This conservation advice was approved by the Minister / Delegate of the Minister on: 26/3/2008
A statement for the purposes of approved conservation advice (s266B of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999) Approved Conservation Advice for Grevillea rivularis (Carrington Falls Grevillea)
This Conservation Advice has been developed based on the best available information at the time this conservation advice was approved. Description Grevillea rivularis, Family Proteaceae, also known as Carrington Falls Grevillea, is a dense, spreading, prickly shrub, 2–2.5 m high and 2–3 m wide. The flowers are cream to mauve-pink and the fruits are hairy with reddish-brown stripes or blotches. The flowers appear throughout most of the year and are pollinated by birds. Its leaves are 3–6cm long and have secondary (occasionally tertiary) divisions, with 3–9 primary lobes, each with 3–5 secondary lobes. The ultimate lobes, which are 1–3cm long and 1–2.5mm wide, are linear to very narrow-triangular and pungent. Conservation Status Carrington Falls Grevillea 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). This species is also listed as endangered under the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 (NSW). Distribution and Habitat Carrington Falls Grevillea is restricted to the Carrington Falls area, near Robertson on the Central Tablelands of NSW (McGillivray, 1975; Benson & McDougall, 2000; Makinson, 2000). This species occurs within Budderoo National Park and adjacent crown land (Briggs & Leigh, 1990), in the Southern Rivers Natural Resource Management Region (NSW). It is primarily confined to the riparian zone of the Kangaroo River and associated tributaries, over a small area of 120 ha (Pickup et al., 2003). It is generally restricted to the water’s edge, though a small population of mature individuals is known from woodland at least 500 m from the water's edge, indicating that the species was likely to have previously been more widespread. Fire is implicated in its disappearance from woodland habitat (DECC, 2005a). The estimated total population for the species is between 1500 and 2000 plants (Briggs & Leigh, 1990; NSW NPWS, 1999; Pickup et al., 2003). The species occurs in moist sandy or alluvium soils on sandstone, in and near small streams in dense riparian or open wet heath, adjacent to open eucalypt woodland or forest (McGillivray, 1975; Briggs & Leigh, 1990). Associated species include Leptospermum lanigerum, Baeckea utilis, Acacia longifolia, A. terminalis, Callicoma serratifolia, Ceratopetalum apetalum, Hakea microcarpa, Banksia ericifolia, B. paludosa, Melaleuca squarrosa, Epacris impressa, Persoonia, Pomaderris, Isopogon, and Gleichenia species and numerous sedges and rushes. The distribution of this species is not known to overlap with any EPBC Act-listed threatened ecological communities. Threats The main identified threat to Carrington Falls Grevillea is frequent fire. Fire kills plants, and regeneration is reliant upon the presence of seed stored in the soil (Briggs & Leigh 1990; NSW NPWS, 1999; Makinson, 2000; Pickup et al., 2003). Other identified threats include
Grevillea rivularis Conservation Advice - Page 1 of 3 This conservation advice was approved by the Minister / Delegate of the Minister on: 26/3/2008 recreational activities (vehicles driving off established tracks, BBQ fires, visitor trampling and rubbish dumping) (NSW NPWS, 1999); small population size; and climatic disturbances such as drought (DECC, 2005a). Regional Priority Actions The following regional priority recovery and threat abatement actions can be done to support the recovery of Carrington Falls Grevillea. Habitat Loss, Disturbance and Modification • Identify populations of high conservation priority. • Manage threats to areas of vegetation that contain populations/occurrences/remnants of Carrington Falls Grevillea. • Investigate formal conservation arrangements such as the use of covenants, conservation agreements or inclusion in reserve tenure. Fire • Develop and implement a suitable fire management strategy for Carrington Falls Grevillea, with intervals between fires of more than 15 years (DECC, 2005b). • 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 Carrington Falls Grevillea within the local community. • Educate visitors to stay on marked tracks in national parks. 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.
Local Priority Actions The following local priority recovery and threat abatement actions can be done to support the recovery of Carrington Falls Grevillea. 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. • Ensure track maintenance activities in areas where Carrington Falls Grevillea occurs do not adversely impact on known populations. • Control access routes to suitably constrain public access to known sites on public land. • Undertake survey work in suitable habitat and potential habitat to locate any additional populations. • Minimise adverse impacts from land use at known sites. Fire • Incorporate information of known sites into regional fire plans and hazard reduction burn planning (DECC, 2005a). • Implement an appropriate fire management regime for local populations. This list does not necessarily encompass all actions that may be of benefit to Carrington Falls Grevillea, but highlights those that are considered to be of highest priority at the time of preparing the conservation advice.
Grevillea rivularis Conservation Advice - Page 2 of 3 This conservation advice was approved by the Minister / Delegate of the Minister on: 26/3/2008
Existing Plans/Management Prescriptions Relevant to the Species • Budderoo National Park Management Plan (NSW NPWS, 1998) and Amendments (NSW NPWS 2004), and • NSW Threatened Species Priority Action Statement for Grevillea rivularis (DECC, 2005b).
Information Sources: Benson, D & McDougall, L 2000, ‘Ecology of Sydney plant species: part 7b Dicotyledon families Proteaceae to Rubiaceae’, Cunninghamia, vol. 6, no.4, pp. 1016-1202. Briggs, JD & Leigh, JH 1990, Delineation of important habitats of threatened plant species in South-Eastern New South Wales, Australian Heritage Commission, Canberra. Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC) 2005a, Threatened species profile database, Carrington Falls Grevillea, viewed 11 March 2008,
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