Biodiversity Assessment - Australian Alps
Australian Alps
Introduction
The Australian Alps bioregion extends from the south west of the ACT through NSW into Victoria. It is the only truly alpine environment in NSW and Victoria and covers an area of approximately 826,600 Ha.
The bioregion is composed of block-faulted granites and Palaeozoic metamorphic rocks. Small areas of Tertiary basalt with buried river gravels and lake sediments occur. Quaternary glacial landforms and sediments occur above 1800m, and more extensive periglacial features are present above 1200m. The bioregion also contains areas of low relief high plains with steep margins sloping into fault aligned river valleys, with deep gorges and waterfalls. Relic cirque glaciers, blockstreams and periglacial solifluction lobes occur in the highest regions.
Vegetation changes with altitude, aspect, cold air, drainage and soil moisture saturation. Low elevations with dry aspects support red stringybark (Eucalyptus macrorhyncha), white gum (E. rossii), broad-leaved peppermint (E. dives), candlebark (E. rubida) and brittle gum (E. mannifera). Between 1000 and 1500m, alpine ash (E. delegatensis) and mountain gum (E. dalrympleana) dominate and abruptly change to sub-alpine snow gum (E. pauciflora) woodlands, heath, grasslands and bogs between 1500 and 1800m. Common species include snow grasses (Poa spp.), leafy bossiaea (Bossiaea foliosa), yellow kunzea (Kunzea mulleri), alpine pepper (Tasmannia xerophila), sphagnum bogs with candle heath (Richea continentis) and swamp heath (Epacris paludosa). Alpine herbfield and rare feldmark communities occur above the tree line at 1800m. Here, common species include prickly snow grass, alpine wallaby grass, silver snow daisy, ribbony grass, white purslane, eye-brights, gentians and buttercups. Most alpine species have a limited range.
There are two subregions in this bioregion, the NSW Australian Alps (502,430ha) covering the NSW portion of the bioregion and the Victorian Alps (324,175ha) making up the Victorian section.
Summary of overall condition and trend
The Bioregion generally can be considered in good condition, however historical impacts from grazing, mining, and current impacts from skiing, tourism, the construction of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric scheme and changed fire regimes have all had an impact on the landscape. The Continental Stress Class for the two subregions are each 6 as assessed by the Landscape Health report (1 is most stressed, 6 is least stressed), which means the bioregion is relatively good health and threats such as weeds and feral animals are not yet a major threat to biodiversity compared to other subregions.
Summary of conservation priorities
Given the large amount of land already reserved, further reservation priorities in the bioregion are low. Management of visitor impacts to the National Park are a priority in this bioregion, particularly with regard to intensive use areas, eg commercial snowfields.
Natural values
Kosciusko National Park forms a large part of the NSW Alps subregion occupying 89% of this area. 58% of the Victorian Alps are reserved in National Parks. Two wilderness areas, Goodradigbee and Kosciusko, are found within the bioregion. The Australian Alps contain the most significant extents of alpine flora and communities in mainland Australia, with a very strong Gondwanan influence evident (Barlow, 1986). The Australian Alps have also been identified as a centre of vascular plant endemism (Crisp et.al. 2000).
Click here to link to a table of natural values within each subregion
Wetlands
There are fourteen wetlands of national significance identified in this bioregion. Some of these wetlands such as Blue Lake, Rennex Gap and Snowgum Flat within the Kosciusko National Park have been identified as being in near pristine condition but with some threats from feral animals. Other wetland areas in the subregion are known to be threatened by cattle grazing and feral animals such as pigs. Weed invasion is also a threat to many wetlands in the subregion.
Nationally important wetlands
Map: IBRA map showing DIWA locations, towns, subregions, major roads and reserves and most common threatening processes.
Click here to link to a table of Australia's Important Wetlands (Directory of Important Wetlands of Australia): their type, condition, trend and threatening processes within each subregion.
Regionally important wetlands
Click here to link to a table of provisional identification of wetlands of regional significance: their type and special values within each subregion. The reliability of the overall subregional assessment is indicated.
Click here to link to a table of provisional identification of wetlands of regional significance: their condition, trend and threatening processes within each subregion.
Riparian Zones
The bioregion contains the headwaters of some of Australia's major rivers including the southerly flowing Snowy River, and the westerly flowing Murrumbidgee and Murray Rivers. Riparian Zones in the subregion are generally in a fair condition, however the condition and trend is declining. Invasion by exotic weeds, grazing particularly by cattle, altered hydrology of the river systems and cold water pollution downstream of water impoundments are all threatening process to riparian systems in the bioregion.
Map: Riparian threatening processes.
Click here to link to a table of riparian zones: their average condition, trend and threatening processes for each subregion. The reliability of this overall assessment is indicated.
Ecosystems at risk
Of the seventy-eight ecosystems identified in the Australian Alps, twenty-three (29%) have been identified as threatened. The tableland areas are most at threat with eucalypt forests with shrubby and grassy understorey being the most threatened ecosystems. The tablelands grasslands are also listed as a threatened ecosystems in the bioregion. Both these vegetation types are most threatened by increasing fragmentation and loss of remnants.
Pollution as a result of increased nutrient loads from developed areas, tourism, feral animals, grazing pressure, changed fire regimes as well as the invasion or introduction of exotic weeds are also key threatening processes in these subregions.
Map: IBRA map showing frequency of threatening processes for ecosystems.
Click here to link to a table of provisional list of threatened ecosystems in Australia: their broad vegetation type (National Vegetation Information System - Major Vegetation Subgroup), recommended status, current legislative protection as a threatened ecosystem, trend and bioregional distribution. These ecosystems are arranged in the bioregion of their principal occurrence. The reliability of the recommended status is indicated.
Click here to link to a table of provisional list of threatened ecosystems in each subregion: their threatening processes.
Click here to link to a table of provisional list of threatened ecosystems in each subregion: their recommended recovery actions
Species at risk
General threats to animal species in the bioregion include predation by feral animals, and fragmentation of habitat. The plant species identified as impacted by threatening processes are generally herbs, grasses and small shrubs that are threatened by livestock grazing, pollution from developed areas, trampling from visitors and 4 wheel drive vehicles.
| State | Commonwealth | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Endangered | Vulnerable | Extinct | Endangered | Vulnerable | Extinct | |
| Bird | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mammal | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Plant | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Amphibian | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Fish | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reptile | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Insect | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 5 | 19 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
Map: IBRA map showing frequency of threatening processes for species.
Click here to link to a table of species at risk in each subregion: their status, trend and subregional distribution. The reliability of the assessment of trend is indicated and whether recovery plans have been prepared.
Click here to link to a table of species at risk in each subregion: their threatening processes.
Click here to link to a table of species at risk in each subregion: their status recommended recovery actions.
Eucalypts and Acacias
Endemism
One eucalypt species Eucalyptus crispiana, has been identified as endemic to the Victorian Alps (AA2), however no information is available on the species trend and condition.
Richness
No eucalypt or acacia richness values have been identified.
Birds
No Australian bird species is truly alpine. The most frequently reported taxa of the Australian Alps bioregion are from the woodlands fringing the alpine grass and herbfields, rather than of the Alps themselves. Declines among the most distinctly upland of Australian species, such as the Gang-Gang Cockatoo and the Flame Robin, may reflect warmer weather of the last few decades, but this requires more detailed analysis. The bioregion is of little importance for limited range or endemic taxa, but also has few introduced taxa. There were too few records from the Australian Alps to permit analysis of trends.
Status: Low diversity, composition little changed.
Rare and threatened: No major populations.
Increasers: No information.
Indicators: Emu, Gang-Gang Cockatoo, Red-browed Treecreeper, Flame Robin.
Trend: Possible decline in upland species.
Scenario: Contraction of grassland, higher temperatures and loss of upland species.
Actions: Active management of monitored taxa, if necessary.
Click here to download a summary report including the physical characteristics of the bioregion, a species list, and summary statistics [Excel file]. The file may open on your screen. To save it to your system 'Save as' under the File menu.
Mammals
Number of species and status
There are 38 mammal species within this bioregion. (The maximum number of species recorded in a bioregion is 86 and the minimum is 25).
Click here to link to a table of number of species in each status class for this bioregion.
Click here to link to a list of mammal species and their status for this bioregion.
Critical weight range
The critical weight range (35 - 5500 g) of mammals is the size range of Australian mammals that have been most affected by environmental changes following European settlement. In this bioregion, the proportion of mammal fauna within the critical weight range is .474. (The maximum proportion of fauna within the critical weight range recorded in a bioregion is 0.632 and the minimum is 0.222).
Faunal Attrition Index
Faunal attrition is a measure of contraction or loss of species richness with a region. A high index value means many species have declined or are extinct in the bioregion. The index can be used to compare the status of mammal fauna to regional attributes such as changes since European settlement and average annual rainfall. The Faunal Attrition Index for mammals in this bioregion is .07. (The maximum faunal attrition index value recorded in a bioregion is 0.66 and the minimum is 0).
Click here to link to a table of Faunal Attrition Index for groups of mammals shows the contributions of each group to overall patterns of faunal decline.
Faunal Contraction Index
A range contraction index is a measure of the extent to which the range inhabited by a particular species has contracted. A high index value means that many of the species comprising the region's original mammal fauna have contracted from a high proportion of the regions they originally occurred in. The faunal contraction index for the mammal fauna in this bioregion is .12. (The maximum faunal contraction index value recorded in a bioregion is 0.51 and the minimum is 0.07).
Faunal Endemism Index
Endemic species are those restricted to certain regions. Regions containing endemic species are considered to have high biodiversity conservation values because opportunities to conserve those species do not exist elsewhere. A high index value means that the species comprising the original mammal fauna typically occurred in few bioregions. The faunal endemism index value for the mammal fauna in this bioregion is .62. (The maximum faunal endemism index value recorded in a bioregion is 0.79 and the minimum is 0.52).
New Endemism Index
Extant (still surviving) species that have undergone major range contractions can be considered 'new endemics'. Bioregions that contain new endemic species are often important refugia for threatened species. The new endemism index for the mammal fauna in this bioregion is unknown. (The maximum new endemism index value recorded in a bioregion is 0.93 and the minimum is 0.5).
Table: Translocated Species
There is no data available for this table within the bioregion.
Exotic Mammals
The number of introduced exotic mammal species that occur within this bioregion is 13. (The maximum number of introduced exotic mammal species in a bioregion is 16 and the minimum is 5).
Click here to link to a list of introduced exotic mammal species for this bioregion.
Extinct mammal species
The number of extinct mammal species that previously occurred within this bioregion is 1. (The maximum number of extinct mammal species in a bioregion is 29 and the minimum is 0).
Click here to link to a list of extinct mammal species for this bioregion.
Management responses
Reserve consolidation
The majority (89%) of the NSW subregion is contained within the Kosciusko National Park and further consolidation of reserves is a low priority. Management of the current reserve system requires intensive effort due to the high visitation rates and visitor impacts. The majority of the Victorian Alps are also reserved in National Parks (58%).
Click here to link to a table of comprehensiveness, adequacy and representativeness (CAR) of the National Reserve System in terms of ecosystems and area sampled and a ranking of reserve management. The bioregional priority for consolidating the National Reserve System is based on this CAR analysis and threat.
Table: Bioregional and subregional priorities and ecosystem priorities to consolidate the National Reserve System and associated ecosystem constraints.
There is no data available for this table within the bioregion.
Off-park conservation for species and ecosystem recovery
Protection of key habitat areas for any threatened plant species identified outside of the National Park should be investigated, however these areas may be minimal because of the area already conserved in formal reserves. Further progression and implementation of threatened species recovery plans and threat abatement plans through a wider range of incentive mechanisms could be of assistance in the Australian Alps bioregion.
Integrated NRM
The development of Regional Vegetation Management Plans and Catchment Management Blueprints should clearly articulate biodiversity conservation needs as part of natural resource management.
Map: IBRA map showing frequency of recovery actions (species).
Map: IBRA map showing existing projects part of NRM.
Click here to link to a table of contribution of integrated Natural Resource Management to the protection of biodiversity in each subregion: existing measures and effectiveness.
Click here to link to a table of contribution of integrated Natural Resource Management to the protection of biodiversity in each subregion: feasible opportunities and comments.
Further Information & Gaps
Data gaps and research priorities
Ecological and life history data is not of sufficient detail to provide specific threatening process/ recovery actions on a subregional scale for threatened flora and fauna species. The completion of the Ecosystem mapping project as part of the NPWS state biodiversity strategy will increase the ability identify threatened ecosystems, and assist in identifying recovery actions for the bioregion based on ecosystems, not individual species. Information on the status and condition of ACT wetlands needs to be investigated.
References
Environment Australia 2000. Revision of the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation of Australia (IBRA) and the Development of Version 5.1. - Summary Report. Department of Environment and Heritage, Canberra.
A complete list of references is available by clicking here.
Further information
View the Landscape Health in Australia report.
View the Terrestrial Biodiversity Assessment 2002 report.
Download the Terrestrial Biodiversity Assessment 2002 Database - Biodiversity Audit Data Entry System (BADES), and specifications
Click here to link to a table of some major data gaps in each subregion in terms of protecting biodiversity.
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