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Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (National Recovery Plan for the Pookila (New Holland mouse) Pseudomys novaehollandiae) Instrument 2026
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Turn the raw legal text into a practical explanation grounded in Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (National Recovery Plan for the Pookila (New Holland mouse) Pseudomys novaehollandiae) Instrument 2026.
Glossary
Table 1: Glossary of important terms as defined in this recovery plan
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Area of occupancy (AOO) | AOO is a standardised measure that represents the area of suitable habitat known, inferred or projected to be currently occupied by the species. Under the IUCN definition, it is estimated using 2 x 2 km grids to enable comparison with the IUCN Criteria thresholds. It is not a fine-scale estimate of the actual area occupied. In some cases, AOO is the smallest area essential at any stage to the survival of existing populations of a species (such as breeding sites for migratory species). |
| ESU | Evolutionarily Significant Units is a concept used by conservationists to strategically prioritise taxa or populations of a species for recovery purposes (for example, to target for captive-breeding), when resources are limited or when the granularity of genetic diversity is not sufficiently captured in the current overarching taxonomic status (Avise 1989; Moritz 1994). |
| Fragmentation | Fragmentation leads to increased extinction risk for small and relatively isolated populations (in certain circumstances this may be inferred from habitat information). These small populations may become extinct, with a reduced probability of recolonization (IUCN, 2019). |
| Gene flow | Gene flow is the movement of genes into or out of a population. Such movement may be due to dispersal of individual organisms that reproduce in their new populations, or through assisted translocations. |
| Genetic diversity | Genetic diversity refers to the range of different inherited traits/genes within a species or a population. High genetic diversity would indicate that the population contained a wide variety of genes and traits which may aid the population in adapting to changing environments. |
| Genetic rescue | Genetic rescue is the process of increasing population-level viability through the immigration of alleles in small, isolated and inbred populations/populations to reduce the extinction risk and restore genetic diversity (Whiteley et al. 2015). |
| Important populations | Populations identified by the National Pookila Recovery Team as a priority target for conservation action and protection. |
| Mini Safe Haven | A Mini Safe Haven (MSH) is a permanently fenced core area of the landscape that permits the two-way passage of a focal species, while being maintained to preserve a low-to-zero risk of key threats inside; allowing for in-situ learning and adaptation by the focal species to those threats at a rate and intensity of exposure determined by the animals themselves (Smith et al. 2023c). |