Consultation Document on Listing Eligibility and Conservation Actions Eucalyptus aggregata (black gum) You are invited to provide your views about: 1) the eligibility of Eucalyptus aggregata (black gum) for inclusion on the EPBC Act threatened species list; and 2) the necessary conservation actions for the above species. The views of experts, stakeholders and the general public are welcome. Responses can be provided by any interested person. Anyone may nominate a native species, ecological community or threatening process for listing under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) or for a transfer of an item already on the list to a new listing category. The Threatened Species Scientific Committee (the Committee) undertakes the assessment of species to determine eligibility for inclusion in the list of threatened species and provides its recommendation to the Australian Government Minister for the Environment. Draft information for your consideration of the eligibility of this species for listing as endangered starts at page 3 and information associated with potential conservation actions for this species starts at page 11. To assist with the Committee’s assessment, the Committee has identified a series of specific questions on which it seeks your guidance at page 12. Responses to are to be provided in writing either by email to: [email protected] or by mail to: The Director Terrestrial Species Conservation Section Wildlife, Heritage and Marine Division Department of the Environment PO Box 787 Canberra ACT 2601 Responses are required to be submitted by 18 November 2014 Contents of this information package Page General background information about listing threatened species 2 Information about this consultation process 2 Draft information about the common name and its eligibility for listing 3 Conservation actions for the species 11 Collective list of questions – your views 12 References cited 14 Page 1 of 14 Consultation on Eucalyptus aggregata (black gum) General background information about listing threatened species The Australian Government helps protect species at risk of extinction by listing them as threatened under Part 13 of the EPBC Act. Once listed under the EPBC Act, the species becomes a Matter of National Environmental Significance (MNES) and must be protected from significant impacts through the assessment and approval provisions of the EPBC Act. More information about threatened species is available on the Department’s website at: http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/index.html. Public nominations to list threatened species under the EPBC Act are received annually by the Department. In order to determine if a species is eligible for listing as threatened under the EPBC Act, the Threatened Species Scientific Committee (the Committee) undertakes a rigorous scientific assessment of its status to determine if the species is eligible for listing against a set of criteria. These criteria are available on the Department’s website at: http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/pubs/guidelines-species.pdf. As part of the assessment process, the Committee consults with the public and stakeholders to obtain specific details about the species, as well as advice on what conservation actions might be appropriate. Information provided through the consultation process is considered by the Committee in its assessment. The Committee provides its advice on the assessment (together with comments received) to the Minister regarding the eligibility of the species for listing under a particular category and what conservation actions might be appropriate. The Minister decides to add, or not to add, the species to the list of threatened species under the EPBC Act. More detailed information about the listing process is at: http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/nominations.html. To promote the recovery of listed threatened species and ecological communities, conservation advices and where required, recovery plans are made or adopted in accordance with Part 13 of the EPBC Act. Conservation advices provide guidance at the time of listing on known threats and priority recovery actions that can be undertaken at a local and regional level. Recovery plans describe key threats and identify specific recovery actions that can be undertaken to enable recovery activities to occur within a planned and logical national framework. Information about recovery plans is available on the Department’s website at: http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/recovery.html. Information about this consultation process Responses to this consultation can be provided electronically or in hard copy to the contact addresses provided on Page 1. All responses received will be provided in full to the Committee and then to the Australian Government Minister for the Environment. In providing comments, please provide references to published data where possible. Should the Committee use the information you provide in formulating its advice, the information will be attributed to you and referenced as a ‘personal communication’ unless you provide references or otherwise attribute this information (please specify if your organisation requires that this information is attributed to your organisation instead of yourself). The final advice by the Committee will be published on the Department’s website following the listing decision by the Minister. Information provided through consultation may be subject to freedom of information legislation and court processes. It is also important to note that under the EPBC Act, the deliberations and recommendations of the Committee are confidential until the Minister has made a final decision on the nomination, unless otherwise determined by the Minister. Page 2 of 14 Consultation on Eucalyptus aggregata (black gum) Eucalyptus aggregata Black gum Taxonomy Conventionally accepted as Eucalyptus aggregata Deane & Maiden (Deane & Maiden, 1900). Description Eucalyptus aggregata, black gum, is a small to medium sized woodland tree that grows 18–20 m tall (Benson and McDougall, 1998; Hill, 2002), although DSE (2004) states that it grows to 25 m. The bark on the trunk and main branches is dark grey to black, deeply fibrous or flaky, which does not shed annually (Hill, 2002). The smaller branches (<8 cm diameter) are covered in smooth white, cream or grey bark which does shed yearly (Brooker et al., 2002; Hill, 2002). The adult leaves are slightly curved and round-ended, approximately 5–12 cm long and 1–2 cm wide. They are a glossy dark green, have the same colour on each surface and contain leaf oils with a distinctive, clove-like odour (Brooker et al., 2002; DSE, 2004; NSW OEH, 2013). Juvenile leaves are narrow or oval-shaped, are arranged opposite each other and are a dull green in colour (Hill, 2002), although they may vary considerably in a single seedlot (Brooker et al., 2002). The buds, flowers and fruits occur in tight clusters of seven on stalks 3–4 mm long. The buds are egg-shaped, 3–5 mm long and 2–3 mm wide (Hill, 2002; NSW OEH, 2013). The flowers are white or cream and are followed by capsules which are cone or cup shaped, 2–4 mm long and 3–5 mm wide (Brooker et al., 2002; Hill, 2002). Distribution The black gum is endemic to Australia and is found in the ACT, NSW Central and Southern Tablelands and in a small isolated sub-population in Victoria (Brooker et al., 2002; Hill, 2002). It is likely that these sub-populations were connected in a colder palaeoclimate (DSE, 2004). The species occurs mainly in the wetter, cooler and higher parts of the tablelands (NSW OEH, 2013), and is found at altitudes of 800–1200 m and in areas with annual rainfall of 600–900 mm (Benson and McDougall, 1998), although at least one sub-population is known to occur in an area of higher rainfall (~1800 mm per year; NSW Scientific Committee, 2013). ACT and NSW occurrences: In the ACT, the species occurs to a very minor extent with the only confirmed extant natural occurrence comprising of two to three trees on the edge of the Kings Highway. These trees make up part of a small stand that extends over the border into NSW (Douglas pers. comm., 2014). In NSW, the species occurs predominantly in the South Eastern Highlands Bioregion with the most eastern part of the distribution being located just within the Sydney Basin Bioregion (NSW Scientific Committee, 2010). Following Field’s (2008) survey in 2002 / 2003 there were believed to be approximately 110 stands in NSW. Field (2008) considered that around 56 % of these stands consist of scattered trees on grazed privately owned land or linear clusters along road edges. Although a few locations have been recorded since this survey, all are very small and have not expanded the known range or habitat of the species, nor significantly altered the understanding of its abundance or conservation status (Douglas, pers. comm., 2014). The NSW Scientific Committee (2010) considered there to be 130–150 stands when they assessed the species in 2010. Compilation of available survey data indicates that 6300–8100 mature individuals occur in NSW (NSW Scientific Committee, 2010). Field (2008) estimated in his study that only 9 % of stands Page 3 of 14 Consultation on Eucalyptus aggregata (black gum) had greater than 200 adult trees and occurred in continuous woodland vegetation habitat likely to represent habitat conditions prior to European land clearing. He also found that 56 % of stands surveyed had fewer than 40 trees. The largest black gum stands in NSW contain around 700–1000 adults, which is small compared to the characteristic largest stands of other Eucalyptus species (Field, 2008). The large stands include Black Springs, Wallerawang, south of Braidwood near the Shoalhaven River, and the Bendoura Travelling Stock Reserve (Field pers. comm., 2014). Some small stands are located in reserve systems, including Tallaganda, Morton, Yanununbeyan, and the Blue Mountains National Parks, and Turallo Nature Reserve (NSW Scientific Committee, 2010). Douglas (2009) states that the occurrences in reserves are ‘poor quality’ and the trees are usually located on the periphery of these reserves.