1.1.7.2 Terrestrial species and communities

Principal vegetation types and distribution patterns

The impact of vegetation clearing in the Gippsland Basin bioregion is evident with 57% of the bioregion covered with non-native vegetation and buildings (Table 20). Of native vegetation identified in the NVIS, 12% of the Gippsland Basin bioregion is covered in eucalyptus tall open forest and open forest with ferns, herbs, sedges, rushes or wet tussock grasses predominately in the east (Figure 44). A large area of open forest is situated in the southern Strzelecki Ranges. The combined eucalyptus open forest categories in Table 20 occupy 23% of the Gippsland Basin bioregion. Collectively, Eucalyptus woodlands occupy a smaller area (8%) but show a high association with palustrine and lacustrine wetlands (16%) compared to eucalyptus open forest (9%);Table 20). Acacia, Melaleuca and Banksia forest or shrublands are associated with marine and estuarine wetlands (12%) as are saline or brackish sedgelands or grasslands (5%).

Figure 44 National Vegetation Information System (NVIS) major vegetation subgroups

Data: Department of the Environment and Water Resources (Dataset 2)

Species and ecological communities of national significance

The EPBC Act lists threatened flora, fauna and ecological communities under a number of classifications. In the Gippsland Basin bioregion the common classifications and their definitions include:

Critically Endangered: species face a high risk in the wild of extinction in the immediate future
Endangered: species face a high risk in the wild of extinction in the near future
Vulnerable: species face a high risk in the wild of extinction in the medium-term future.

Approximately 24 flora species are nationally protected, with six classified as Endangered and 15 as Vulnerable (Table 22).

Within the fauna biodiversity asset group (Table 22), a total of 45 fauna species are listed as threatened including frogs (one Endangered, four Vulnerable), bats (one Vulnerable), fish (two Vulnerable), invertebrates (one Vulnerable), mammals (six Endangered, five Vulnerable), marine birds (two Endangered, six Vulnerable), waders (one Vulnerable), passerine birds (two Endangered), non-passerine birds (one Critically Endangered, three Endangered, two Vulnerable) waders (one Vulnerable) and reptiles (one Endangered, one Vulnerable).

The Orange-bellied Parrot (Neophema chrysogaster), endemic to southern Australia, is the only Critically Endangered species thought to occur in the Gippsland Basin bioregion in association with Jack Smith Lake, indicating potential water dependence.

The importance of the natural diversity maintained within Wilsons Promontory National Park is highlighted with designation of the National Park as a UNESCO biosphere reserve in 1981. Diverse vegetation communities exist which include warm temperate and cool temperate rainforest, tall open forests (Eucalyptus spp.), woodlands, heathlands, swamp and coastal communities including mangroves (Parks Victoria, 2002). Three threatened fauna species and three flora species occur within Wilsons Promontory National Park (species name identified with ^c in Table 22) and one EPBC Act listed migratory species, Sanderling (Calidris alba).

Threatened ecological communities

Ecological communities consist of a naturally occurring group of animals, plants or other biota that interact in a unique habitat. There are 12 EPBC Act listed threatened ecological communities (not shown) in the East and West Gippsland Catchment Management Authorities, however, only four are likely to occur in the Gippsland Basin bioregion (Table 22). Three communities are Critically Endangered including the ecologically significant Gippsland Red Gum (Eucalyptus tereticornis subsp. mediana) Grassy Woodland and Associated Native Grassland. One community, the Subtropical and Temperate Coastal Saltmarsh, is listed as Vulnerable.

The Gippsland Red Gum Grassy Woodland and Associated Native Grassland community is endemic to the region and nationally important as a temperate grassland and grassy woodland ecosystem. Temperate grassland ecosystems are poorly preserved and conserved nationally, and their decline in Gippsland is largely due to land clearing (DEWHA, 2010). The community provides habitat to other threatened flora and fauna and is known to be rich in wildflowers and other plant species (DEWHA, 2010). The association of this vegetation community with water bodies (Table 20) suggests some level of water dependency.

Species of regional significance

Victoria’s Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 (the FFG Act) provides the statutory mechanism for the conservation of flora and fauna that are threatened in the state. In the Gippsland Basin bioregion, 41 flora species are listed as Threatened (FFG Act) of which 16 are listed as Endangered and 11 as Vulnerable (the EPBC Act) (Table 22).

Threatened fauna species total 35 and include four frogs, one bat, two fish, one invertebrate, nine mammals, eight marine birds, two passerine birds, six non-passerine birds, one wader and two reptiles. Many of the FFG Act listed fauna species are also EPBC Act listed (Table 22).

The Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) Threatened Species Advisory List is an additional non-statutory state listing of importance to planning processes. Approximately 32 flora species are listed as Endangered and 70 as Vulnerable. There are ten fauna species that are listed as Critically Endangered, 15 are listed as Endangered and 12 listed as Vulnerable.

Threatened ecological communities

State ecological vegetation community mapping (Native Vegetation-Modelled 2005 Ecological Vegetation Classes (EVC)) identifies 629,569 ha of vegetation communities in the Gippsland Basin bioregion of which 139,906 ha (22%) have a Victorian Bioregional Conservation Status of Vulnerable and 100,775 ha (16%) are Endangered (Figure 45). Broad EVC groups that are Endangered include riparian scrubs or swamp scrubs and woodlands (31,000 ha), plains woodlands and forest (including grasslands, 25,000 ha) and damp forests (24,000 ha). Many other Endangered EVC groups exist within the bioregion, but cover much smaller areas. Lowland forest (51,000 ha), plains woodlands and forest (including grasslands, 30,000 ha) are considered Vulnerable. Approximately 12,000 ha of wetland species are also threatened.

Figure 45 Distribution of ecological vegetation communities with Endangered and Vulnerable conservation status within the Gippsland Basin bioregion

Data: Department of Environment and Primary Industries (Dataset 4)

Threatening processes

The following potentially threatening processes were collated under the FFG Act. Processes such as alteration to natural flow regimes of rivers and streams, collection of native orchids, degradation of native riparian vegetation along rivers and streams, and fragmentation of habitat are pertinent threats. Introduced plants and animals threaten both terrestrial and aquatic systems through outcompeting and damaging or destroying native biodiversity. In coastal areas, dune degradation resulting from vegetation removal and human impacts threaten biodiversity. In aquatic systems, water quality is threatened by agricultural practices and erosion mechanisms (landslips, gully, sheet rill and river bank erosion) generating sediment and nutrient movement into waterways. In such instances, stream ecology is altered impacting flora and fauna. Grazing or altered hydrology also results in loss of fringing wetland vegetation. Further land clearing poses a major threat to bioregional habitats and biodiversity.

Table 22 Species and ecological communities within the Gippsland Basin bioregion listed as threatened nationally under the Commonwealth’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (the EPBC Act). State-listed threatened species under Victoria’s Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 (the FFG Act) are indicated with a box

Biodiversity asset group	Scientific name	Common name	Status under the EPBC Act	Status under the FFG Act	Water dependence	Comments on water dependence
Plants
	Acacia caerulescens	Limestone Blue Wattle	Vulnerable	■	Possible	Wide range of habitats - often grows close to rivers, lakes and roads
	Acacia maidenii	Maiden’s Wattle	na	■	Likely	Grows at the outer margin of floodplains
	Acronychia oblongifolia	Yellow-wood	na	■	Possible	Occurs in and on the margins of warm rainforests
	Adiantum diaphanum	Filmy Maidenhair	na	■	Likely	Grows along streams and around waterfalls
	Amphibromus fluitans	River Swamp Wallaby-grass	Vulnerable		Likely	Wetland species
	Boronia galbraithiae	Aniseed Boronia	Vulnerable	■	Likely	Maybe facultative
	Botrychium australe	Austral Moonwort	na	■	Possible	Wide range of habitats – may be facultative near streams
	Caladenia orientalis	Eastern Spider-orchid	Endangered	■	Unlikely	Grows in well-drained soils
	Caladenia peysleyi	Heath Spider-orchid	na	■	Unknown	NA
	Caladenia tessellata^ac	Thick-lipped Spider-orchid	Vulnerable	na	Unlikely	Grows in well-drained sand/clay loam in heath or grassy woodlands
	Caladenia valida	Robust Spider-orchid	na	■	Unknown	NA
	Cardamine tryssa	Dainty Bitter-cress	na	■	Unknown	NA
	Craspedia canens	Grey Billy-buttons	na	■	Possible	Grows in wet and dry situations May be facultative
	Cryptostylis erecta	Bonnet Orchid	na	■	Likely	Found along creek lines and rhizomes. Need to be moist at all times
	Cryptostylis hunteriana	Leafless Tongue-orchid	Vulnerable	■	Likely	Grows in swampy heaths
	Cullen parvum	Small Scurf-pea	na	■	Possible	Appears to require winter flooding
	Cyathea cunninghamii	Slender Tree-fern	na	■	Likely	Grows in deep gullies beside creeks
	Cyathea leichhardtiana	Prickly Tree-fern	na	■	Possible	Occurs on mountain slopes near creeks
	Dianella amoena	Matted Flax-lily	Endangered	■	Possible	Grows in well-drained to seasonally wet soils in lowland grassland, grassy woodland, valley grassy forest and creeklines
	Diuris punctata var. punctata	Purple Diuris	na	■	Possible	May be facultative – occurs in association with red gum and swamp gum
	Dodonaea procumbens	Trailing Hop-bush	Vulnerable	na	Possible	Grows in low-lying, often winter wet locations
	Eucalyptus strzeleckii	Strzelecki Gum	Vulnerable	■	Likely	Seasonal waterlogging
	Grevillea celata	Colquhoun Grevillea	Vulnerable	■	Unlikely	Occurs in dry schlerophyll woodland and heathy open forest
	Hakea macraeana	Willow Needlewood	na	■	Possible	Found in understorey of wet or dry sclerophyll forest, drought resistant
	Isopogon prostratus	Prostrate Cone-bush	na	■	Unlikely	Occurs in heath on plateaux and ridges or dry open eucalypt woodland
	Lachnagrostis punicea subsp. filifolia	Purple Blown-grass	na	■	Likely	Occurs in wet marshes and slightly saline swamps and depressions
	Lindsaea trichomanoides	Oval Wedge-fern	na	■	Unknown	Found on dry sites in lowland to montane forest/shrubland
	Livistona australis	Cabbage Fan-palm	na	■	Likely	Often in swampy sites
	Nematolepis frondosa	Leafy Nematolepis	Vulnerable	■	Unlikely	Varied habitats including rocky outcrops and tall open forest
	Pomaderris vacciniifolia	Round-leaf Pomaderris	na	■	Likely	Found along creek lines
	Prasophyllum correctum	Gaping Leek-orchid	Endangered	■	Unlikely	Grows in freely draining soils
	Prasophyllum frenchii^c	Maroon Leek-orchid	Endangered	■	Likely	Occurs in swampland
	Prasophyllum spicatum	Dense Leek-orchid	Vulnerable	na	Likely	Seasonal waterlogging
	Prostanthera galbraithiae	Wellington Mint-bush	Vulnerable	■	Unlikely	NA
	Pseudoraphis paradoxa	Slender Mud-grass	na	■	Likely	Grows in and around pools and watercourses
	Pterostylis baptistii	King Greenhood	na	■	Likely	Grows in moist to wet soils
	Pterostylis chlorogramma	Green-striped Greenhood	Vulnerable	■	Possible	Occurs in moist well-drained soils
	Pterostylis cucullata^ac	Leafy Greenhood	Vulnerable	■	Likely	Inland populations occur on river banks or alluvial floodplains. Coastal populations grow in seasonally damp, well-drained sandy loams
	Pterostylis lustra	Small Sickle Greenhood	na	■	Likely	Restricted to swampy areas
	Pterostylis tenuissima	Swamp Greenhood	Vulnerable	na	Likely	Based on naming
	Rulingia prostrata^b	Dwarf Kerrawang	Endangered	■	Likely	Associated with wetland margins
	Sambucus australasica	Yellow Elderberry	na	■	Possible	Grows on the edges of rainforests and widespread in coastal districts
	Symplocus thwaitesii	Buff Hazelwood	na	■	Likely	Grows alongside Snowy River
	Thelymitra epipactoides^b	Metallic Sun-orchid	Endangered	■	Unlikely	NA
	Thelymitra incurva	Swamp Sun-orchid	na	■	Possible	Grows in heathlands and heathy woodlands mostly around the edges of grasstree plains
	Xerochrysum palustre^b	Swamp Everlasting	Vulnerable	■	Likely	Grows in wetlands, seen growing in water 1 m deep
Frogs
	Heleioporus australiacus	Giant Burrowing Frog	Vulnerable	■	Likely	NA
	Litoria aurea^b	Green and Golden Bell Frog	Vulnerable	na	Likely	NA
	Litoria littlejohni	Large Brown Tree Frog	Vulnerable	■	Likely	NA
	Litoria raniformis^ab	Southern Bell Frog	Vulnerable	■	Likely	NA
	Litoria spenceri	Spotted Tree Frog	Endangered	■	Likely	NA
Bats
	Pteropus poliocephalus	Grey-headed Flying-fox	Vulnerable	■	Likely	NA
Fish
	Galaxiella pusilla	Dwarf Galaxias	Vulnerable	■	Likely	NA
	Prototroctes maraena^a	Australian Grayling	Vulnerable	■	Likely	NA
Invertebrates
	Megascolides australis	Giant Gippsland Earthworm	Vulnerable	■	Likely	NA
Mammals
	Arctocephalus tropicalis	Sub-antarctic Fur-Seal	Vulnerable	na	Likely	NA
	Dasyurus maculatus^c	Spot-tailed Quoll	Endangered	■	Likely	NA
	Eubalaena australis^a	Southern Right Whale	Endangered	■	Likely	NA
	Gymnobelideus leadbeateri	Leadbeater’s Possum	Endangered	■	Likely	NA
	Isoodon obesulus obesulus	Southern Brown Bandicoot (Eastern)	Endangered	■	Likely	NA
	Megaptera novaeangliae	Humpback Whale	Vulnerable	■	Likely	NA
	Mirounga leonina	Southern Elephant Seal	Vulnerable	na	Likely	NA
	Potorous longipes	Long-footed Potoroo	Endangered	■	Likely	NA
	Potorous tridactylus tridactylus^c	Long-nosed Potoroo	Vulnerable	■	Likely	NA
	Pseudomys fumeus	Smoky Mouse	Endangered	■	Likely	NA
	Pseudomys novaehollandiae^c	New Holland Mouse	Vulnerable	na	Likely	NA
Marine birds
	Diomedea exulans (sensu lato)	Wandering Albatross	Vulnerable	■	Likely	NA
	Halobaena caerulea	Blue Petrel	Vulnerable	na	Likely	NA
	Macronectes giganteus	Southern Giant-Petrel	Endangered	■	Likely	NA
	Macronectes halli	Northern Giant-Petrel	Vulnerable	■	Likely	NA
	Phoebetria fusca	Sooty Albatross	na	■	Likely	NA
	Thalassarche bulleri	Buller's Albatross	Vulnerable	■	Likely	NA
	Thalassarche carteri	Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross	na	■	Likely	NA
	Thalassarche cauta cauta^a	Shy Albatross	Vulnerable	■	Likely	NA
	Thalassarche chrysostoma	Grey-headed Albatross	Endangered	■	Likely	NA
	Thalassarche melanophris	Black-browed Albatross	Vulnerable	na	Likely	NA
Passerine birds
	Anthochaera phrygia	Regent Honeyeater	Endangered	■	Likely	NA
	Dasyornis brachypterus	Eastern Bristlebird	Endangered	■	Likely	NA
Non-passerine birds
	Botaurus poiciloptilus	Australasian Bittern	Endangered	■	Likely	Nests in swamps
	Calyptorhynchus banksii graptogyne	Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo (south-eastern)	Endangered	■	Likely	NA
	Lathamus discolor^a	Swift Parrot	Endangered	■	Likely	NA
	Neophema chrysogaster^a	Orange-bellied Parrot	Critically Endangered	■	Likely	NA
	Polytelis swainsonii	Superb Parrot	Vulnerable	■	Likely	NA
	Rostratula australis	Australian Painted Snipe	Vulnerable	■	Likely	NA
Waders
	Sternula nereis nereis	Australian Fairy Tern	Vulnerable	■	Likely	NA
Reptiles
	Dermochelys coriacea^a	Leathery Turtle	Endangered	■	Likely	NA
	Eretmochelys imbricata	Hawksbill Turtle	Vulnerable	na	Likely	NA
Ecological communities
	Eucalyptus tereticornis subsp. mediana	Gippsland Red Gum (Eucalyptus tereticornis subsp. mediana) Grassy Woodland and Associated Native Grassland	Critically Endangered	na	Likely	Some location near water bodies
		Littoral Rainforest and Coastal Vine Thickets of Eastern Australia	Critically Endangered	na	Likely	NA
		Seasonal Herbaceous Wetlands (Freshwater) of the Temperate Lowland Plains	Critically Endangered	na	Likely	Wetland environment
		Subtropical and Temperate Coastal Saltmarsh	Vulnerable	na	Likely	Some groundwater connection

Data: Department of Environment and Primary Industries (Dataset 5)

na – Not applicable as species is not listed

NA – Data related to water dependence are not available

^a- Species occurs at Corner Inlet Ramsar site

^b- Species occurs at the Gippsland Lakes Ramsar site

^c- Species occurs at Wilsons Promontory National Park

Last updated:

8 January 2018

Terrestrial species and communities

Principal vegetation types and distribution patterns

Species and ecological communities of national significance

Threatened ecological communities

Species of regional significance

Threatened ecological communities

Threatening processes

Product Finalisation date

Numbered headings

ASSESSMENT

PRODUCT DATA