Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 Notice of Final Determination (1998-545) [GG No 132 of 11.9.1998, p 7389] (NSW)

1998 No 545

New South Wales

THREATENED SPECIES CONSERVATION ACT 1995 No 101

Notice of Final Determination and Amendment of Schedule 1 to Act The Scientific Committee established under the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 has, in pursuance of Division 3 of Part 2 of that Act, made a final determination to insert the following community in Part 3 of Schedule 1 to that Act (Endangered ecological communities) and, accordingly, that Schedule is amended as set out in Annexure “A” to this Notice:

Part 3 Endangered ecological communities the Scientific Committee to list the ecological community)

The final determination to insert this community in Schedule 1 has been made because the Scientific Committee is of the opinion that this community is likely to become extinct in nature in New South Wales unless the circumstances and factors threatening its survival or evolutionary development cease to operate.

Copies of the final determination may be inspected at:

The Information Centre (Level 1 )
National Parks & Wildlife Service
43 Bridge Street

HURSTVILLE NSW 2220

and at all District Offices of the National Parks and Wildlife Service during

business hours.

Signed at Sydney. this 4th day of September 1998.

Dr Chris Dickman

Chairperson

Scientific Committee

Annexure “A”

the Scientific Committee to list the ecological community)

Schedule 1 to the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 is amended by

inserting in Part 3 in alphabetical order the matter:

Published in Gazette No 132 of 11 September 1998, page 7389 Page 1

1998 No 545

Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 No 101—Final Determination

NSW SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE

Final Determination

The Scientific Committee, established by the Threatened Species Conservation Act, has made a Final Determination to list the Shale/ Sandstone Transition Forest in the Sydney Basin Bioregion as an ENDANGERED ECOLOGICAL COMMUNITY on Part 3 of Schedule 1 of

the Act. The listing of endangered ecological communities is provided for by
Part 2 of the Act.
The Scientific Committee has found that:

1 .        Shale/Sandstone Transition Forest (SSTF) is the name given to the plant community characterised by the species assemblage listed in paragraph 4, which occurs on areas transitional between the clay soils derived from Wianamatta Shale and the sandy soils derived from Hawkesbury Sandstone on the margins of the Cumberland Plain. All sites are within the Sydney Basin Bioregion. (The community is identified and discussed in UBBS (1997) under the name Western Shale/Sandstone Transition Forest. Most of the UBBS Eastern Shale/ Sandstone Transition Forest is attributable to Cooks River Clay Plain Scrub Forest.)

2.        SSTF occurs or has occurred in the Bankstown, Baulkham Hills, Blue Mountains, Campbelltown, Hawkesbury, Liverpool, Parramatta, Penrith. and Wollondilly Local Government Areas (LGAs).

1. The floristic composition of the community includes species otherwise characteristic of, or occurring in, either sandstone or shale habitats. The structure of the community is forest or woodland.

4.        SSTF is characterised by an assemblage of species:

Acacia decurrens Acacia falcata

Acacia parramattensis Acacia parvipinnula

Astrotricha latifolia Banksia spinulosa

1998 No 545

Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 No 101—Final Determination

Corymbia eximia

Cryptandra amara Daviesia ulicifolia Einadia hastata

Eremophila debilis Eucalyptus crebra Eucalyptus globoidea

Eucalyptus notabilis

Eucalyptus pilularis

Eucalyptus sclerophylla

Eucalyptus squamosa

Exocarpos

cuppressiformis

Gompholobium
grandiflorum

Hakea dactyloides Hibbertia aspera Indigofera australis

Lepidosperma laterale

Leucopogon lanceolatus

Lomandra filiformis

Melaleuca thymifolia
Olearia microphylla
Phyllanthus gasstroemii
Plarylobium formosum
Pomax umbellata
Pultenaea Villosa
Sporobolus creber
Styphelia laeta

1998 No 545

Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 No 101—Final Determination

Syncarpia glomulifera	Themeda australis	Vernonia cinerea
Wahlenbergia gracilis

Not all these species will be present in every single stand, and the total species list from all stands of the community is considerably larger than that listed above. Depending on the disturbance history of a particular site a proportion of the species may be present only in the

soil seed bank.

5.        Characteristic tree species in SSTF are; Eucalyptus punctata, Eucalyptus resinifera,one of the stringybarks (Eucalyptus globoidea, Eucalyptus eugenioides, Eucalyptus sparsifolia, Eucalyptus agglomerata). One or more ironbarks (Eucalyptus fibrosa, Eucalyptus crebra. Eucalyptus paniculata, Eucalyptus beyeriana) may be locally important.

1. SSTF has an understorey which may be either grassy and herbaceous

or of a shrubby nature. In areas that have not been burnt for. an
extended period of time the understorey may be dense.

7.         Species composition varies between sites depending on geographical location and local conditions (e.g., topography, relative influence of sandstone or shale).

8.        SSTF provides habitat for a number of plant species recognised as being of national, state or regional conservation significance in UBBS (1997). These include:

Acacia irrorata Acacin leiocalyx
Bossiaea prostrata

1998 N o545

Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 No 101—Final Determination

Persoonia hirsuta	Phyllanthus similis	Platylobiumformosum
Polymeria calycina	Prostanthera incisa	Pterostylis saxicola
Pultenaea scabra var	Scaevola albida	Senecio hispidulus
biloba
Solenogyne bellioides	Sporobolus creber	Stackhousia muricata
Tetratheca glandulosa	Thysanotus juncifolius	Thysanotus tuberosus
Viola betonicifolia

9.        SSTF generally occurs on soils derived from a shallow shale or clay material overlying sandstone, or where shale-derived materials has washed down over sandstone-derived substrate. Such sites are generally close to the geological boundary between the Wianamatta Shale and the Hawkesbury Sandstone.

10.      SSTF occurs on plateaux and hillsides and at the margins of shale cappings over sandstone.

11.      Many occurrences of SSTF are as linear stands, which may be as narrow as 20 metres. The small size and scattered distribution of the remnant stands of the community makes provision of a comprehensive map of occurrences impractical. Details of the distribution of many stands are provided in UBBS (1997).

12.      Adjacent communities on shale soils are generally Cumberland Plain Woodland. while adjacent communities on sandstone soils are generally part of the Sydney Sandstone Complex (sensu Benson & Howell 1990).

13.      Small areas of SSTF are presently included in only three conservation reserves, Blue Mountains National Park, Cattai National Park and Gulguer Nature Reserve.

14.       A large proportion of the area where SSTF occurred in the past has been cleared for agriculture and urban development. Remnants are small and scattered. Identified threats include: clearing, physical damage from recreational activities, rubbish dumping, grazing, mowing and weed invasion.

15.        In view of the small size of existing remnants the threat of further clearing and other threatening processes, the Scientific Committee is of the opinion that SSTF in the Sydney Basin Bioregion is likely to

1998 No 545

Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 No 101—-Final Determination

become extinct in nature unless the circumstances and factors threatening its survival cease to operate and that listing as an endangered ecological community is warranted.

Dr Chris Dickman
Chairperson

Scientific Committee

References

UBBS (1997)—Urban Bushland Biodiversity Survey, National Parks and Wildlife Service Benson, D.H. and Howell, J. (1990), Taken for granted: the bushland of Sydney and its suburbs (Kangaroo Press, Kenthurst)