The Vertebrate Fauna of Jenolan Karst Conservation Reserve: Final

Low: Species which either: a) have
breeding, roosting, foraging and wintering
habitat well represented in the regional
reserve system and are subject to few
threats on reserves; b) have uncertain
status in JKCR and are known to be well
represented elsewhere in the regional
reserve system (note that the status of
these species would require revision were
evidence of a sizeable resident breeding
population detected); or c) are vagrants or
extremely rare irregular visitors.
Nil as Presumed Extinct: Species for
which there is reliable evidence that they
once occupied JKCR, but have
disappeared since European settlement.
Habitat trees at JKCR. Photo © C. H. Barker
This includes species that are a)
presumed extinct – no confirmed sightings at JKCR for at least 20 years; b) locally extinct – no
confirmed sightings at JKCR or in the region for at least 50 years; and c) extinct – extinct from NSW,
mainland Australia or in totality.
Nil as Inaccurate Record: Species that have been assessed as incorrectly recorded in JKCR, either
by misidentification, inaccurately sited records or a data entry error.
3.2 METHODS FOR PRIORITISING THREATS TO FAUNA
3.2.1 Identifying threats to native fauna
Effective management of fauna requires understanding the threats acting upon them. This project
aimed to identify current threats in JKCR, as well as those with the potential to emerge in the near
future. Threats were identified by collating the following: KTPs listed under the TSC Act and/or the
EPBC Act; observations of threats made during the 2011 field surveys; assessment of the
vulnerabilities of priority fauna species; threats noted in published or unpublished literature; and
threats mentioned during discussions with park staff and naturalists during the course of the project.
3.2.2 Setting priorities for threats
To enable management to be targeted to threats that pose the greatest risk to native fauna at JKCR,
all threats identified were classed and ranked. These rankings were determined by collating all known
information about threats and species in JKCR and relating this to information from research and
regional assessments across the Sydney Basin from the past 15 years. Ranks may require review
when more comprehensive information on the conservation status of a species becomes available,
further research on threats is conducted or new threats become apparent.
An algorithm was developed to assess the relative importance of threats that were identified as acting
upon vertebrate fauna at JKCR. This algorithm multiplied scores given to each threat for: a) the
number of priority species that were impacted by the threat (species impacted), b) the eventual
seriousness of that threat should it occur (severity) and c) the likelihood of that threat eventuating
(risk) (see Table 5).
Threat importance = species impacted X severity X risk of occurrence
A ranking for the number of species that a threat impacts on was developed as follows. Note that
rather than a direct calculation of how many species are impacted, weight was given to what priority
that species has for conservation management within JKCR.
The score for ‘threat importance’ used to split all threats into three categories – very high (score above
20), high (10-19), and moderate threats (less than 10). Threats that are not currently acting within the
reserve but have the potential to do so (e.g. climate change) were unranked and labelled ‘future
threats.
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The Vertebrate Fauna of Jenolan Karst Conservation Reserve