Commonwealth of Australia

Amendment to the list of threatened species, threatened ecological communities and key threatening processes under sections 178, 181 and 183 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EC77)

I, SUSSAN LEY, 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

Tasmanian Forests and Woodlands Dominated by Black Gum or Brookers Gum (Eucalyptus ovata / E. brookeriana)

as described in the Schedule to this instrument.

Dated this…................24th....................day of…...............June...............................2019

SUSSAN LEY

Minister for the Environment

SCHEDULE

Tasmanian Forests and Woodlands Dominated by Black Gum or Brookers Gum (Eucalyptus ovata / E. brookeriana)  

The Tasmanian Forests and Woodlands Dominated by Black Gum or Brookers Gum (Eucalyptus ovata / E. brookeriana) is an ecological community that is limited to Tasmania, including the Bass Strait islands. The ecological community is typically associated with sites that are poorly draining and wet, such as lowland flats, lower slopes, gullies or seepage slopes.

The structure of the vegetation varies from open woodland to sclerophyll forest. A tree canopy is present in which the minimum solid crown cover is 5% or more and the dominant trees have a minimum height of 5 metres or more. The tree canopy is dominated to co-dominated by Eucalyptus ovata (black gum) and/or E. brookeriana (Brookers gum), including hybrids of E. ovata or E. brookeriana with other eucalypt species. Other tree species may be present in the canopy but are never dominant in their own right.

The understorey below E. ovata trees typically comprises a range of native shrubs and sedges, while the understorey below E. brookeriana typically has a range of broad-leaved shrubs and ferns and may include some rainforest elements. Some minor variants of E. ovata woodlands develop as a low, open canopy with a native heathy understorey (e.g. on more infertile near-coastal sites) or as an open woodland over native grassland (e.g. on fertile soils in the Midlands region).

The ecological community includes a variety of fauna species, including species that are listed as threatened at a national or state level.