This Conservation Advice was approved by the Minister / Delegate of the Minister on: 16/12/2008 Approved Conservation Advice (s266B of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999) Approved Conservation Advice for Rhinerrhizopsis moorei

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 Rhinerrhizopsis moorei, Family Orchidaceae, is a small to medium-sized epiphytic orchid, growing on trees, with a semi-pendulous growth habit. Stems are up to 12 cm long, sparsely branched, with 3–8 leaves which are up to 30 cm long, 6 cm wide, oblong, thin-textured, partially drooping, apex unequally notched, heavily suffused with pink or mauve. Inflorescences are up to 45 cm long, pendulous, bearing from 10 to more than 50 flowers, which are tawny-yellow, heavily blotched with brown, about 15 mm wide, fragrant, opening early in the day and usually finished by midday. The sepals and petals are spoon-shaped, prominently narrowed at the base, usually remaining cupped. The labellum (lip) is white or yellowish, fleshy, projected forwards, with a conical spur (elongated pouch) about 3 mm long; lateral lobes scimitar-shaped, erect and incurved; mid-lobe vestigial (Jones, 1988). Flowering occurs sporadically with the main flowering period in Australia from July to September (Dockrill, 1992). This species is also found in New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Indonesia (Ormerod, 2001). This taxon is called Rhinerrhizopsis moorei in the Australian Plant Census (see CPBR, 2008). However, Jones and Clements (2006) consider Australian populations of the genus Rhinerrhizopsis to be a separate species, R. matutina, distinct from non-Australian R. moorei.

Conservation Status Rhinerrhizopsis moorei 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), under the name Rhinerrhiza moorei. The species is also listed as vulnerable under the Nature Conservation (Wildlife) Regulation 2006 (Queensland).

Distribution and Habitat Rhinerrhizopsis moorei occurs in the ranges of central Cape York Peninsula, Queensland. It is locally common at 200-600 m altitudes, usually growing in humid situations of reasonably high light intensity (Jones, 1988, 2006). The population size of this species is unknown. In Australia, the area of occurrence, minimum range and minimum locations for this species are unknown (Landsberg & Clarkson, 2004). It occurs along rainforest margins, riparian zones and in isolated patches of rainforest, often prominent on the trunks and lower branches of trees (Jones & Clements, 2006). Rhinerrhizopsis moorei is reserved in Iron Range National Park (Briggs & Leigh, 1996) and the KULLA (McIlwraith Range) National Park. This species occurs within the Cape York (Queensland) Natural Resource Management Region. The distribution of this species is not known to overlap with any EPBC Act-listed threatened ecological community.

Rhinerrhizopsis moorei Conservation Advice - Page 1 of 3 This Conservation Advice was approved by the Minister / Delegate of the Minister on: 16/12/2008 Threats The main potential threat to Rhinerrhizopsis moorei in Australia is over-collection by orchid enthusiasts (Landsberg & Clarkson, 2004), but Landsberg and Clarkson (2004) state that this species is almost entirely undisturbed by activities of people.

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/occurrences/remnants.  Undertake seed germination and/or vegetative propagation trials to determine the requirements for successful establishment, including mycorrhizal association trials.  Investigate the precise taxonomic relationship between Australian populations of R. moorei and non-Australian populations using appropriate methodologies including DNA marker analysis.  Develop a genetic tagging system to establish a means of identifying illegal collections from the wild, and providing evidence required for prosecution (see for example Palsboll et al., 2006).

Regional and Local Priority Actions The following regional and local priority recovery and threat abatement actions can be done to support the recovery of R. moorei. 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.  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. Conservation Information  Raise awareness of R. moorei within the local community. Enable Recovery of Additional Sites and/or Populations  Undertake appropriate seed and mycorrhizal fungi 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 R. moorei, 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  Cape York Back on Track Biodiversity Action Plan (EPA, 2008), Rhinerrhizopsis moorei Conservation Advice - Page 2 of 3 This Conservation Advice was approved by the Minister / Delegate of the Minister on: 16/12/2008  Cape York Peninsula natural resource management plan (Earth Tech, 2005), and  Management Program for Protected Plants in Queensland 2006–2010 (EPA, 2006). These prescriptions were current at the time of publishing; please refer to the relevant agency’s website for any updated versions.

Information Sources: Briggs, JD & Leigh, JH 1996, Rare or Threatened Australian Plants, Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, CSIRO Division of Plant Industry, Canberra, ACT. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research (CPBR) 2008, Australian Plant Census, viewed 27 October 2008, . Dockrill, AW 1992, Australian Indigenous Orchids, revised edition, vol. 2, Surrey Beatty & Sons, Chipping Norton. Earth Tech 2005, Cape York Peninsula natural resource management plan – final draft, viewed 4 September 2008, . Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 2006, Management Program for Protected Plants in Queensland 2006 – 2010, Queensland Government, viewed 4 September 2008, . Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 2008, Cape York Back on Track Biodiversity Action Plan, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, viewed 4 September 2008, . Jones, DL 1988, Native Orchids of Australia, Reed Books, Frenchs Forest. Jones, DL 2006, A complete guide to native orchids in Australia including the Island territories, Reed New Holland Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd, Frenchs Forest. Jones, DL & Clements, MA 2006, ‘Fourteen new taxa of Orchidaceae from northern and eastern Australia and two new combinations from New Guinea’, Australian Orchid Research, vol. 5, pp. 2-33. Landsberg, J & Clarkson, J 2004, Threatened plants of Cape York Peninsula, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service. Ormerod, P 2001, ‘Orchidaceae Fragmentae 3’, Oasis, suppl. 1, pp. 2-4. Palsboll, PJ, Berube, M, Skaug, HJ & Raymakers, C 2006, ‘DNA registers of legally obtained wildlife and derived products as means to identify illegal takes’, Conservation Biology, vol. 20, pp. 1284–1293. Vallee, L, Hogbin, T, Monks, L, Makinson, B, Matthes, M & Rossetto, M 2004, Guidelines for the Translocation of Threatened Plants in Australia (2nd ed.), Australian Network for Plant Conservation, Canberra.

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