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
 
 
I, TONY BURKE, Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, 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
Lowland Rainforest of Subtropical Australia
as described in the Schedule to this instrument.
                                              
 
 
 
 
Dated this…....................11th ....................day of…......................November ..............2011.
 
 
 
 
signed
 
 
 
TONY BURKE
Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities
 
SCHEDULE
 
Lowland Rainforest of Subtropical Australia
Location
The ecological community primarily occurs from Maryborough in Queensland to the Clarence River (near Grafton) in New South Wales (NSW). The ecological community also includes isolated areas between the Clarence River and Hunter River such as the Bellinger and Hastings valleys. The ecological community occurs in the following Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia Version 6.1 (IBRA) Bioregions: South Eastern Queensland Bioregion and NSW North Coast Bioregion.
 
Physical environment
The ecological community occurs on basalt and alluvial soils, including sand and old or elevated alluvial soils as well as floodplain alluvia. It also occurs occasionally on enriched rhyolitic soils and basaltically enriched metasediments. Lowland Rainforest mostly occurs in areas 300 m altitude on north-facing slopes, but typically 300 m defines the extent of the lowlands. In addition, Lowland Rainforest typically occurs in areas with high annual rainfall (>1300 mm).
 
The physical environment where the ecological community occurs is differentiated from the ‘Littoral Rainforest and Coastal Vine Thickets of Eastern Australia’ ecological community (hereafter referred to as Littoral Rainforest) by the level of coastal or estuarine influence (such as windshear). Lowland Rainforest typically occurs more than 2 km from the coast, however, it can (and does) intergrade with Littoral Rainforest in some coastal areas.
 
Vegetation structure
The ecological community is generally a moderately tall (≥20 m) to tall (≥30 m) closed forest (canopy cover ≥70%). Tree species with compound leaves are common and leaves are relatively large (notophyll to mesophyll). Typically there is a relatively low abundance of species from the genera Eucalyptus, Melaleuca and Casuarina. Buttresses are common as is an abundance and diversity of vines.
 
Lowland Rainforest has the most diverse tree flora of any vegetation type in NSW and the species composition of the canopy varies between local stands and between regions. The ecological community typically has high species richness (at least 30 woody species). The canopy comprises a range of tree species but in some areas a particular species may dominate e.g. palm forest, usually dominated by Archontophoenix cunninghamiana (bangalow palm) or Livistona australis (cabbage palm); and riparian areas dominated by Syzygium floribundum (syn. Waterhousea floribunda) (weeping satinash/weeping lilly pilly).
 
The canopy is often multilayered consisting of an upper, discontinuous layer of emergents, over the main canopy and subcanopy. Below the canopy is an understorey of sparse shrubs and seedlings.
 
The upper, discontinuous layer includes canopy emergents that may be 40–50 m tall and have large spreading crowns. This layer is composed of species such as Araucaria cunninghamii (hoop pine), Ficus spp. (figs), Lophostemon confertus (brushbox), and in some sites, Eucalyptus spp.. Typically non-rainforest species such as eucalypts and brushbox comprise