Mary River Threatened (Aquatic) Species Recovery Plan
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Mary River Threatened (Aquatic) Species Recovery Plan Author MRCCC logo Other logo/s This plan should be cited as follows: Author/s. 2013. Mary River Threatened (Aquatic) Species Recovery Plan. Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (DSEWPaC), Canberra. © Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. This publication is copyright. No part may be reproduced by any process except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. The Australian Government facilitates the publication of Recovery Plans to detail the actions needed for the conservation of threatened native wildlife. This plan has been developed with the involvement and cooperation of a range of stakeholders, but individual stakeholders have not necessarily committed to undertaking specific actions. The attainment of objectives and the provision of funds may be subject to budgetary and other constraints affecting the parties involved, and may also be constrained by the need to address other conservation priorities. Recovery actions may be subject to modification due to changes in knowledge and changes in conservation status. While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure that the contents of this publication are factually correct, the Commonwealth does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the contents, and shall not be liable for any loss or damage that may be occasioned directly or indirectly through the use of, or reliance on, the contents of this publication ISBN: XXXXX XXXX XXXX An electronic version of this document is available on the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities website: www.environment.gov.au Cover photograph/s: top left to bottom left – Mary River turtle (Steve Wilson), Mary River cod (Gunther Schmida), Australian lungfish (Gunther Schmida), freshwater mullet (Gunther Schmida), giant barred frog (Eva Ford). CONTENTS 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background ....................................................................................................... 1 1.2 The ecological significance of the Mary River Ecosystem ................................. 2 1.3 Vision for the recovery plan ............................................................................... 5 1.4 Scope of Plan .................................................................................................... 7 1.5 Benefits/impacts to biodiversity ......................................................................... 7 1.6 Social and economic impacts/benefits ............................................................... 7 1.7 Interaction with legislation, planning and management processes..................... 8 1.8 International agreements ................................................................................. 10 1.9 Plan preparation and consultation ................................................................... 10 2 MARY RIVER CATCHMENT AND ITS PEOPLE ................................................ 10 2.1 Mary River catchment indigenous culture ........................................................ 11 2.2 Mary River since European settlement ............................................................ 11 2.3 Mary River catchment today ............................................................................ 12 2.3.1 Population ................................................................................................... 12 2.3.2 Landuse ...................................................................................................... 12 2.3.3 Water resource use ..................................................................................... 15 2.4 Catchment Description .................................................................................... 15 2.5 Stream flow ..................................................................................................... 16 3 ECOLOGY OF THE MARY RIVER CATCHMENT .............................................. 17 3.1 Species: fauna and flora .................................................................................. 17 3.2 Ecological communities/regional ecosystems .................................................. 21 3.3 Priority Species ............................................................................................... 21 3.3.1 Mary River cod (Maccullochella mariensis) .................................................. 22 3.3.2 Mary River turtle (Elusor macrurus) ............................................................. 24 3.3.3 Australian lungfish (Neoceratodus forsteri) .................................................. 25 3.3.4 Giant barred frog (Mixophyes iteratus) ........................................................ 26 3.3.5 Freshwater mullet (Trachystoma petardi) .................................................... 27 3.4 Habitat critical to survival ................................................................................. 28 4 Threats ............................................................................................................... 32 4.1 Overview ......................................................................................................... 32 4.2 System wide threats ........................................................................................ 32 iii 4.2.1 Poor integrity of riparian zone ...................................................................... 32 4.2.2 Poor water quality ........................................................................................ 34 4.2.3 Modification of geomorphology .................................................................... 35 4.2.4 Fishing and recreation ................................................................................. 36 4.2.5 Invasive aquatic species .............................................................................. 37 4.2.6 Terrestrial weeds ......................................................................................... 37 4.2.7 Barriers including dams, weirs, road crossings, culverts, instream "farm dams",reaches with poor water quality ..................................................................... 38 4.2.8 Altered hydrology ........................................................................................ 39 4.2.9 Altered catchment runoff regime / changed pattern of water flow ................ 39 4.3 Species level threats ....................................................................................... 40 4.3.1 Terrestrial predators, trampling of eggs and habitat ..................................... 40 4.3.2 Chytrid fungus ............................................................................................. 40 4.3.3 Misidentification with cane toads ................................................................. 40 4.3.4 Illegal aquarium collection ........................................................................... 41 4.3.5 Low gene pool variability ............................................................................. 41 4.4 Universal threats ............................................................................................. 41 4.4.1 Climate change ........................................................................................... 41 4.5 Potential threats .............................................................................................. 42 4.5.1 Mining for coal and coal seam gas .............................................................. 42 4.5.2 Increased demand for water extraction ........................................................ 43 4.6 Impediments to Recovery ................................................................................ 43 4.6.1 Lack of riverine habitat managed for conservation ....................................... 45 4.6.2 Lack of knowledge ....................................................................................... 45 5 BIODIVERSITY MANAGEMENT PROGRAM ..................................................... 45 5.1 Guiding principles ............................................................................................ 45 5.2 Recovery goal ................................................................................................. 47 5.3 Strategy for recovery ....................................................................................... 47 5.4 Previous and current conservation activities .................................................... 48 5.4.1 Existing management and conservation action ............................................ 48 5.4.2 Indigenous involvement in the river recovery ............................................... 51 5.5 Recovery objectives and performance criteria ................................................. 52 5.6 Actions ............................................................................................................ 54 5.7 Implementation Schedule and Costs ............................................................... 65 6 MONITORING, EVALUATION, Reporting and Improvement ........................... 68 6.1 Monitoring ....................................................................................................... 68 iv 6.1.1 Logic behind proposed monitoring program ................................................. 68 6.1.2 Current Monitoring Programs .....................................................................