Commonwealth of Australia
 
Inclusion of ecological communities in the list of threatened ecological communities under section 181 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EC 102)
 
 
I, GREG HUNT, Minister for the Environment, pursuant to paragraph 184(1)(a) of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, hereby amend the list referred to in section 181 of that Act by:
 
including in the list in the critically endangered category
 
Kangaroo Island Narrow-leaved Mallee (Eucalyptus cneorifolia) Woodland
as described in the Schedule to this instrument.
                                              
 
 
 
 
Dated this….......10th.............................day of….............April.............................2014........
 
 
 
 
Greg Hunt
 
 
 
 
GREG HUNT
Minister for the Environment  


SCHEDULE
 
Kangaroo Island Narrow-leaved Mallee (Eucalyptus cneorifolia) Woodland
 
The Kangaroo Island Narrow-leaved Mallee (Eucalyptus cneorifolia) Woodland ecological community is endemic to South Australia, specifically to the Kanmantoo IBRA bioregion (Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation of Australia version 7). The known distribution of the ecological community is limited to the eastern half of Kangaroo Island, where it occurs on landscapes of flat plains to low, undulating hills.
The Kangaroo Island Narrow-leaved Mallee (Eucalyptus cneorifolia) Woodland ecological community is a type of mallee woodland that can occur in a number of vegetation states, ranging from mallee forest to shrubland. The structure depends on the nature of disturbance to the ecological community, particularly fire regime, and time to recover since disturbance.
The key diagnostic characteristics for the ecological community are :
·      Eucalyptus cneorifolia (Kangaroo Island narrow-leaved mallee) is present as a dominant or co-dominant species of the tree canopy .
o    Other eucalypt species may be present in the tree canopy but are never dominant on their own.
o    After recent disturbance, the tree canopy cover may be temporarily reduced, even absent, as happens immediately after a high severity fire. U nder these circumstances, there should be indications that Eucalyptus cneorifolia was a dominant to co-dominant component of the tree canopy prior to disturbance, and that this species has the capacity to regenerate the canopy over time.
·      The understorey comprises native shrubs and herbs of variable density and composition.
o    In mature or senescent patches, the understorey is generally sparse with considerable bare ground and plant litter in the ground layer. Certain understorey small trees to shrubs may be present or locally common, e.g. Melaleuca species, Callistemon rugulosus, Calytrix glaberrima, Calytrix tetragona, Correa reflexa var. insularis or Thryptomene ericaea .
o    Disturbances, notably hot fires, may lead to a marked increase in the diversity and density of understorey plants. The ecological community becomes predominantly shrubby with mallee regrowth soon after disturbance. The understorey thins out over time as shorter-lived shrubs and herbs progressively die out.