National recovery plan for the “Semi-evergreen vine thickets of the Brigalow Belt (North and South) and Nandewar Bioregions” ecological community - 1 - National recovery plan for the “Semi-evergreen vine thickets of the Brigalow Belt (North and South) and Nandewar Bioregions” ecological community Cover: The narrow-leaved bottle tree Brachychiton rupestris is a characteristic emergent tree throughout most of the geographical extent of the semi-evergreen vine thicket community. In many areas, it is now found as isolated trees in otherwise cleared landscapes. This is a particularly fine specimen in the upper Burnett district near Monto. © The State of Queensland, Department of Environment and Resource Management 2010 Copyright protects this publication. Except for the purposes permitted by the Copyright Act, reproduction by whatever means is prohibited without the prior written knowledge of the Department of Environment and Resource Management. Inquiries should be addressed to PO Box 15155, CITY EAST, QLD 4002. Copies may be obtained from the: Executive Director Sustainable Communities and Landscapes Department of Environment and Resource Management PO Box 15155 City East Qld 4002 Disclaimer: The Australian Government, in partnership with the Department of Environment and Resource Management, facilitates the publication of recovery plans to detail the actions needed for the conservation of threatened native wildlife. The attainment of objectives and the provision of funds may be subject to budgetary and other constraints affecting the parties involved, and may also be constrained by the need to address other conservation priorities. Approved recovery actions may be subject to modification due to changes in knowledge and changes in conservation status. Publication reference: McDonald, W.J.F. 2010. National recovery plan for the “Semi-evergreen vine thickets of the Brigalow Belt (North and South) and Nandewar Bioregions” ecological community. Report to Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Canberra. Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management, Brisbane. - 2 - Contents Executive Summary ................................................................................................................4 1. General information.............................................................................................................6 Conservation status ............................................................................................................6 International obligations ......................................................................................................7 Affected interests ................................................................................................................7 Consultation with Indigenous people ..................................................................................8 Benefits of this plan to other species and communities ......................................................9 Social and economic impacts............................................................................................10 2. Biological information........................................................................................................11 Community description......................................................................................................11 Ecology… ..........................................................................................................................13 Distribution ........................................................................................................................14 Conservation.....................................................................................................................15 Map 1. Distribution of the SEVT ecological community of the Brigalow Belt (North and South) and Nandewar Bioregions .........................................................................16 Map 2. Distribution (pre-clearing) of SEVT communities in central and southern Queensland .................................................................................................................17 Map 3. Distribution (remnant 2003) of SEVT communities in central and southern Queensland..................................................................................................................18 3. Threats…. .........................................................................................................................19 Clearing… .........................................................................................................................19 Fire…… ..........................................................................................................................19 Weeds...............................................................................................................................20 Grazing..............................................................................................................................21 Other vertebrate pests ......................................................................................................21 Coastal development ........................................................................................................21 Summary of threats...........................................................................................................22 4. Recovery objectives, performance criteria and actions.....................................................23 Overall objectives..............................................................................................................23 Specific objective 1 ...........................................................................................................23 Specific objective 2 ...........................................................................................................26 Specific objective 3............................................................................................................27 Specific objective 4............................................................................................................31 Specific objective 5............................................................................................................32 Summary of recovery objectives, performance criteria and actions ..................................34 5. Management practices......................................................................................................37 6. Cost of recovery ($)...........................................................................................................38 7. Evaluation of the recovery plan.........................................................................................40 References ..........................................................................................................................41 Appendix 1. Map 4. Subregions of Queensland's Brigalow Belt Bioregions .........................45 Map 5. Queensland’s Natural Resource Management Regional NRM Bodies...............................................................................................................46 Appendix 2. Description of listed regional ecosystems in Queensland.................................47 Appendix 3. Predominant occurrence of SEVT regional ecosystems and vegetation types in subregions of the Brigalow Belt and Nandewar Bioregions ...............51 Appendix 4. Areas of SEVT regional ecosystems in local authority areas (LGAs) in Queensland ......................................................................................................52 Appendix 5. Areas of SEVT regional ecosystems in NRM regions in Queensland...............53 Appendix 6. Areas of SEVT regional ecosytems in the DERM estate in Queensland ..........55 Appendix 7. Sizes of SEVT remnants in Queensland..........................................................56 - 3 - Executive Summary Community Semi-evergreen vine thicket (SEVT) is considered an extreme form of dry seasonal subtropical rainforest (McDonald 1996). It occurs in areas with a subtropical, seasonally dry climate on soils of high to medium fertility and is generally characterised by the prominence of trees with microphyll sized leaves (2.5–7.5cm long) and the frequent presence of swollen-stemmed “bottle trees” (Brachychiton australis, B. rupestris) as emergents from the vegetation. The thickets typically have an uneven canopy 4–9m high with mixed evergreen, semi-evergreen and deciduous emergent tree species 9–18m high. Vines, twining or scrambling plants are prominent. Conservation status The Australian Government has listed “Semi-evergreen vine thickets (SEVT) of the Brigalow Belt (North and South) and Nandewar Bioregions” as an ‘Endangered’ ecological community (EC) under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). Six of the 10 Regional Ecosystems (REs) that make up the SEVT EC are also listed under Queensland’s Vegetation Management Act 1999 (VMA) as ‘Endangered’ (11.3.11, 11.4.1, 11.8.13 and 11.11.18), or ‘Of Concern’ (11.2.3 and 11.9.4). The SEVT EC also includes areas of SEVT within the Brigalow Belt South and Nandewar Bioregions within New South Wales. This community corresponds to the Notelaea microcarpa– Ehretia membranifolia–Geijera parviflora vine thicket of Floyd (1990) and western vine thickets of Keith (2004). The community is listed as ‘Endangered’ under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation