Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) (s266B) Draft listing advice and conservation advice for the Illawarra and south coast lowland grassy woodland ecological community 1. The Threatened Species Scientific Committee (the Committee) was established under the EPBC Act and has obligations to present advice to the Minister for the Environment (the Minister) in relation to the listing and conservation of threatened ecological communities, including under sections 189, 194N and 266B of the EPBC Act. 2. The Committee will provide its advice on the Illawarra and south coast lowland grassy woodland ecological community to the Minister as a draft conservation advice by 31 July 2016. 3. The Minister will decide whether to amend the list of threatened ecological communities under Section 184 of the EPBC Act to include the Illawarra and south coast lowland grassy woodland ecological community. It is noted that a portion of the ecological community is listed under the New South Wales Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995. 4. This draft conservation advice for the Illawarra and south coast lowland grassy woodland ecological community will be made available for expert and public comment for a minimum of 30 business days. The Committee and Minister will have regard to all public and expert comment relevant to the consideration of the ecological community. 5. This draft conservation advice has been developed based on the best available information at this time. ILLAWARRA AND SOUTH COAST LOWLAND GRASSY WOODLAND ECOLOGICAL COMMUNITY DRAFT LISTING ADVICE AND CONSERVATION ADVICE MARCH 2016 Contents 1 Description of the ecological community ............................................................. 4 1.1 Name of the ecological community ........................................................................................ 4 1.2 Location and physical environment ........................................................................................ 4 1.3 Vegetative components of the ecological community ............................................................ 5 1.3.1 Canopy ............................................................................................................................. 6 1.3.2 Understorey ...................................................................................................................... 6 1.4 Faunal components of the ecological community ................................................................... 7 1.5 Key diagnostic characteristics and condition thresholds......................................................... 8 1.5.1 Key diagnostic characteristics.......................................................................................... 9 1.5.2 Other diagnostic considerations ....................................................................................... 9 1.5.3 Condition thresholds for EPBC Act protection ............................................................. 10 1.6 Further information to assist in determining the presence of the ecological community and significant impacts on the ecological community ............................................................................ 11 1.6.1 Defining a patch ............................................................................................................. 12 1.6.2 Buffer Zone .................................................................................................................... 12 1.6.3 Revegetated areas and areas of regrowth ....................................................................... 12 1.6.4 Sampling protocol .......................................................................................................... 12 1.6.5 Surrounding environment, landscape context and other significant considerations ...... 13 1.6.6 Area critical to the survival of the ecological community ............................................. 14 1.6.7 Geographic extent and patch size distribution ............................................................... 14 1.7 Relationship to other vegetation classification systems ........................................................ 17 1.8 Other existing protection ....................................................................................................... 17 1.8.1 Relationship with other threatened ecological communities ......................................... 17 1.8.2 Listed threatened flora and fauna species ...................................................................... 19 2 SUMMARY OF THREATS ................................................................................ 21 2.1 Key Threatening Processes ................................................................................................... 23 More information on threats to the ecological community is provided in ............ 23 3 SUMMARY OF ELIGIBILITY FOR LISTING AGAINST EPBC ACT CRITERIA ................................................................................................................... 24 4 Priority Research and Conservation Actions .................................................... 26 2 4.1 Conservation Objective ......................................................................................................... 26 4.2 Priority protection and restoration actions ............................................................................ 26 4.3 Research and monitoring priorities ....................................................................................... 32 4.5 Offsets ................................................................................................................................... 33 4.6 Existing plans/management prescriptions ............................................................................. 34 4.7 Recovery Plan Recommendation .......................................................................................... 35 Appendices ................................................................................................................... 36 Appendix A-Draft map of likely occurrence of the ecological community ........... 36 Appendix B – Species lists .......................................................................................... 37 Appendix C- Land use history; Indigenous cultural values and knowledge of the ecological community .................................................................................................. 47 Appendix D- Additional information on landscape, ecology and biology ............. 49 Appendix E – Description of threats ......................................................................... 55 Appendix F – Eligibility for listing against EPBC Act criteria .............................. 62 BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................... 69 List of tables Table 1 Mean annual rainfall for sites near where the ecological community occurs ........................... 5 Table 2 Condition thresholds for patches of Illawarra and south coast lowland grassy woodland ..... 11 Table 3 Spatial extent of the ecological community ............................................................................ 15 Table 4 Remnant patch sizes................................................................................................................ 16 Table 5 Threatened flora and fauna that may occur in the ecological community .............................. 19 Table 6 Potentially relevant key threatening processes identified in the Threatened Species and Communities Act (NSW) and the EPBC Act. ..................................................................................... 23 Table 7 Fauna that may be present in the ecological community ........................................................ 37 Table 8 Plants that may occur in the ecological community ............................................................... 39 Table 9 D'harawal seasonal calendar extract ....................................................................................... 48 Table 10 Declared weeds in Local Control Authority areas for Illawarra District Weeds Authority and Eurobodalla Local Government Area ........................................................................................... 57 Table 11 Estimated original and current extent of the ecological community .................................... 62 Table 12 Area of the ecological community by patch size .................................................................. 64 List of Figures Figure 1 Map of patches of Illawarra and south coast lowland grassy woodland ecological community patches and all native woody vegetation in the Illawarra subregion. ............................... 54 Figure 2 Patch size in the ecological community ................................................................................ 64 3 1 DESCRIPTION OF THE ECOLOGICAL COMMUNITY 1.1 Name of the ecological community The name of the ecological community is the Illawarra and south coast lowland grassy woodland. The ecological community was placed on the 2014 Finalised Priority Assessment List as the ‘Illawarra Lowlands Grassy Woodland’ (hereafter referred to as ‘Illawarra and south coast lowland grassy woodland’, or ‘the ecological community’). It comprises eucalypt woodlands; typically with a shrub layer and/or a grassy ground layer. The distribution is patchy, with the main remaining occurrences mostly on lowland sandy loam soils around Wollongong,