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In this section you will find detailed information, including national overviews and state and regional level assessments, from the 2000-2002 National Land and Water Resources Audit theme assessments.
Australian Terrestrial Biodiversity Assessment 2002
Paul Sattler and Colin Creighton
National Land and Water Resources Audit, 2002
ISBN 0 642 3713
Case Study
Goldfields (Victorian Midlands 1) Highest stress class
Box Ironbark Forest: one of the dominant and characteristic Ecological Vegetation Classes in the Goldfields.
Photo: P. Kinchington
Grassy Woodlands naturally dominated the Victorian Goldfields with Box Ironbark Forest, Heathy Dry Forest and Grassy Dry Forest ecosystems dominating the lower slopes or poorer soils. The Goldfields has a unique and relatively early history of European settlement due to the gold rushes. The landscape has been radically changed within the last 150 years. Most of the region is private freehold used for agriculture. There are also large blocks of public land.
Condition and trend
Native vegetation now covers around 28% of the Goldfields bioregion. Modelling of pre-1750 native vegetation indicates 41 different ecological vegetation classes would have been present. Thirtyfour of these have been identified in existing native vegetation, one is listed as probably extinct and six represent minor occurrences of an ecological vegetation class more typically found in adjacent bioregions. About 11% of the existing area of native vegetation is endangered, 6% vulnerable and 68% depleted. The condition of the threatened ecological vegetation classes is generally declining, and the condition of the majority of the box-ironbark vegetation is highly modified.
Forty-three taxa listed as nationally threatened and 146 listed as threatened in Victoria have been recorded in the subregion (6 mammals, 42 birds, 4 reptiles, 1 frog, 6 fish, 4 invertebrates and 87 plants). Of the taxa in the subregion 15 were assessed as having declining populations, 13 as static and 8 as increasing.
Threatening processes
The selective loss of the more fertile vegetation types, fragmentation of remnant native vegetation and the degraded nature of much of that which remains are the overarching issues which compound the impacts of the many other threatening processes in the Goldfields. Past clearing has resulted in the loss of most of the habitats on more fertile land and fragmented and isolated populations of taxa that survive in the box-ironbark remnants. The size and condition of the remnant patches of native vegetation may be insufficient to support viable populations of many native plants and animals. Woodland birds are declining across the bioregion. Clearing continues to have a minor impact, particularly associated with subdivision for rural living around regional centres.
Key threats include:
- grazing, both along watercourses, where it is often associated with weed invasion, and of those vegetation types where only relicts survive, often largely on private land and linear reserves such as road and stock reserves;
- over-browsing by kangaroos and vegetation destruction and erosion caused by rabbits;
- predation by foxes and cats;.
- timber and firewood harvesting changes the structure of the vegetation and can decrease habitat values by removing large old trees and dead timber;
- changed fire regimes;
- changed hydrological cycles, reduced stream flows, nutrient input and increased sedimentation and algal blooms; and
- mining and fossicking.
A number of other threatening processes have been identified in the subregion.
- Recreational uses may conflict with conservation values on public land, through physical disturbance or damage to flora populations.
- Illegal removal of orchids is a significant impact for some taxa.
- Eucalyptus oil production impacts upon relatively restricted mallee eucalypt species (e.g. Blue Mallee) which may be dominated locally by this high-disturbance, single-use activity.
- Cinnamon Fungus, a water-borne root pathogen, has been detected in Rushworth State Forest within the bioregion.
- The Goldfields bioregion contains numerous eucalypt species which, when in flower, are highly sought-after by apiarists. An ongoing issue is the potential competition for nectar resources between managed hive-bees and native nectarfeeders, but opinion is divided as to the level of ecological threat to the natural biota posed by managed honey bees.
Management responses
Approximately 3.5% of the Victorian Goldfields is within conservation reserves. About 60% of Ecological Vegetation Classes are represented in reserves. Reserve consolidation is a priority over the next 1 to 5 years. Candidate areas to improve the comprehensiveness, adequacy and representativeness of the reserve system have been identified and will be implemented through the Victorian Government's response to the Environment Conservation Council's final report on the Box- Ironbark Forests and Woodlands. This will double the area of reservation.
Threatened species recovery actions have been systematically documented at a landscape scale for species identified as high priority in the Goldfields as part of the Bioregional Action Plan.
Ecosystem recovery planning is at an earlier stage. A process for prioritisation of protection, enhancement and restoration of native vegetation will be implemented through the Regional Native Vegetation Management Plans. Recovery Actions are a priority over the next 5 years given the rapid progress and widespread extent of threatening processes and the fragmentation and coverage of remnant native vegetation.
Four Catchment Management Strategies provide the framework for planning and action. Landholders are generally receptive to conservation issues, time and money being the principal obstacles to their fuller adoption. "Good Neighbour" programs for pest plant and animal control and cooperative management agreements address management issues across both public and private land. The development of a biodiversity component for farm Environmental Management Systems is being trialed in the subregion. Incentive schemes, both the voluntary "Land for Wildlife" and conservation covenant programs have resulted in significant biodiversity gains. BushTender, where landholders tender to provide defined biodiversity benefits through management of significant remnants, has been successfully trialed. Increasing the capacity of local government has also been identified as an important step in enhanced biodiversity outcomes. The great majority of NRM actions are an immediate priority because of the high rate of landscape degradation, vegetation loss, and the widespread nature of many threatening processes.
Limiting factors
Constraints to recovery actions on private land include the levels of funding available from various grant and incentive schemes, often with strong competition, which may lead to discouragement of unsuccessful applicants. This is compounded by the small number of extension officers with suitable knowledge of the diversity of funding sources to guide the planning and implementation of on-ground works. Increased coordination possibly through some form of brokering arrangements is essential.
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