This Conservation Advice was approved by the Minister / Delegate of the Minister on: 1/10/2008

Approved Conservation Advice (s266B of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999) Approved Conservation Advice for Triplarina nitchaga

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 Triplarina nitchaga, Family , is a shrub growing to 2.5 m tall, with grey scaly bark. Leaves are 3.8–5.5 mm long, 1–1.5 mm wide with the widest part of the leaf near the tip, and a pointed leaf tip. Oil glands are in two rows with the mid-rib and intra-marginal veins not visible. Two to three white flowers are at each leaf axil (where the leaf joins the stem). Each flower is up to 5 mm in diameter, up to 18 , and has 10–13 (pre-fertilised seeds) in 2 rows per cavity. Fruits are hemispherical, 1.6–2 mm long, 2–2.5 mm wide and dry (Bean, 1995). Triplarina nitchaga is very similar to T. paludosa, but differs by having shorter and broader leaves, and semi-circular lobes (Bean, 1995).

Conservation Status Triplarina nitchaga 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). Triplarina nitchaga is also listed as vulnerable under the Nature Conservation (Wildlife) Regulation 2006 (Queensland).

Distribution and Habitat Triplarina nitchaga is known from two small populations near Ravenshoe in Queensland. Neither population is located in a conservation reserve. At Nitchaga Creek, it grows on granite outcrops near the stream, in open forest dominated by Syncarpia glomulifera, Eucalyptus resinifera, and Leptospermum brachyandrum. At Arthurs Seat, it grows on a rhyolite hillside and dry gully, in open forest dominated by Eucalyptus citriodora, E. acmenoides, E. abergiana, Homoranthus porteri, and Labichea nitida (BRI collection records, n.d.; Bean, 1995). This species occurs within the Wet Tropics and Burdekin (Queensland) Natural Resource Management Regions. The distribution of this species is not known to overlap with any EPBC Act-listed threatened ecological communities.

Threats The main potential threats to Triplarina nitchaga are inappropriate fire regimes and localised extinction due to small population size (Bean, 1995).

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. Triplarina nitchaga Conservation Advice - Page 1 of 3 This Conservation Advice was approved by the Minister / Delegate of the Minister on: 1/10/2008 • Undertake survey work in suitable habitat and potential habitat to locate any additional populations/occurrences/remnants.

Regional and Local Priority Actions The following regional and local priority recovery and threat abatement actions can be done to support the recovery of T. nitchaga. 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 road widening and maintenance activities (or other infrastructure or development activities) involving substrate or vegetation disturbance in areas where T. nitchaga occurs do not adversely impact on known populations. • Manage any changes to hydrology that may result in changes to the water table levels, run-off, sedimentation, or pollution. • Control access routes to suitably constrain public access to known sites on public land. • Minimise adverse impacts from land use at known sites. • Investigate formal conservation arrangements, management agreements and covenants on private land, and for crown and private land investigate inclusion in reserve tenure if possible. • Manage any other known, potential or emerging threats. Fire • Develop and implement a suitable fire management strategy for T. nitchaga. • 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. Conservation Information • Raise awareness of T. nitchaga within the local community. Enable Recovery of Additional Sites and/or Populations • Undertake appropriate seed collection and storage. • Investigate options for linking, enhancing or establishing additional populations. • Implement national translocation protocols (Vallee et al., 2004) if establishing additional populations is considered necessary and feasible.

This list does not necessarily encompass all actions that may be of benefit to T. nitchaga, 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 • Wet Tropics Conservation Strategy (WTMA, 2004). This prescription was current at the time of publishing; please refer to the relevant agency’s website for any updated versions. Information Sources: Bean, AR 1995, ‘Reinstatement and revision of Triplarina Raf. (Myrtaceae)’, Austrobaileya, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 353-367. BRI collection records, no date, Queensland Herbarium specimens.

Triplarina nitchaga Conservation Advice - Page 2 of 3 This Conservation Advice was approved by the Minister / Delegate of the Minister on: 1/10/2008 Vallee, L, Hogbin, T, Monks, L, Makinson, B, Matthes, M & Rossetto, M 2004, Guidelines for the Translocation of Threatened in Australia (2nd ed.), Australian Network for Conservation, Canberra. Wet Tropics Management Authority (WTMA) 2004, Wet Tropics Conservation Strategy: the conservation, rehabilitation and transmission to future generations of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, WTMA, Cairns, Queensland, viewed 27 May 2008, .

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