National Recovery Plan for the Chariot Wheels Maireana cheelii Jaimie Mavromihalis Prepared by Jamie Mavromihalis Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria. Published by the Victorian Government Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) Melbourne, July 2010. © State of Victoria Department of Sustainability and Environment 2010 This publication is copyright. No part may be reproduced by any process except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. Authorised by the Victorian Government, 8 Nicholson Street, East Melbourne. ISBN 978-1-74208-959-1 This is a Recovery Plan prepared under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, with the assistance of funding provided by the Australian Government. This Recovery 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. Proposed actions may be subject to modification over the life of the plan due to changes in knowledge. Disclaimer This publication may be of assistance to you but the State of Victoria and its employees do not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other consequence that may arise from you relying on any information in this publication. An electronic version of this document is available on the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts website www.environment.gov.au For more information contact the DSE Customer Service Centre 136 186 Citation: Mavromihalis, J. 2010. National Recovery Plan for the Chariot Wheels Maireana cheelii. Department of Sustainability and Environment, Melbourne. Cover photograph: Chariot Wheels Maireana cheeli by Norm Stimson (Enviro Images). 1 Table of Contents Summary........................................................................................................... 3 Species Information......................................................................................... 3 Description .................................................................................................................................... 3 Distribution .................................................................................................................................... 3 Habitat ........................................................................................................................................... 4 Population Information .................................................................................................................. 5 Decline and Threats ......................................................................................... 6 Existing Conservation Measures................................................................................................... 7 Recovery Information ...................................................................................... 7 Recovery Objectives ..................................................................................................................... 7 Program Implementation and Evaluation...................................................................................... 8 Affected interests......................................................................................................................... 12 Role and interests of indigenous people..................................................................................... 12 Benefits to other species/ecological communities ...................................................................... 12 Social and economic impacts...................................................................................................... 12 Management Practices................................................................................................................ 12 Acknowledgments ......................................................................................... 13 Bibliography ................................................................................................... 13 Priority, Feasibility and Estimated Costs of Recovery Actions ................. 14 Figure 1. Former and current distribution of Chariot Wheels ...................................................... 4 Table 1. Population information for Chariot Wheels ..................................................................... 5 2 Summary The Chariot Wheels Maireana cheelii is a small, tufted perennial shrub belonging to the saltbush family Chenopodiaceae. The species was once widely distributed across the inland plains of south-eastern Australia, occurring from south-western Queensland through western New South Wales to north-western Victoria. However, conversion of much of its former range to agriculture has resulted in an extensive decline in range and abundance. The species is now extinct in Queensland and northern NSW, and survives only in southern NSW and Victoria, where there are about 17 populations containing perhaps 700,000 plants. Most of these populations occur on private land or along roadsides, where they are threatened by continued degradation and destruction of habitat from weed invasion, grazing, cropping, clearing and increasing salinity. The Chariot Wheels is listed as Vulnerable under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. It is also listed as Threatened under the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 and Vulnerable under the New South Wales Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995. This national Recovery Plan for the Chariot Wheels details the species’ distribution and biology, conservation status, threats, and recovery objectives and actions necessary to ensure its long-term survival. Species Information Description The Chariot Wheels Maireana cheelii is a small, tufted perennial shrub growing to 20 cm tall, from the saltbush family Chenopodiaceae. It has slender, woolly, erect branches arising from a swollen taproot and fleshy, linear, alternate leaves 5–9cm long. The Chariot Wheels flowers and fruits in the spring, producing tiny green flowers about 1 mm wide in the leaf axils. The distinctive fruit has five fan-shaped, spreading woolly wings arranged in a circular fashion, the fruiting perianth to 6 mm in diameter, to which the common name of 'Chariot Wheels' refers (description from Walsh 1996). Very little is known of the biology and ecology of the species. distinctive wooly, 'spoked' fruits of Chariot Wheels plant growing on sparsely vegetated clay scald photo by Norm Stimson (Enviro Images) photo by Jamie Mavromihalis Distribution The Chariot Wheels was once widely distributed on the inland plains of south-eastern Australia, from south-western Queensland through western New South Wales to north-western Victoria (Figure 1). The species was recorded in south-western Queensland in 1936, at two locations 3 close to Eulo on the Paroo River plain and on a private pastoral property (Nockatunga) about 125 km west of Thargomindah, in the Mulga Lands IBRA bioregion (sensu DEH 2000). No record of the species has been made at either location since 1936, and it is likely that Chariot Wheels is extinct in Queensland. In New South Wales, M. cheelii once occurred near Wanaaring in the far north, in the Mulga Lands bioregion, but is now extinct in the region. Remaining populations occur in the western Riverina IBRA bioregion, mostly between Hay and Deniliquin but extending as far west as Moulamein. The eastern extent of its distribution is unclear but it is likely to occur across to the Newell Highway between Jerilderie and Morundah. In Victoria, it occurs in the north-west of the State, within an area broadly bounded by Mitiamo in the east, Swan Hill in the north and Minyip in the south, in the Riverina & Murray Darling Depression IBRA bioregions. Maps showing the current distribution of Chariot Wheels are available from the Department of Sustainability and Environment (for Victoria) and the Department of Environment and Climate Change (for New South Wales). former distribution current distribution Figure 1. Former and current distribution of Chariot Wheels Habitat The Chariot Wheels is usually found in chenopod shrubland and grassland communities on heavy clay soils, dominated by various native shrubs, grasses and herbs, notably Hairy Bluebush Maireana pentagona, Bottle Bluebush Maireana excavata, Nitre-bush Nitraria billardierei, Austrostipa nodosa, A. scabra, Erodium crinitum, Rhodanthe corymbiflorum, Hyalosperma semisterile and H. glutinosa. In NSW the species appears to favour heavier grey clay soils that support Bladder Saltbush Atriplex vesicaria communities. Chariot Wheels typically occupies sparsely vegetated sites, with a high proportion of bare ground, often as a result of over-grazing and subsequent wind erosion. It often occurs in low-lying sites that 4 become waterlogged during the winter months, and may be slightly saline. It is likely that a loss of habitat and the lack of competition from other species due to the occupation of a relatively hostile environmental niche are factors influencing the current distribution of the species. Recovery actions include mapping of habitat that is critical to survival