Threatened Species Nomination 2019 Details of the nominated species or subspecies NAME OF SPECIES (OR SUBSPECIES) Scientific name: Grevillea montis–cole subsp. montis–cole Common name(s): Mount Cole Grevillea TAXONOMY Provide any relevant detail on the species' taxonomy (e.g. authors of taxon or naming authority, year and reference; synonyms; Family and Order). Grevillea montis–cole R.V. Smith sp. nov. subspecies montis–cole (Smith 1983); Smith, R.V. (1983). Grevillea montis–cole sp. nov. (Proteaceae) from Victoria. Muelleria 5(3): 223; Family: Proteceae; Order: Proteales; CONVENTIONALLY ACCEPTED Is the species’ taxonomy conventionally accepted? Yes No If the species is not conventionally accepted please provide the following information required by the EPBC Regulations 2000: a taxonomic description of the species in a form suitable for publication in conventional scientific literature; OR evidence that a scientific institution has a specimen of the species, and a written statement signed by a person who is a taxonomist and has relevant expertise (has worked with, or is a published author on, the class of species nominated), that the species is considered to be a new species. N/A DESCRIPTION Provide a description of the species including where relevant, distinguishing features, size and social structure How distinct is this species in its appearance from other species? How likely is it to be misidentified? A significant proportion of Victoria’s 49 Grevillea species occur in central Victoria – many of which are Victorian endemics or threatened local endemics of the “southern Holly–leaf group” with a highly restricted range. One of these is Grevillea montis–cole subsp. montis–cole Mount Cole Grevillea, known only from Mount Cole range (Makinson 2000). The taxon was first collected from Mount Cole in 1965, but not formally described until 1983 as Grevillea montis–cole R.V. Smith sp. nov. subspecies montis–cole (Smith 1983). According to the Flora of Victoria (FOV online no date), Mount Cole Grevillea is a relatively long–lived, straggling to open semi–erect and spreading shrub 1–1.5 m high, usually with sparse villous 5–15 partite leaves longer than wide, erect to decurved terminal conflorescences, a green to brown perianth (dull purplish inside, a bright red style, a greenish or yellow pollen–presenter and a pistil 26–27.5 mm long), with flowering occurring mostly in October to November and regeneration strictly from seed. Although Mount Cole Grevillea is readily distinguished from the other subspecies, Langi Ghiran Grevillea (subsp. brevistyla) by its longer pistil, a recent phylogenic analysis of southern Holly Grevilleas (Holmes et al. 2014) showed that the two subspecies fall into separate clades and “possibly occupy different niches [subsp. montis–cole is found as an understorey shrub in granitic loam soil, whereas subsp. brevistyla grows mainly in cracks and depressions in large granite outcrops at more exposed sites at higher altitude].” The researchers went on to note that: “this pattern of variation was unexpected for morphologically similar plants separated by just a few kilometres, [and they speculated that] “It could reflect historical hybridisation and introgression.” On the basis of this evidence, the Langi Ghiran Grevillea (subsp. brevistyla) may soon be elevated to species status (i.e. Grevillea brevistyla) and Grevillea montis–cole subsp. montis–cole may be subsumed into Grevillea montis–cole, making the species entirely endemic to the Mount Buangor/Mount Cole Range and further reinforcing its uniqueness and significance pers. comm.). Page 6 of 20 DISTRIBUTION Provide a succinct overview of the species’ known or estimated current and past distribution, including international/national distribution. Provide a map if available. Is the species protected within the reserve system (e.g. national parks, Indigenous Protected Areas, or other conservation estates, private land covenants, etc.)? If so, which populations? Which reserves are actively managed for this species? Give details. Mount Cole Grevillea is restricted to the Mount Buangor/Mount Cole Range in eucalypt forest and woodland (sometimes amongst granite outcrops) above ~450 m ASL. The Mount Cole, Buangor and Ben Nevis range comprises three plutons separated by a thick band of metamorphosed sedimentary rocks. Mount Cole granite (G378), and the much smaller Hickman Creek granite (G384), occupy roughly the southern half, while Ben Nevis granite (G374) the northern quarter, with a contact metamorphic aureole – comprising hornfels derived from the Warrak and Pyrenees Formations marine sediments – sandwiched in between (see codes and further detail in Cayley and McDonald 1995). Throughout this range, the granites are most prominent, with large outcropping tors common in the north around Mount Ben Nevis (reaching 863 m ASL) and also in the south around Mount Buangor (at 965 m ASL) and the Mount Cole Tower (at 974 m ASL). The Mount Cole granite, as the largest pluton in the region, effectively forms an expansive, undulating, elevated plateau, with prominent outcropping rocks in mosaic with flatter, interconnecting terraces and minor valleys with much deeper soils supporting tall, productive forests often dominated by Victorian Blue Gum or Eurabbie (E. globulus subsp. bicostata). The 78 records (all collected since 1965) extracted from the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA and incorporating records from the Victorian Biodiversity Atlas VBA and Australia’s Virtual Herbarium AVH) span from the Victoria Mill Scenic Reserve region south of Mount Ben Nevis, across the Mount Buangor/Mount Cole montane plateau, south along Mount Cole Road, and also in the Cave Hill Creek region down to as low as ~450 m ASL. The TYPE locality for this taxon is from “Mt Cole State Forest, Glut area, east aspect slopes close to Sandersons Road – Glut Road link, c.400 m from Glut Road, c. 520 m alt.” (Holotype: MEL 611505; Smith 1983). However, nearly two–thirds of these records occurred before 1997 (1965 to 1995) and all of the more recent records are from the Cave Hill Creek region, plus a few along Mount Cole Road immediately to the south. Virtually all of the recent records are from unprotected crown land currently managed as Mt Cole/Beeripmo State Forest. Only one of the recent records is in Mount Buangor State Park (Appendix 1). There are also two old records from the adjoining Raglan plantation dating from the 1960s and 1970s that are now probably extinct. On the face of this analysis, even though this narrow endemic is only found on the Mount Cole range, it appears the taxon’s environmental domain may well have undergone a serious decline and geographic contraction in the order of 75% in recent decades; down from some 2,570 ha (before 1997) to only ~700 ha (or less) mostly centred in the Cave Hill Creek region today (Appendix 1). Preliminary field searches suggest the vast majority of the taxon’s population within this smaller environmental domain could well be concentrated in just two discrete patches totalling as little as ~30 ha – one at Tunbridges Track (~11.4 ha), and another on Sandersons/Glut Roads (~18.4 ha) (Appendix 1). Both of these patches are close to the Cave Hill camping area in State Forest in lower elevation drier eucalypt forest dominated by species like Blue Gum, Manna Gum and Messmate (on the boundary between Herb–rich Foothill Forest and Grassy Dry Forest). Elsewhere, (mostly in Herb–rich Foothill Forest) many of the records appear to represent erroneous locations, possible local extinctions, small numbers or even single individuals. Abundance in the two main patches in the Cave Hill Creek region ranged from relatively thick (≥1 per square metre) to sparse/intermittent and total numbers are estimated to be in the tens to possibly low hundreds of thousands. Total numbers could be as low as 30k to 60k within a very restricted geographic range. Given population size, there is no indication of genetic deficiencies, however, apart from the sampling undertaken for the Holly Grevillea study (Holmes et al. 2014), further work would be needed to assess genetic diversity. Note: see biology/ecology section and Appendices for latin plant names and Ecological Vegetation Class codes BIOLOGY/ECOLOGY Provide a summary of biological and ecological information. Include information required by the EPBC Regulations 2000 on: life cycle including age at sexual maturity, life expectancy, natural mortality rates specific biological characteristics habitat requirements for the species for fauna: feeding behaviour and food preference and daily seasonal movement patterns for flora: pollination and seed dispersal patterns Mount Cole Grevillea is associated with lower elevation, generally dryer forests (typically within or close to the margins of Grassy Dry Forest; EVC 022), as well as higher elevation moister forests and woodlands on the Mount Buangor/Mount Cole Montane plateau (see Foreman 2018; typically Herb–rich Foothill Forest EVC 023; or sometimes Rocky Outcrop Shrubland/Rocky Outcrop Herbland Mosaic EVC 073). The largest remaining patches occur in the Cave Hill Creek region on State Forest within or close to Grassy Dry Forest mostly below ~450 m ASL (see Appendices). Page 7 of 20 At lower elevation, associated vegetation typically has a canopy comprising Broad–leaf Peppermint (Eucalyptus dives), Messmate Stringybark (E. obliqua), Blue Gum (E. globulus), and Manna Gum (E. viminalis), and shrubs such as Spreading Wattle (Acacia genistifolia), Prickly Moses (A. verticillata),