List of Threatened Ecological Communities Amendment (EC176) Instrument 2022

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Commonwealth of Australia

List of Threatened Ecological Communities Amendment (EC176) Instrument 2022

I, TANYA PLIBERSEK, Minister for the Environment and Water, pursuant to paragraph 184(a) of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, amend the list referred to in section 181 of that Act by including in the list of threatened ecological communities in the critically endangered category:

Ben Halls Gap Sphagnum Moss Cool Temperate Rainforest

as described in the Schedule to this instrument.

This instrument commences the day after registration.

Tanya Plibersek

...................................................................................

Tanya Plibersek

Minister for the Environment and Water

Dated .........26-9-22....................................................

SCHEDULE 1

Ben Halls Gap Sphagnum Moss Cool Temperate Rainforest

The Ben Halls Gap Sphagnum Moss Cool Temperate Rainforest is an assemblage of native plants, animals and other organisms associated with a type of cool temperate rainforest, typically with a low dense tree canopy and usually associated with sheltered creek lines. The ecological community occurs in New South Wales within the New England Tablelands bioregion (Walcha Plateau subregion) and NSW North Coast bioregion (Tomalla subregion). Known occurrences at the time of listing are mainly in or close to Ben Halls Gap Nature Reserve.

This rainforest is characterised by (typically contains or is in close proximity to) areas with a ground layer of the sphagnum moss Sphagnum cristatum, where conditions are suitable for development of a shallow but distinctive peat layer. The ground layer also typically includes a mixture of hydrophilic ferns, forbs and sedges.

The ecological community at maturity is multi-layered, occurring with or without tall emergent trees. There is typically a low and dense rainforest canopy, often forming a midstorey (or subcanopy) approximately four metres tall, comprising various species across the extent of the community. An understorey of shrubs, ferns and graminoids is also variable, often with extensive leaf litter. Where conditions are suitable for the formation of a shallow peat layer, Sphagnum cristatum is distinctive in the ground layer.

Characteristic species in the canopy and/or midstorey (or subcanopy) include Atherosperma moschatum (black sassafras), Banksia integrifolia subsp. monticola, Callistemon pallidus (lemon bottlebrush), Elaeocarpus holopetalus (black olive berry), Leptospermum polygalifolium subsp. montanum (common teatree) and Quintinia sieberi (rough possumwood). Tall ferns include Dicksonia antarctica (soft tree-fern) and Todea barbara (king fern).

Other trees may or may not be present in association with the above species, typically as a tall emergent canopy layer, including Eucalyptus dalrympleana subsp. dalrympleana (mountain gum), E. laevopinea (silver-top stringybark), E. nobilis (ribbon gum), E. obliqua (messmate), E. pauciflora (snow gum), E. stellulata (black sallee), E. viminalis (ribbon gum) and Acacia melanoxylon (blackwood).

Understorey and ground layer species include Blechnum nudum, Bursaria spinosa subsp. spinosa, Corybas sp. aff. longitubus, Deyeuxia gunniana, Isolepis habra, I. subtilissima, Juncus alexandri, J. laeviusculus subsp. laeviusculus, Zealandia pustulata subsp. pustulata (syn. Microsorum pustulatum subsp. pustulatum; kangaroo fern) and Pterostylis spp. and these layers can be dominated by large hummocks of Sphagnum cristatum, where conditions are suitable.

The ecological community includes a variety of fauna species, including several species that are listed as threatened at a national or state level.