A range of teacher professional learning programs will be developed to accompany the Biodiversity of the Western Volcanic Plains online outreach...
Conservation status
As a consequence of agriculture and other development, at least 95 percent of the Western Volcanic Plains grasslands have been cleared or severely altered. ‘Natural Temperate Grasslands of the Victorian Volcanic Plain’ are now listed as a critically endangered ecological community under the Australian Government’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). These grasslands are also listed as threatened under the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 with an Action Statement available.
Overall in Victoria, less than 1% of our native grasslands remain, in small patchy remnants, and many are so small that their long-term viability is of major concern to ecological scientists, botanists, zoologists and members of conservation organisations. Most native grassland is now found on private property, as unimproved and unploughed land. These larger grassland remnants occur where there has been limited ploughing, fertilising, and sowing of exotic pasture plants. Smaller areas of remnant native grassland can be found in public areas along railways lines, roadsides, in rural cemeteries and unreserved Crown Land.
Conservation status categories
The following conservation status categories are used in the Biodiversity of the Western Volcanic Plains Flora and Fauna Field Guide.
Terms
Taxon: A named taxonomic group of any rank (e.g. species, genus, family)
Taxa: Plural of taxon.
Conservation Status in Australia (EPBC)
The National Conservation Status of a species is based on the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) list of taxa considered to be threatened in Australia. For further information regarding the EPBC Act and, in particular, for the most up-to-date listings under the Act, refer to http://www.environment.gov.au/epbc/
The category descriptions are:
Extinct: A taxon is Extinct when there is no reasonable doubt that the last individual of the taxon has died.
Critically Endangered: A taxon is Critically Endangered when it is facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild in the immediate future.
Endangered: A taxon is Endangered when it is not critically endangered but is facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future.
Vulnerable: A taxon is Vulnerable when it is not critically endangered or endangered but is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium-term future.
Conservation Dependent: A taxon is Conservation Dependent when it is the focus of a specific conservation program, the cessation of which would result in the taxon becoming vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered within a period of five years.
Conservation Status in Victoria (DEPI Advisory Lists)
The plants and animals included in the Biodiversity of the Western Volcanic Plains Flora and Fauna Field Guide that are listed in the DEPI Advisory Lists are identified with their Victorian conservation status.
Extinct: A taxon is Extinct when there is no reasonable doubt that the last individual has died. A taxon is presumed Extinct when exhaustive surveys in known and/or expected habitat, at appropriate times (diurnal, seasonal, annual), throughout its historic range have failed to record an individual. Surveys should be over a time frame appropriate to the taxon’s life cycle and life form.
Regionally Extinct: As for Extinct but within a defined region (in this case the State of Victoria) that does not encompass the entire geographic range of the taxon. A taxon is presumed Regionally Extinct when exhaustive surveys in known and/or expected habitat, at appropriate times (diurnal, seasonal, annual), throughout its historic range have failed to record an individual. Surveys should be over a time frame appropriate to the taxon’s life cycle and life form.
Extinct in the Wild: A taxon is Extinct in the Wild when it is known only to survive in cultivation, in captivity or as a naturalized population (or populations) well outside the past range. A taxon is presumed Extinct in the Wild when exhaustive surveys in known and/or expected habitat, at appropriate times (diurnal, seasonal, annual), throughout its historic range have failed to record an individual. Surveys should be over a time frame appropriate to the taxon’s life cycle and life form.
Critically Endangered: A taxon is Critically Endangered when the best available evidence indicates that it meets any of the criteria A to E for Critically Endangered (see International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) 2001 http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/categories-and-criteria/2001-categories-criteria), and it is therefore considered to be facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
Endangered: A taxon is Endangered when the best available evidence indicates that it meets any of the criteria A to E for Endangered (see IUCN 2001 http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/categories-and-criteria/2001-categories-criteria), and it is therefore considered to be facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
Vulnerable: A taxon is Vulnerable when the best available evidence indicates that it meets any of the criteria A to E for Vulnerable (see IUCN 2001 http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/categories-and-criteria/2001-categories-criteria), and it is therefore considered to be facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.
Near threatened: A taxon is Near Threatened when it has been evaluated against the criteria but does not qualify for Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable now, but is close to qualifying for or is likely to qualify for a threatened category in the near future.
Data Deficient: A taxon is Data Deficient when there is inadequate information to make a direct, or indirect, assessment of its risk of extinction based on its distribution and/or population status. A taxon in this category may be well studied, and its biology well known, but appropriate data on abundance and/or distribution are lacking. Data Deficient is therefore not a category of threat. Listing of taxa in this category indicates that more information is required and acknowledges the possibility that future research will show that threatened classification is appropriate.
Criteria A to E (from IUCN)
A. Declining population (past, present and/or projected)
B. Geographic range size and fragmentation, decline or fluctuations
C. Small population size and fragmentation, decline, or fluctuations
D. Very small population or very restricted distribution
E. Quantitative analysis of extinction risk (e.g. Population Viability Analysis)
The DEPI Advisory Lists are maintained by the DEPI and are based on technical information and advice obtained from a range of experts. They are reviewed periodically, usually every one to two years. The information in these lists may be of use in a range of planning processes, such as the preparation of National Park Management Plans, Forest Management Plans, local government planning schemes, regional catchment strategies and in setting priorities for actions to conserve biodiversity. These Advisory Lists aim to increase community awareness of threatened species and encourage community members to become involved in activities to protect threatened species.
The DEPI Advisory Lists are not the same as the Threatened List established under the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 (FFG Act), although some of the species in these advisory lists are also listed as threatened under the FFG Act. There are no legal requirements that flow from being included as a species in advisory lists.
Status under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 (FFG Act)
The plants and animals included in the Biodiversity of the Western Volcanic Plains Flora and Fauna Field Guide that are listed under the FFG Act are identified as ‘Listed as Threatened’.
The FFG Act: Primary listing criteria
(1) A taxon or community of flora or fauna is eligible to be listed if it can be shown to be in a state of decline which is likely to result in extinction, or if it is significantly prone to future threats which are likely to result in extinction.
(2) A taxon of flora or fauna which is below the level of sub-species, or a community of flora or fauna which is narrowly defined because of its taxonomic composition, environmental conditions or geography, is only eligible for listing if in addition to the requirements of (1) above, there is a special need to conserve it.
(3) A potentially threatening process is eligible for listing if, without appropriate management, it poses or has the potential to pose a significant threat to the evolutionary development of a range of flora and fauna.
The Department of Environment and Primary Industries identifies taxa and communities of flora and fauna that are threatened and provides a list in accordance with the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988. As there are some legal requirements associated with being listed under the FFG Act, the FFG Act Threatened List only includes items that have been nominated, assessed by the Scientific Advisory Committee and approved for listing by the Minister for Environment and Climate Change and the Minister for Agriculture and Food Security. Legal requirements specify that an Action Statement must be prepared by the DEPI for each item that is listed in the FFG Act.
The FFG Act list is available on the DEPI website
Action Statements
Action Statements are like brief management plans. They provide some background information about the species, including its description, distribution, habitat, life history, reasons for its decline and the threats which affect the species. They also state what has been done to conserve the species and what will be done in the future. Action Statements are designed to apply for three to five years, after which time they will be reviewed and updated.
The Biodiversity of the Western Volcanic Plains Flora and Fauna Field Guide indicates if there is a DEPI Action Statement available for that species, and if so, enables you to download the Action Statement.
All DEPI Action Statements can be found on the DEPI website
