This Conservation Advice was approved by the Minister on 29 Apr 2014 Approved Conservation Advice for Acacia gordonii (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 plans, records or management prescriptions for this species. Description Acacia gordonii, Family Mimosaceae, is an erect or spreading shrub, growing to 1.5 m high, with smooth grey bark. Branchlets and phyllodes (leaves) are usually hairy. Phyllodes are alternate or sometimes whorled or clustered, straight or almost sickle-shaped. Flowers are in globular golden-yellow heads. The fruit is a flat, oblong pod containing 5-8 hard-coated seeds. Pods are dull blue-green in colour with a whitish bloom. It flowers in August and September and produces fruit from October to February. (DECC, 2005; Harden, 2002). Conservation Status Acacia gordonii is listed as endangered. This species is eligible for listing as endangered 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 endangered under Schedule 1 of the Endangered Species Protection Act 1992 (Cwlth). Acacia gordonii is also listed as endangered under the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 (New South Wales). Distribution and Habitat Acacia gordonii is chiefly found in the lower eastern slopes of the Blue Mountains (Orchard and Wilson, 2001). It also occurs in the Glenorie-Maroota area on the northern outskirts of Sydney (Benson and McDougall 1996; Fairley and Moore, 2000), and there is one record from Hornsby (Simmons, 1982; Orchard and Wilson, 2001). This species is known from only a few locations and there is estimated to be less than 2000 plants in total, with only one population supporting more than 400 individuals (Ashworth, pers. comm., 2010). Approximately 850 plants occur in the Blue Mountains National Park (Ashworth, pers. comm., 2010). Specific localities at which this species has been recorded include: Linden, Kings Tableland, Bilpin and Faulconbridge (Harden, 2002; Benson and McDougall, 1996; Fairley and Moore, 2000; Orchard and Wilson, 2001). Local government areas in which it is found include: Baulkham Hills, Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury, Hornsby and Sydney (NSW NPWS, 1999). Some individuals are conserved within the Blue Mountains National Parks (Benson and McDougall, 1996) and Maroota National Park (Glenorie and Forest Glen) (James, 1997). This species grows in dry sclerophyll forest and heathlands amongst or within rock platforms on sandstone outcrops. Fire promotes germination of the soil stored seedbank and seed germination will not occur in the absence of fire as the hard-coated seed requires heat to break seed dormancy (Benson and McDougall, 1996). This species occurs within the Sydney Basin Bioregion and the Southern Rivers Natural Resource Management Region. The distribution of this species is not known to overlap with any EPBC Act-listed threatened ecological community. Acacia gordonii Approved Conservation Advice — Page 1 of 4 This Conservation Advice was approved by the Minister on 29 Apr 2014 Threats The main identified potential threats to Acacia gordonii include habitat loss, through clearing for urban development and road maintenance; habitat degradation due to recreational use of its habitat and bush rock removal; and inappropriate fire regimes (both frequent and infrequent fire) (DECC, 2005; NSW NPWS, 1999). Research Priorities Research priorities that would inform future regional and local priority actions include: • Design and implement a monitoring program or, if appropriate, support and enhance existing programs. • 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. • Undertake seed germination and/or vegetative propagation trials to determine the requirements for successful establishment. • Identify optimal fire regimes for regeneration (vegetative regrowth and seed germination), and response to other prevailing fire regimes. Regional Priority Actions The following regional priority recovery and threat abatement actions can be done to support the recovery of Acacia gordonii. 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. • Ensure there is no disturbance in areas where Acacia gordonii occurs, excluding necessary actions to manage the conservation of the species/ecological community. • 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. • Manage any other known, potential or emerging threats. Fire • Develop and implement a suitable fire management strategy for the habitat of Acacia gordonii. • Ensure new records and known occurrences within NSW are provided to NSW DECCW for entry into the NSW Wildlife Atlas to ensure up to date data is available for impact assessment and fire planning. Conservation Information • Raise awareness of Acacia gordonii within the local community. • 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. Enable Recovery of Additional Sites and/or Populations • Undertake appropriate seed collection and storage. • Investigate options for linking, enhancing or establishing additional populations. Acacia gordonii Approved Conservation Advice — Page 2 of 4 This Conservation Advice was approved by the Minister on 29 Apr 2014 • 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 Acacia gordonii. Habitat Loss, Disturbance and Modification • Constrain public access to known sites. • 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 populations. • Minimise adverse impacts from land use at known sites. • Protect populations of the species through the development of conservation agreements and/or covenants. Fire • Implement an appropriate fire management regime for local populations. This list does not necessarily encompass all actions that may be of benefit to Acacia gordonii but highlights those that are considered to be of highest priority at the time of preparing the Conservation Advice. Information Sources: Ashworth D (2010) Personal communication by email on 13 May 2010. Senior Threatened Species Officer, Biodiversity Conservation Section, Metropolitan Branch, Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water, New South Wales. Benson D and McDougall L (1996). Ecology of Sydney plant species Part 4: Dicotyledon family Fabaceae. Cunninghamia. 4(4):553-756. Sydney: Royal Botanic Gardens. Department of Environment, Climate Change (DECC) (2005). Acacia gordonii – Profile. Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water, New South Wales. Available on the Internet at: http://www.threatenedspecies.environment.nsw.gov.au/tsprofile/profile.aspx?id=10015 Fairley A and Moore P (2000). Native Plants of the Sydney District, an Identification Guide. Roseville, NSW; Kangaroo Press. Harden GJ (ed.) (2002). Flora of New South Wales Volume 2 Revised Edition. UNSW, Sydney. James T (1997). Urban Bushland Biodiversity Survey. Stage 1: Western Sydney: Native Flora. Hurstville: NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service (NSW NPWS) (1999). Table 1: An indicative list of species which may be affected by Bushrock Removal. NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. New South Wales Scientific Committee (NSW SC) (1997). Acacia gordonii (a wattle) - Endangered species determination - final. DEC (NSW), Sydney. Available on the Internet at: http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/determinations/AcaciaGordoniiAWattleEndSpListing.ht m Orchard AE and Wilson AJG (eds) (2001). Flora of Australia, Volume 11A, Mimosaceae, Acacia Part 1. Simmons M (1982). Acacias of Australia Vol 1. Melbourne, Vic; Thomas Nelson Aust. Acacia gordonii Approved Conservation Advice — Page 3 of 4 This Conservation Advice was approved by the Minister on 29 Apr 2014 Vallee L, Hogbin T, Monks L, Makinson B, Matthes M and Rossetto M (2004). Guidelines for the Translocation of Threatened Plants in Australia - Second Edition, Australian Network for Plant Conservation, Canberra. Acacia gordonii Approved Conservation Advice — Page 4 of 4 .