National Recovery Plan for the Langi Ghiran Grevillea Grevillea montis-cole subspecies brevistyla Oberon Carter, Judy Downe and Anna H. Murphy Prepared by Oberon Carter, Judy Downe and Anna H. Murphy (Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria). Published by the Victorian Government Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) Melbourne, November 2006. © State of Victoria Department of Sustainability and Environment 2006 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 1 74152 257 9 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 DSE website www.dse.vic.gov.au For more information contact the DSE Customer Service Centre 136 186 Citation: Carter, O., Downe, J. and Murphy, A.H. 2006. National Recovery Plan for the Langi Ghiran Grevillea Grevillea montis-cole subspecies brevistyla. Department of Sustainability and Environment, Melbourne. Cover photograph: Langi Ghiran Grevillea Grevillea montis-cole subspecies brevistyla by Andrew Pritchard. 1 Table of Contents Summary............................................................................................................3 Species Information..........................................................................................3 Description................................................................................................................................3 Distribution................................................................................................................................3 Population Information ..............................................................................................................4 Habitat......................................................................................................................................4 Threats...............................................................................................................4 Recovery Information .......................................................................................4 Overall Objective ......................................................................................................................4 Program Implementation...........................................................................................................5 Program Evaluation ..................................................................................................................5 Recovery Actions and Performance Criteria ..............................................................................6 Management Practices .............................................................................................................8 Affected interests ......................................................................................................................8 Role and interests of indigenous people....................................................................................8 Benefits to other species/ecological communities......................................................................8 Social and economic impacts....................................................................................................9 Acknowledgments ............................................................................................9 Bibliography ......................................................................................................9 Priority, Feasibility and Estimated Costs of Recovery Actions ..................10 Figures Figure 1. Distribution of Grevillea montis-cole subsp. brevistyla in Victoria...............................3 2 Summary The Langi Ghiran Grevillea Grevillea montis-cole subspecies brevistyla is listed as Vulnerable under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, and is protected (but not specifically listed) under the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 (all Victorian Grevilleas are protected). The taxon is endemic to central western Victoria, where it is restricted to near the summit of Mt Langi Ghiran, with the population consisting of about 900 plants. Major threats include damage by walkers, cinnamon fungus, vehicle movement and altered fire regimes. This national Recovery Plan for the Langi Ghiran Grevillea 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 Langi Ghiran Grevillea Grevillea montis-cole subspecies brevistyla is a prostrate to spreading shrub growing to 1 m in height. New growth is densely hairy with ferruginous to reddish-purple hairs. Leaves are ovate, 3–7 cm long and 1.5–5.5 cm wide, with 5–15 spreading primary lobes that are further divided into sub-triangular ultimate lobes. Mature leaves have a bright green, almost glabrous upper surface and a dull pale green lower surface that is glabrous or has a scattered to patchy covering of ascending to spreading hairs on the veins. Conflorescences are terminal, decurved, simple and secund and 2–6 cm long. Individual flowers have a narrow green to brown perianth with a glabrous inner surface and tomentose outer surface, and a pistil of 15–17 mm long, with a villous stipitate ovary, a glabrous bright red style and slightly to very oblique, greenish-yellow pollen presenter. Flowers appear in October and November, and have tomentose fruits with reddish dorsal markings (description from Smith 1983; Walsh & Entwisle 1996). A shorter pistil length combined with shorter and broader leaves distinguishes this subspecies from Grevillea montis-cole subsp. montis-cole. Leaves showing some secondary division and relatively large floral bracts distinguish Grevillea montis-cole from other Victorian ‘holly-leaved’ Grevillea species (Walsh & Entwisle 1996). There have been no targeted biological or ecological studies of Grevillea montis-cole subsp. brevistyla. This species occurs where fires are uncommon, but the conditions required for recruitment events are unknown. Seedlings were observed in 2002 (J. Downe, pers. obs.) .and 2004 (A. Pritchard, pers obs.), suggesting this species may persist without fire. However, the long-term effects of the lack of fire on vegetation community structure, and therefore the habitat for this species are unknown. Distribution Grevillea montis-cole subsp. brevistyla is endemic to Victoria, where it is confined to a small area near the summit of Mt Langi Ghiran, approximately 200 km north-west of Melbourne (Walsh & Enwisle 1996), in the Victorian Midlands IBRA Bioregion (DEH 2000). Former Range Present Range Figure 1. Distribution of Grevillea montis-cole subsp. brevistyla in Victoria 3 Maps showing the detailed distribution of G. montis-cole subsp. brevistyla are available from the Department of Sustainability and Environment Flora Information System (DSE-FIS). The FIS is a state-wide repository for flora grid and site distribution data, photographs and text descriptions. This information is available on request in a variety of formats for natural resource management purposes. Population Information The population of Langi Ghiran Grevillea comprises about 500 adult plants and 400 seedlings (S. Kelly & A. Pritchard DSE pers. obs. 2004), growing in several discrete groups (sub- populations) on Mt Langi Ghiran, within the Langi Ghiran State Park (managed by Parks Victoria). Habitat The Langi Ghiran Grevillea occurs in open eucalypt woodland among granite outcrops, at 800– 900 m altitude (Walsh & Entwisle 1996). Associated species include Leptospermum turbinatum, Eucalyptus goniocalyx, Astroloma humifusum, Correa aemula, Dodonaea viscosa subspecies cuneata, Kunzea parvifolia and Astrotricha species (N. Walsh unpubl.). Threats There is little information on the former distribution and abundance of G. montis-cole subsp. brevistyla, so it is not certain if there has been any decline. The main threats to the species are summarised as follows: Accidental Introduction of Cinnamon Fungus Phytophthora cinnamomi: Accidental introduction of Cinnamon Fungus by walkers accessing the site is probably its most immediate and real threat, given the highly sensitive nature of many species of Grevillea to this pathogen. Accidental damage: One group of plants occurs near a hang-glider launch site, and individual plants may be inadvertently trampled or crushed by people and vehicles accessing