NSW Bitou Bush Threat Abatement Plan - Department of ...

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70 Threat Abatement Plan - Invasion of native plant communities by Chrysanthemoides monilifera < coordinate the implementation of bitou bush control at control category 1 sites (including guidance where needed for private landholders and other stakeholders, e.g. in the development of site-specific management plans). < work with landholders to ensure commitment is maintained at control category 1 sites for the five years of the plan. < establish and implement a protocol for monitoring the effectiveness of control programs at control category 1 sites (including best practice management). < liaise with research organisations to establish herbicide trials on nominated non-target species. < liaise with research organisations to establish sites where the impact and control of bitou bush on fauna is studied (including supervision of postgraduate students and development of experimental protocols). < liaise with training providers and/or regional stakeholders. < collate and analyse data collected through the implementation of the plan, especially with regard to improving best practice methodology, and report results. < monitor the spread of bitou bush and boneseed in New South Wales. < prepare a revised plan within five years of the date of commencement of this plan. < prepare and implement an education and awareness program to promote the TAP. < perform day to day administration of the TAP including providing regular program reports to the DEC Executive and other stakeholders. Performance criteria for Action 5.1 < A position is established, following the approval of the Bitou TAP, to coordinate its implementation. < Progress reports are provided on a regular basis. < The coordinator reviews the current TAP and prepares a second plan five years after the date of commencement of this TAP. 9.8 Objective 6: Impact of bitou invasions on fauna Objective 6 Determine the effects of bitou bush invasions on fauna. 9.8.1 Action 6.1 Action 6.1 DEC will foster research into the effects of bitou bush invasions on fauna. The final determination of the NSW Scientific Committee for listing of bitou bush/boneseed as a KTP identified three threatened fauna species potentially at risk (NSW SC 1999a). Groundnesting shorebirds such as little terns are affected by bitou bush through its incursion onto breeding/roosting sites, for example, on the southern shores of Quibray Bay in Towra Point NR (Shepherd pers. comm.). Observations suggest that bitou bush can lead to the decline in a range of native shorebirds (NPWS 2002). Several recent studies have started to fill these knowledge gaps, especially for birds (see French and Zubovic 1997; French and Eardley 1997; Gosper 2004b). Detailed studies of the impacts of bitou bush (and boneseed) invasions on a range of fauna species are lacking (see Chapter 5). For example, the host plant Viola betonicifolia of the endangered butterfly Argyreus hyperbius subsp. inconstans appears to be threatened by bitou bush invasion in
Threat Abatement Plan - Invasion of native plant communities by Chrysanthemoides monilifera northern New South Wales, from Port Macquarie to the NSW/Qld border (Moss pers. comm.), but no data are available to determine the impacts. If data shows that V. betonicifolia is threatened by bitou bush then any reduction in bitou bush should have positive outcomes for this species as well as for the endangered butterfly. Performance criteria for Action 6.1 < Establish a system to prioritise fauna species (or groups of species, e.g. waders) that are at risk from bitou bush invasions. < Develop research projects on the effects of bitou bush invasions on priority fauna species. < Initiate these research projects during the TAP. The results of these works could then inform subsequent Bitou TAP’s. 9.9 Objective 7: Effect of bitou bush control on fauna Objective 7 Determine the effects of bitou bush control on fauna. 9.9.1 Action 7.1 Action 7.1 DEC will foster research into the effects of bitou bush control on fauna. There have been a few studies on the effects of removing a weed from an ecosystem on fauna (see review in Gosper 2004b), especially when the weed has become dominant and may have been so for many years or decades. Weed infestations may change the density and/or abundance of fauna as well as how they interact with their ‘new’ environment containing these weeds, and as such they may be seriously affected if these weeds are suddenly removed. Some weeds may play an important role in the conservation of some threatened species, e.g. the southern brown bandicoot (see Regel et al. 1996), and thus their removal could further threaten them. The disturbance involved in removing weeds may also affect many fauna species long after the actual control event has taken place (e.g. from increased light, soil disturbance, trampling of the ground and/or the effects of management techniques like fire). Also, some native species may take many years to recover following control (i.e. Turner and Virtue in press). The vast majority of bitou bush control programs, like those for most other weed species, have operated on the assumption that the removal of the weed and restoration of native vegetation will result in improved habitats for native species (see Downey submitted). The techniques used to control bitou bush may also impact on fauna. For example, as has already been discussed in Chapter 7, the surfactants used with some herbicides may have adverse effects on some frog species. Information on such impacts is scarce. A preliminary list of the species likely to be affected is presented in Appendix 10A. Some frog species (e.g. green and gold bell frogs) are known to utilise bitou bush in their habitat, and the removal of bitou bush may therefore have adverse effects especially during broad scale control programs (Wellington pers. comm.). The draft green and gold bell frog recovery plan raises the concern that the control of bitou bush with herbicide could pose a real threat to the species and warrants further investigation (NPWS 2003b). 71
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