Download Threatened Species

Threatened Species
Protection of Victoria’s native species
www.ces.vic.gov.au
December 2008
Fact Sheet No. 8
This fact sheet is one of a series, developed from material presented in Victoria’s first comprehensive State of the
Environment Report. The Report is a major undertaking of the Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability and covers a
broad range of environmental issues affecting the State. Its purpose is to improve community understanding of Victoria’s
environment, and through the use of recommendations, to enhance its condition for present and future generations. The
report was released in December 2008 and is available at www.ces.vic.gov.au
Key findings
• Many of Victoria’s native species are under stress – 157
vertebrates and 778 plant species are rare or threatened with
extinction.
• The number of threatened species in Victoria is increasing.
• Climate change is expected to further increase the number
of threatened species because warming is likely to be faster
than many species capacity for adaptation.
• We know very little about many of our native species and
survey effort is declining.
• The legislation protecting Victoria’s native species is underresourced and needs updating to account for climate change.
Victoria’s biodiversity is threatened
Victoria has over 5000 native terrestrial species, which are
integral to the functioning of our natural and agricultural
systems. However, loss of habitat, the introduction of exotic
plant and animal species, and other threatening processes
mean that a large and increasing number of native species
is threatened with extinction. Among our threatened species
are Victoria’s mammal emblem, the Leadbeater’s Possum
(Gymnobelideus leadbeateri) and bird emblem, the Helmeted
Honeyeater (Lichenostomus melanops cassidix).
Despite an increase in the number of species listed as threatened
and the increasing risks posed to them, we know little about
many of our native species and efforts to understand their
distribution appear to be declining.
The number of threatened species is high and
increasing
Victoria has at least 3,140 native species of vascular plants,
900 lichens, 750 mosses and liverworts, 111 mammals, 447
birds, 133 reptiles, 33 amphibians, and a large number of
invertebrates, fungi and algae species.
At least 24 vertebrate species have become extinct in Victoria,
including nine that have become globally extinct. 157 vertebrate
species are considered to be threatened with extinction in
Victoria. A further 87 species are considered to be ‘near
threatened’ or ‘data deficient’. We have very little information
about threatened invertebrates in Victoria.
Forty-nine vascular plant species have become extinct from
Victoria, with a further 745 species listed as vulnerable or
endangered; 804 species are rare, and 228 are poorly known.
Four lichen and fungi 33 groups are considered threatened
in Victoria, 77 are poorly known and 34 are rare. At least two
species have become extinct.
In most of Victoria’s 28 bioregions, more threatened species
were recorded up to 2007 than to 2002. The Gippsland Plain
and Victorian Volcanic Plain bioregions had the highest number
of threatened animal species in 2007, while the Murray Mallee
bioregion had the highest number of threatened plant species.
Weeds and habitat loss are the top threats
Victoria’s native species are affected by a range of threatening
processes, including habitat loss from previous vegetation
clearing and current land use patterns, the impacts of weeds and
pest animals, changes to surface and groundwater flows, and the
increasing threat of climate change.
A sample of approximately 200 threatened species and
communities listed under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act
1988 shows that weed invasion, habitat loss, inappropriate
fire regimes and grazing are the most commonly identified
threatening processes, with 70–90 species affected.
Figure 1. Victoria’s endangered mammal and bird emblems. (a)
Leadbeater’s possum; (b) Helmeted Honeyeater.
Without actions to reduce the pressures on threatened species, a
species may continue to decline to the point of extinction, with
unknown consequences for its ecosystem. Changing patterns
of land use, as well as climate change, pose significant risks to
native species.
Commissioner
Environmental Sustainability
Victoria
Disease is an immediate threat for only a small number of
threatened species, but some diseases have important impacts
on specific species or groups of species. The spread of Cinnamon
fungus (Phytophthora cinnamomi), which causes dieback disease
in eucalypts, is listed as a threatening process in the Flora and
Fauna Guarantee Act, as is the infection of amphibians, including
the critically endangered Spotted Tree Frog (Litoria spenceri),
with Chytrid fungus.
Climate change is not yet formally listed as a threatening process
in Victoria, but it has been identified as a threat for several
especially vulnerable species. This emerging threat is likely to be
defined for more species in future as its impacts on biodiversity
are better understood.
The Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act (FFG Act) aims to protect
Victoria’s native species so that ‘…Victoria’s flora and fauna
can survive, flourish and retain potential for evolutionary
development in the wild’. However, the number of threatened
species in Victoria is increasing and populations of some
threatened species have continued to
decline, so this objective is not being
achieved.
The Victorian Government is currently
reviewing policy for land and biodiversity,
including the role of the FFG Act. A useful
role for threatened species legislation
will be to help us to understand
Victoria’s natural ecosystems and their
vulnerabilities to climate change, and
to maximise the adaptive capacity of
Victoria’s native species, e.g. by building
vegetation and landscape connectivity.
This might be more beneficial than
attempting to guarantee survival of all
species.
Figure 2. Threatening processes affecting Victoria’s threatened flora and
fauna.
We need more information about Victoria’s
biodiversity
Biological surveys are crucial to any assessment of the
conservation status and distribution of a species but
unfortunately we are conducting fewer surveys, not more. For
animal species most data was collected between 1978 and 2002.
There has been a dramatic drop in data collection since the mid2000s. For plants, collection effort peaked in the early 1990s
and there has been a steady decline in the collection of flora
records since the late 1990s. It is difficult to target conservation
programs effectively without accurate information about where
species exist and how they live.
What does the Commissioner say?
“Funding must be allocated to ensure that all species listed under
threatened species legislation have appropriate and up to date
Action Statements. Funding is also needed to support ongoing
studies and surveys of Victoria’s native species.
“The current threatened species legislation needs to be reviewed
and updated to account for climate change. Above all we must
not be lulled into an acceptance of the rate of extinction which
characterised the 20th century.
“Urgent action must be taken to protect Victoria’s native species.
Programs like BushTender and EcoTender that encourage habitat
improvement should be expanded.”
What you can do
• Grow plants that are native to your
local area in your garden.
• Do not grow plants that are declared
noxious weeds, and which may later
invade bushland.
• Join a community volunteer group to
look after native species in your local
area.
For more information
See the State of Environment Report
Victoria 2008, Part 4.2; Land and
Biodiversity at http://www.ces.vic.gov.au
State of the Environment Victoria 2008 Fact Sheet Series
Published by the Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability
Melbourne, Victoria, 2008
©The State of Victoria, Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability 2008
This publication is copyright. No part may be reproduced by any
process except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright
Act 1968.
Authorised by the Victorian Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability, 16/570 Bourke Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000
For further information contact the Office of the Commissioner for
Environmental Sustainability, phone +61 3 9637 8000 or visit http://
www.ces.vic.gov.au/SoE
Figure 3. Collection dates for Victorian flora and fauna records.
Disclaimer
This report may be of assistance to you and every effort has been
made to ensure that the information provided is correct. It is based
largely on data and information provided by the Victorian Government. The Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability does not
guarantee that the report is without flaw of any kind or is wholly
appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all
liability for any error, loss or other consequence which may arise
from you relying on any information in this publication.