User:Fred.e/List of Threatened Ecological Communities

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Ecological communities in Australia are assemblages of plants and animals that have a mutual dependency, usually for food or shelter.

endemic, in an extremely diverse range of habitat. Environmental conditions, such as soil and climate, which limit and isolate species, can sometimes produce a biocoenosis. These communities may contain ecological fugitives, remnants of changes to climate, continuing in isolated groups of flora or fauna. A number of these are found only within these ecological communities
. Significant environmental changes over 200 years has either threatened or caused the extinction of many of these. [1]

Description

Communities are identified through the study of the diversity and mutual dependance of the species fixed to the location. While other species, such as birds, may particate intermittently, the community is not dependant on them. The complexity of the interaction of species may also exclude others from entering the community. The assemblages are named for the ways in which they interact and the species contained by them. A predominating environmental factor can sometimes be identified.

  • Climatic change in the biogegraphic region of
    Mound springs of the Swan Coastal Plain around aquifer discharges. While other members of plant species are now only found in cooler and moister conditions, the flora help to maintain an assemblage which contains ancient (Gondwana
    ) faunal genera in an unusual permanent water source.
  • A group of cave systems in the same bioregion supports communities, Aquatic Root Mat Community in Caves of the Leeuwin Naturaliste Ridge (No.s 1-4), which are almost entirely self sustained. The roots of tree species, that enter the caves, interact in a complex and isolated relationship with the denizens of the caves, allowing their occupation of the harsh surface environ.

List of Threatened Ecological Communities

At the commencement of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) the list of threatened species, ecological communities and threatening processes consisted only of those previously listed under the Endangered Species Protection Act 1992. The act was ammended in december of 2006, purportedly to streamline the process and give greater certainty to industry. The minister now has veto over the nominations, the time frame of assessment, and acceptance of the recommendations of the Threatened Species Scientific Committee, who generate a Proposed Priority Assessment List. Two new communities were added to list in June 2007, no change of status to others has been given.

The provisions of the original act gave new categories for listed threatened species and ecological communities.

IUCN Red List
.

Community Status Effective Details
Aquatic Root Mat Community 1 in Caves of the Leeuwin Naturaliste Ridge Endangered 16 Jul 2000
Aquatic Root Mat Community 2 in Caves of the Leeuwin Naturaliste Ridge Endangered 16 Jul 2000
Aquatic Root Mat Community 3 in Caves of the Leeuwin Naturaliste Ridge Endangered 16 Jul 2000
Aquatic Root Mat Community 4 in Caves of the Leeuwin Naturaliste Ridge Endangered 16 Jul 2000
Aquatic Root Mat Community in Caves of the Swan Coastal Plain Endangered 16 Jul 2000
Assemblages of plants and invertebrate animals of tumulus (organic mound) springs of the Swan Coastal Plain Endangered 16 Jul 2000
Blue Gum High Forest of the Sydney Basin Bioregion Critically Endangered 26 Aug 2005
Bluegrass (Dichanthium spp.) dominant grasslands of the Brigalow Belt Bioregions (North and South) Endangered 04 Apr 2001
Brigalow (Acacia harpophylla dominant and co-dominant) Endangered 04 Apr 2001
Buloke Woodlands of the Riverina and Murray-Darling Depression Bioregions Endangered 16 Jul 2000
Corymbia calophylla - Kingia australis woodlands on heavy soils of the Swan Coastal Plain Endangered 16 Jul 2000
Corymbia calophylla - Xanthorrhoea preissii woodlands and shrublands of the Swan Coastal Plain Endangered 16 Jul 2000
Cumberland Plain Woodlands Endangered 16 Jul 2000
Eastern Stirling Range Montane Heath and Thicket Endangered 16 Jul 2000
Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub of the Sydney Region Endangered 16 Jul 2000
Eucalyptus ovata - Callitris oblonga Forest Vulnerable 01 Sep 2004
Iron-grass Natural Temperate Grassland of South Australia Critically Endangered 21 Jun 2007
Mabi Forest (Complex Notophyll Vine Forest 5b) Critically Endangered 08 Oct 2002
Natural Temperate Grassland of the Southern Tablelands of NSW and the Australian Capital Territory Endangered 16 Jul 2000
Peppermint Box (Eucalyptus odorata) Grassy Woodland of South Australia Critically Endangered 21 Jun 2007
Perched Wetlands of the Wheatbelt region with extensive stands of living sheoak and paperbark across the lake floor (Toolibin Lake) Endangered 16 Jul 2000
Sedgelands in Holocene dune swales of the southern Swan Coastal Plain Endangered 16 Jul 2000
Semi-evergreen vine thickets of the Brigalow Belt (North and South) and Nandewar Bioregions Endangered 04 Apr 2001
Shale/Sandstone Transition Forest Endangered 04 Apr 2001
Shrublands and Woodlands of the eastern Swan Coastal Plain Endangered 16 Jul 2000
Shrublands and Woodlands on Muchea Limestone of the Swan Coastal Plain Endangered 16 Jul 2000
Shrublands and Woodlands on Perth to Gingin ironstone (Perth to Gingin ironstone association) of the Swan Coastal Plain Endangered 16 Jul 2000
Shrublands on southern Swan Coastal Plain ironstones Endangered 16 Jul 2000
Silurian Limestone Pomaderris Shrubland of the South East Corner and Australian Alps Bioregions Endangered 16 Jul 2000
Swamp Tea-tree (Melaleuca irybana) Forest of South-east Queensland Critically Endangered 15 Apr 2005
Swamps of the Fleurieu Peninsula Critically Endangered 21 Mar 2003
Temperate Highland Peat Swamps on Sandstone Endangered 12 May 2005
The community of native species dependent on natural discharge of groundwater from the Great Artesian Basin Endangered 04 Apr 2001
Thrombolite (microbial) community of coastal freshwater lakes of the Swan Coastal Plain (Lake Richmond) Endangered 16 Jul 2000
Turpentine-Ironbark Forest in the Sydney Basin Bioregion
 Critically Endangered 26 Aug 2005
Upland Wetlands of the New England Tablelands and the Monaro Plateau Endangered 17 Nov 2005
Weeping Myall - Coobah - Scrub Wilga Shrubland of the Hunter Valley Critically Endangered 01 Aug 2005
White Box-Yellow Box-Blakely's Red Gum Grassy Woodland and Derived Native Grassland Critically Endangered 17 May 2006
Threatened status per
Endangered (short term); Vulnerable (medium term). These terms indicate that, without intervention, a community has a high risk of extinction. [2]

Classes

The way in which communities are recognised and given a priority for protection changed with the passing of the 2007 ammmendment. Ecological communities are also given a condition class, those that are deemed to thave suffered significant degardation no longer receive a listing. Landholders may attempt rehabilitation of the communities and they may apply for a grant to do so from the

National Heritage Trust
, however they are free to continue activities such as landclearing and grazing that may be degrading the site. Those communities listed and existing on leasehold, have been eligible for protection by the funding of fencing and assessment of an abatement plan.

Nicola Beynon (2006-10-18). News "Amendments to Australia's environment laws weaken and politicise threatened species protection". News. WWF-Australia. Retrieved 2007-08-02. HSI and WWF-Australia are alarmed by the proposed changes and the potential for the Minister to politicise what should be an objective scientific process {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help) 

]

Threats

The Austalian environment has undergone a significant number of changes in the 200 years since colonisation. The invasion of assemblages by introduced weed species ins the most common threat to the communities. Changes in fire regimes, agriculture, grazing by livestock, salinity, and altered

Department of the Environment and Water Resources maintains a Listed Key Threatening Processes, some of which threaten the ecological communities with extinction. [3]

Other listings

Notes

  1. ^ 'a naturally occurring biological assemblage that occurs in a particular habitat'. (Burbage: paraphrasing description in Acts.)
  2. ^ Source:Species Profile and Threats Database (SPRAT) EPBC Act List of Threatened Ecological Communities (21 June 2007) [1]
  3. ^ Department of the Environment and Water Resources: Listed Key Threatening Processes[2]
  4. Department of Environment and Climate Change
    . 2005-09-01. Retrieved 2007-08-02. There are 81 threatened communities in NSW.
  5. ^ "Nationally Threatened Ecological Communities". Threatened Species - Number of Extinct, Endangered and Vulnerable Ecological Communities. Department of Environment and Heritage. 2005-01-27. Retrieved 2007-08-02. Six in total, two of three "under consideration" are since accepted.

See also

Further reading

WA TECs

List of Communities on CALM’s Threatened Ecological Community data base

Community identifier Community name Category of Threat and criteria met under WA criteria Category under Commonwealth Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Act
1.SCP20a Banksia attenuata woodland over species rich dense shrublands EN B) ii)
2. TOOLIBIN Perched wetlands of the Wheatbelt region with extensive stands of living Swamp Sheoak (Casuarina obesa) and Paperbark (Melaleuca strobophylla) across the lake floor. CR A) i); CR A) 11); CR C) EN
3. SCP10b Shrublands on southern Swan Coastal Plain Ironstones (Busselton area) CR B) ii) EN
4. SCP19 Sedgelands in Holocene dune swales of the southern Swan Coastal Plain CR B) ii) EN
5. Clifton-microbialite Stromatolite like freshwater microbialite community of coastal brackish lakes (Lake Clifton) CR B) i), CR B) ii)
6. Richmondmicrobial Stromatolite like microbialite community of coastal freshwater lakes (Lake Richmond) CR B)i), CR B) ii) EN
7. Mound Springs SCP Communities of Tumulus Springs (Organic Mound Springs, Swan Coastal Plain) CR A) i), CR A) ii), CR B) i), CR B) ii) EN
8. SCP20c Shrublands and woodlands of the eastern side of the Swan Coastal Plain CR B) ii) EN
10. NTHIRON Perth to Gingin Ironstone Association CR A) ii), CR B) ii), CR C) EN
11. MUCHEA LIMESTONE Shrublands and woodlands on Muchea Limestone EN B) ii) EN
12. Augustamicrobial Rimstone Pools and Cave Structures Formed by Microbial Activity on Marine Shorelines EN B) ii)
13. SCP30a Callitris preissii (or Melaleuca lanceolata) forests and woodlands, Swan Coastal Plain VN B)
14. SCP18 Shrublands on calcareous silts of the Swan Coastal Plain VN B)
15. SCP02 Southern wet shrublands, Swan Coastal Plain EN B) ii)
16. SCP3a Eucalyptus calophylla - Kingia australis woodlands on heavy soils, Swan Coastal Plain CR B) ii) EN
17. SCP3c Eucalyptus calophylla - Xanthorrhoea preissii woodlands and shrublands, Swan Coastal Plain CR B) ii) EN
18. Thetismicrobialite Stromatolite community of stratified hypersaline coastal lakes VN B)
19. SCOTT IRONSTONE Scott River Ironstone Association EN B) i), EN B) ii)
20. SCP20b Banksia attenuata and/or Eucalyptus marginata woodlands of the eastern side of the Swan Coastal Plain EN B) i), EN B) ii)
21. SCP15 Forests and woodlands of deep seasonal wetlands of the Swan Coastal Plain VN C)
22. SCP1b Eucalyptus calophylla woodlands on heavy soils of the southern Swan Coastal Plain VN B)
23. SCP3b Eucalyptus calophylla - Eucalyptus marginata woodlands on sandy clay soils of the southern Swan Coastal Plain VN B)
24. CAVES SCP01 Aquatic Root Mat Community Number 1 of Caves of the Swan Coastal Plain CR B) i), CR B) ii) EN
29. CAVES LEEUWIN01 Aquatic Root Mat Community Number 1 of Caves of the Leeuwin Naturaliste Ridge CR B) i), CR B) ii) EN
30. CAVES LEEUWIN02 Aquatic Root Mat Community Number 2 of Caves of the Leeuwin Naturaliste Ridge CR B) i), CR B) ii) EN
31. CAVES LEEUWIN03 Aquatic Root Mat Community Number 3 of Caves of the Leeuwin Naturaliste Ridge CR B) i), CR B) ii) EN
32. CAVES LEEUWIN04 Aquatic Root Mat Community Number 4 of Caves of the Leeuwin Naturaliste Ridge CR B) i), CR B) ii) EN
33. MONTANE01 Montane Thicket and Heath of the South West Botanical Province, above approximately 900m above sea level. CR B) ii) EN
34. MEELUP GRANITES Calothamnus graniticus heaths on south west coastal granites VN B)
36. SCP07 Herb rich saline shrublands in clay pans VN B)
37. SCP08 Herb rich shrublands in clay pans VN B)
38. SCP09 Dense shrublands on clay flats VN B)
39. SCP10a Shrublands on dry clay flats EN B) ii)
42.) Morilla swamp Perched fresh-water wetlands of the northern Wheatbelt dominated by extensive stands of living Eucalyptus camaldulensis (River Red Gum) across the lake floor. PD B
43.Camerons Camerons Cave Troglobitic Community CR B) i), CR B) ii)
44. Bryde Unwooded freshwater wetlands of the southern Wheatbelt of Western Australia, dominated by Muehlenbeckia horrida subsp. abdita and Tecticornia verrucosa across the lake floor CR B) i), CR B) ii)
45. Bundera Cape Range Remipede Community CR B) ii)
46. Greenough River Flats Acacia rostellifera low forest with scattered Eucalyptus camaldulensis on Greenough Alluvial Flats. CR C)
50. Themeda Grasslands Themeda grasslands of Pilbara Region. Grassland plains dominated by the perennial Themeda (kangaroo grass) and many annual herbs and grasses. VN A)
61. Coomberdale chert hills Heath dominated by one or more of Regelia megacephala, Kunzea praestans and Allocasuarina campestris on ridges and slopes of the chert hills of the Coomberdale floristic region. EN B) ii)
62. Billeranga System Plant assemblages of the Billeranga System (Beard 1976): Melaleuca filifolia – Allocasuarina campestris thicket on clay sands over laterite on slopes and ridges; open mallee over mixed scrub on yellow sand over gravel on western slopes; Eucalyptus loxophleba woodland over sandy clay loam or rocky clay on lower slopes and creeklines; and mixed scrub or scrub dominated by Dodonaea inaequifolia over red/brown loamy soils on the slopes and ridges VN A), VN B)
63. Irwin River Clay Flats Clay flats assemblages of the Irwin River: Sedgelands and grasslands with patches of Eucalyptus loxophleba and scattered E. camaldulensis over Acacia acuminata and A. rosellifera shrubland on brown sand/loam over clay flats of the Irwin River.) PD A), PD B
65. Koolanooka System Plant assemblages of the Koolanooka System (Beard 1976): Allocasuarina campestris scrub over red loam on hill slopes; Shrubs and emergent mallees on shallow loam red over massive ironstone on steep rocky slopes; Eucalyptus ebbanoensis subsp. ebbanoensis mallee and Acacia sp. scrub with scattered Allocasuarina huegeliana over red loam and ironstone on the upper slopes and summits; Eucalyptus loxophleba woodland over scrub on the footslopes; and mixed Acacia sp. scrub on granite VN A), VN B)
60. Moonagin System Plant assemblages of the Moonagin System (Beard 1976): Acacia scrub on red soil on hills; Acacia scrub with scattered Eucalyptus loxophleba and Eucalyptus oleosa on red loam flats on the foothills. VN A), VN B)
62. Limestone ridges (SCP 26a) Melaleuca huegelii - Melaleuca acerosa shrublands on limestone ridges (Gibson et al. 1994 type 26a) EN B) iii)
67. Vine thickets Vine thickets on coastal sand dunes of Dampier Peninsula VU C)
70. Mt Lindesay Mt Lindesay – Little Lindesay Vegetation Complex EN B) ii)
71. Russell Range Russell Range mixed thicket complexes VN B), VN C)
72. Ferricrete Ferricrete floristic community (Rocky Springs type) VU B)
74. Herblands and Bunch Grasslands Herblands and Bunch Grasslands on gypsum lunette dunes alongside saline playa lakes VU B)
75. Inering System Plant assemblages of the Inering System (Beard 1976) VN A)
76. LesueurCoomallo Florstic Community D1 Lesueur-Coomallo Floristic Community D1 CR B) i) CR B) ii)
77. LesueuerCoomallo Floristic Community A1.2 Lesueur-Coomallo Floristic Community A1.2 EN B) ii)
80. Theda Soak Theda Soak rainforest VU A), VU B)
81. Walcott Inlet Walcott Inlet rainforest swamps VU B)
82. Roe River Roe River swamp rainforest VU B)
Threatened status per
Endangered (short term); Vulnerable (medium term). These terms indicate that, without intervention, a community has a high risk of extinction. [1]
  1. ^ Source:Species Profile and Threats Database (SPRAT) EPBC Act List of Threatened Ecological Communities (21 June 2007) [3]
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