:

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. • Suitably control and manage access on private land and other land tenure. • Undertake survey work in suitable habitat and potential habitat to locate any additional occurrences. • Minimise adverse impacts from land use at known sites, particularly the impacts resulting from road maintenance and forestry operations. • Protect populations of the listed species through the development of conservation agreements and/or covenants.

This list does not necessarily encompass all actions that may be of benefit to the blotched sarcochilus, but highlights those that are considered to be of highest priority at the time of preparing the Approved Conservation Advice.

Existing Plans/Management Prescriptions that are Relevant to the Species

• Border Ranges Rainforest Biodiversity Management Plan (DECCW, 2010).

These prescriptions were current at the time of publishing; please refer to the relevant agency’s website for any updated versions.

References

Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) (2013). Atlas of Living Australia. Available on the Internet at: http://www.ala.org.au/

Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water (DECCW) (2010). Border Ranges Rainforest Biodiversity Management Plan - NSW & Queensland. Sydney South, New South Wales: DECCW.

Department of Environment and Heritage Protection (DEHP) (2013). Blotched Sarcochilus - Sarcochilus weinthalii. Available on the Internet at: http://wetlandinfo.ehp.qld.gov.au/wetlands/ecology/components/species/?sarcochilus- weinthalii

Graham RR and Dearnaley JDW (2012). The rare Australian epiphytic orchid Sarcochilus weinthalii associates with a single species of Ceratobasidium. Fungal Diversity 54(1):31–37.

Hidayat T, Weston PH, Yukawa T, Ito M and Rice R (2012). Phylogeny of Subtribe Aeridinae (Orchidaceae) Inferred from DNA Sequences Data: Advanced Analyses Including Australasian Genera. Jurnal Teknologi 59:87–95.

Sarcochilus weinthalii (blotched sarcochilus) Approved Conservation Advice Page 3 of 4 This Conservation Advice was approved by the Delegate of the Minister on 11 April 2014

Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) (2013). Blotched Sarcochilus – profile. Sydney, New South Wales: OEH. Available on the Internet at: http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedspecies/

Palsboll PJ, Berube M, Skaug HJ and Raymakers C (2006). DNA registers of legally obtained wildlife and derived products as means to identify illegal takes. Conservation Biology, vol. 20: 1284–1293.

Queensland CRA/RFA Steering Committee (1998). Survey of Threatened Species in South East Queensland Biogeographical Region.

Quinn F, Williams JB, Gross CL and Bruhl J (1995). Report on rare and threatened plants of north-eastern New South Wales. Armidale: University of New England

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