List of Threatened Ecological Communities Amendment (EC178) Instrument 2022 (Cth)

Commonwealth of Australia

List of Threatened Ecological Communities Amendment (EC178) Instrument 2022

I, TANYA PLIBERSEK, Minister for the Environment and Water, pursuant to paragraph 184(a) of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, amend the list referred to in section 181 of that Act by including in the list of threatened ecological communities in the endangered category:

Dunn's white gum (Eucalyptus dunnii) moist forest in north-east New South Wales and south-east Queensland

as described in the Schedule to this instrument.

This instrument commences the day after registration.

Tanya Plibersek ................................................................................... Tanya Plibersek Minister for the Environment and Water

Dated............5th August 2022....................................

SCHEDULE 1

Dunn's white gum (Eucalyptus dunnii) moist forest in north-east New South Wales and south-east Queensland

Dunn's white gum (Eucalyptus dunnii) moist forest in north-east New South Wales and south-east Queensland is an assemblage of native plants, animals and other organisms constituting at maturity a type of wet sclerophyll forest with a typically tall canopy of eucalypts, notably Eucalyptus dunnii (Dunn's white gum), and typically a structurally complex understorey of rainforest trees, shrubs, palms, vines, ferns, herbs and shade-tolerant graminoids.

The canopy consists of Eucalyptus dunnii (Dunn's white gum) in pure stands or in combination with E. saligna (Sydney blue gum), E. grandis (Flooded gum), E. microcorys (Tallowwood) and/or Lophostemon confertus (Brush box). Some rainforest trees that are more typically found in the mid-layer can also occur in the canopy.

In most cases, the understorey is composed of regenerating eucalypt species and mature rainforest species including Araucaria cunninghamii (hoop pine), Diploglottis australis (large leaf tamarind), and Toona ciliata var. australis (Australian red cedar). The understorey may also contain colonising rainforest species in the families Myrtaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Lauraceae, and Meliaceae, as well as tall shrubs and vines. These may include Neolitsea australiensis (green bolly gum), N. dealbata (hairy-leaved bolly gum), Alectryon subcinereus (native quince), Cryptocarya rigida (rose maple), C. glaucescens (forest maple), Diospyros australis (black plum), Polyscias elegans (celery wood), Acacia maidenii (Maiden's wattle), Rhodamnia rubescens (scrub turpentine), Syzygium smithii (common lilly pilly), Croton verreauxii (native cascarilla), Cordyline petiolaris (palm lily), C. stricta (slender palm lily), Cissus hypoglauca (native grape), and C. antarctica (kangaroo vine).