Pultenaea humilis - vulnerable species listing
The Scientific Committee, established by the Threatened Species Conservation Act, has made a Final Determination to list the shrub Pultenaea humilis Benth. ex Hook. F. as a VULNERABLE SPECIES in Part 1 of Schedule 2 of the Act. Listing of vulnerable species is provided for by Part 2 of the Act.
NSW Scientific Committee - final determination
The Scientific Committee has found that:
1. Pultenaea humilis Benth. ex Hook. F. (family Fabaceae) has been described by de Kok and West (2002) as:
‘Erect to prostrate shrub, 0.2–0.8 m high, rhizomatous; branchlets erect or drooping, sparsely to moderately hairy. Leaves alternate, 3.9–12.5 by 1–2.5 mm, ratio 3.9–5.7, narrowly elliptic, oblong or ovate, flat, straight, leathery, smooth, paler above, light green, venation palmate to only midvein prominent; apex acute, straight; base attenuate to cuneate; margin incurved and rarely ciliate; hairs absent to sparsely hairy, appressed to ascending or rarely, thin needlelike. Petioles not decurrent. Stipules 0.9–2.3 mm long, appressed to stem to recoiled, entire. Inflorescences usually lax, flower-subtending bracts herbaceous. Calyx 7–8.8 mm long, sparsely hairy, lobes all straight, margin with curly hairs, apex acuminate. Bracteoles 6.5–8 mm long, linear to triangular rarely tri-dentate, ciliate, scarious, insertion on the calyx. Standard 10–13 mm long, yellow to red at the front and back with red-brown stripes; wing 8.5–10.2 mm long, yellow to red; keel 8–10 mm long, yellow to red brown. Ovary with a tuft of hairs at apex, style hooked. Pods 4.2–5 mm long, with a tuft of hairs at the apex, seeds 2.2 mm long, aril apex deeply branched. Flowering from October to December; fruiting from November to December (February).’
2. Pultenaea humilis is rare in New South Wales and Tasmania, but relatively common in Victoria (de Kok and West 2002). It is currently listed as a vulnerable species under the Tasmanian Threatened Species Protection Act 1995 .
3. In New South Wales, Pultenaea humilis is currently known from three confirmed localities in the NSW South Western Slopes bioregion ( sensu Thackway and Cresswell 1995). A further two unvouchered records of the species from cemeteries on the southern tablelands of NSW and the ACT (Jones 1998) were investigated during targeted field surveys (Mackenzie 2006). Despite intensive, systematic searches, the surveys failed to locate P.humilis at either location. However, prostrate congeners, P.procumbens and P.subspictata were recorded at these locations, suggesting possible misidentification in the original survey. In addition, P.humilis was recorded from a disjunct location in the Dorrigo district in north-east NSW. A specimen vouchering this record, held at the Australian National Herbarium, was recently re-examined and found to be misidentified. The specimen has now been re-determined as P.villosa (J Palmer, Australian National Herbarium, pers. comm.).
4. Considering occurrences of the species in adjacent areas of Victoria, and based on guidelines for the IUCN Red List criteria (IUCN 2006), the extent of occurrence of Pultenaeahumilis in NSW was estimated to be approximately 6 000 km2. This indicates a moderately restricted distribution for the species in NSW.
5. The total population of Pultenaeahumilis in NSW is unknown. However, one of the three known populations (Murraguldrie State Forest) was estimated to contain 100-200 plants (G Burrows, Charles Sturt University, pers. comm.). This population occurs adjacent to a fire trail and may be exposed to impacts of fire management operations, such as frequent burning and use of off-road machinery, unless appropriate management plans are implemented.
6. Two of the three known populations of Pultenaeahumilis are recorded from conservation reserves (Woomargama National Park and Wereboldera State Conservation Area), while the third occurs in Murraguldrie State Forest. These parcels of public land are isolated remnants of native woodland and forest vegetation in an extensively cleared agricultural landscape (Mackenzie 2006). Habitat fragmentation may adversely affect the viability of plant populations though enhanced risks from environmental stochasticity, disruption to pollination and dispersal of fruits or seeds, and likely reductions in the genetic diversity of isolated populations (Young et al. 1996, Young and Clarke 2000).
7. Pultenaea humilis is not eligible to be listed as a critically endangered species or an endangered species.
8. Pultenaea humilis Benth. ex Hook. F. is eligible to be listed as a vulnerable species as, in the opinion of the Scientific Committee, it is facing a very high risk of extinction in New South Wales in the near future as determined in accordance with the following criteria as prescribed by the Threatened Species Conservation Regulation 2002:
Clause 15
The geographic distribution of the species is estimated or inferred to be:
(c) moderately restricted
and
(e) the following conditions apply:
(i) the population or habitat is observed or inferred to be severely fragmented;
(ii) all or nearly all mature individuals are observed or inferred to occur within a small number of populations or locations.
Professor Lesley Hughes
Chairperson
Scientific Committee
Proposed Gazettal date: 04/07/08
Exhibition period: 04/07/08 – 29/08/08
References
Jones, S (1998) ‘Nature at the grave’s edge.’ Report to the Conservation Council of the South-East Region and Canberra [accessed 26/9/2007]
de Kok RPJ, West JG (2002) A revision of Pultenaea (Fabaceae) – 1. Species with ovaries glabrous and/or with tufted hairs. Australian Systematic Botany 15, 81-113.
IUCN (2006) ‘Guidelines for using the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria: Version 6.1.’ Species Survival Commission, Standards and Petitions Working Group.
Mackenzie, BDE (2006) ‘Revised distribution and conservation status assessment of Pultenaea humilis Benth. ex Hook. f.’ Report to the NSW Scientific Committee, Sydney.
Thackway R, Cresswell ID (1995). ‘An Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia: a framework for establishing the national system of reserves, Version 4.0.’ (Australian Nature Conservation Agency, Canberra).
Young A, Boyle T, Brown A (1996) The population genetic consequences of habitat fragmentation for plants. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 11, 413-418.
Young A, Clarke G (2000) ‘Genetics, demography and the viability of fragmented populations.’ (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge).