Illawarra Lowlands Grassy Woodland in the Sydney Basin Bioregion - profile

Conservation status in NSW: Endangered Ecological Community

Description

This community comprises a complex of vegetation types that occupy the Illawarra coastal plain and escarpment foothills. Characteristic tree species include Forest Red Gum Eucalyptus tereticornis, Thin-leaved Stringybark Eucalyptus eugenioides, Woollybutt Eucalyptus longifolia, Coast Grey Box Eucalyptus bosistoana and White Feather Honey-myrtle Melaleuca decora. The understorey is not necessarily grass dominated, as moist forest vegetation types are also included within this broad community. Common shrub species include Acacia mearnsii and Dodonaea viscosa subsp. angustifolia. Floodplain vegetation dominated by Casuarina species or rainforests on latite soils are not part of this community.

Location and habitat

Distribution
 Recorded from the local government areas (LGAs) of Wollongong, Shellharbour and Kiama, and Shoalhaven. Not recorded within formal conservation reserves, although some remnants occur in small council reserves including Blackbutt Reserve and Croome Road Reserve in Shellharbour LGA.

• Occurs in near coastal areas below about 200 metres on gently undulating terrain.
• Occurs on Berry Siltstone, Budgong Sandstone and Quaternary Alluvium.
• Much of this community has been cleared and it now occurs chiefly as scattered fragments.
• Provides habitat for the endangered orchid Pterostylis gibbosa.
• Some remnants consist of regrowth after clearing or other disturbances.

Regional information
This species is found in the following catchment management authority regions. Click on a region name to see more details about the distribution, vegetation types and habitat preference of the species in that region.

• Southern Rivers

Threats

• Selective logging in remnants.
• Clearing, degradation and fragmentation of remnants for residential, rural residential, and infrastructure development.
• Continuous heavy grazing and trampling of remnants by grazing stock, resulting in losses of plant species (simplification of the understorey and groundlayer and suppression of overstorey), erosion and other soil changes (including increased nutrient status).
• Invasion of remnants by non-native plant species, including noxious weeds, pasture species and environmental weeds, including garden escapes.
• Dumping of rubbish in remnants
• Physical damage from inappropriate recreational activities.

Recovery strategies

Priority actions are the specific, practical things that must be done to recover a threatened species, population or ecological community. The Department of Environment and Conservation has identified 16 priority actions to help recover the Illawarra Lowlands Grassy Woodland in the Sydney Basin Bioregion in New South Wales.

What needs to be done to recover this species?

• Determine and implement appropriate fire management practices.
• Undertake careful survey wherever development requires clearing in known or suspected habitat.
• Consider off-site impacts in the assessment of nearby developments.
• Erect on-site markers to alert maintenance staff to the presence of a high quality remnant or population of a threatened species.
• Install fencing, gates, signs and formal tracks to manage recreational access and to prevent rubbish dumping.
• Encourage regeneration by fencing remnants, eliminating stock grazing and undertaking supplementary planting, if necessary.
• Undertake weed control (taking care to spray or dig out only target species).
• Protect areas of known and potential habitat from clearing and further fragmentation.
• Ensure remnants remain connected or linked to each other; in cases where remnants have lost connective links, re-establish them by revegetating sites to act as stepping stones for fauna, and flora (pollen and seed dispersal).
• Restore degraded remnants using bush regeneration techniques.
• Prepare and implement site specific plans of management for remnants on public land.
• Mark remnants onto maps (of the farm, shire, region, etc) and use to plan activities (e.g. remnant protection, rehabilitation or road, rail and infrastructure maintenance work).

References

• Kevin Mills & Associates (1997) Ecological Study Figtree Estate and Forest Red Gum Communities of the Illawarra Coastal Plain. Prepared for Stockland Trust Group Ltd Sydney.
• NPWS (2002) Native Vegetation of the Illawarra Escarpment and Coastal Plain. NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service, Hurstville.
• NSW Scientific Committee (1999) Illawarra lowlands grassy woodland in the Sydney Basin Bioregion - Endangered ecological community determination - final. DEC (NSW), Sydney.