Focusing on the Landscape - BushBlitz

Final Discussion
The 50 most speciose families of Australian vascular plants contain a very large
number of species, particularly in comparison with the vertebrates and invertebrates
analysed in Part A. As was typical of the invertebrates, nearly all of the families of
vascular plants included in this report had substantial numbers of species that had very
few records (considered to be 30 records or fewer) available for them. These species
could not realistically be assessed in terms of their true distributions or status in the
NRS. Typically, 25-40% of species within a family fell within this category, although
there were exceptions, with the Stylidiaceae having over 50% of species with few
records and the Mimosaceae only around 10%. Inland species appear to be more
likely to fall into the category of fewer than 30 records. Hence, they do not appear
often on the lists of well or under-reserved species. Inland species need more work to
obtain records on which to base assessments of distribution, relative abundance and
vegetation/habitat associations. Poorly recorded species require further study or
survey so that their ranges can be accurately assessed and, where deemed necessary,
this can then lead to better targeting of available PAs to determine more accurately
their current reservation status.
The number of species within families with relatively high levels of reservation (more
than 45% of records within PAs), varied much more greatly. Relatively few species
had 100% of their records within PAs, although most families had some species with
at least 90% of their records in PAs. Any species with such levels of records in a PA
presumably have reasonable protection against threats such as land clearance, but still
may be under threat from fires or feral animals that do not recognise the boundaries of
a PA. It is hard to recognise any patterns in such a broad category, but there may be a
trend for species found in eastern Australia to be more likely to fall into this category.
Typically, species with 10% or less of records within reserves constitute around onethird
of all species within a family. There are species in most families that have no
records within a PA in the ANHAT database. These species may still be known from
a PA, but any records that exist are either not in ANHAT or do not have an accuracy
that allows them to be included in the analyses. All of these species would benefit
from further work to determine the PAs in which they may occur, or from which they
are reported without verification, which can then be followed up by surveys to clarify
the understanding of their reservation in the NRS.
The numbers of species that did not have a record currently recorded within a PA did
not appear to be great with most families, being represented, as already noted, by no
more than one or two species. It would appear likely that most of these species have
PAs within their known or expected ranges and may occur in a PA. Whether this will
greatly decrease the threat to the survival of any given species in the near future will
depend on the species. It was notable that, in nearly all cases where a species has
been recorded from at least one PA, the PA is more than 1000 hectares in size. These
larger reserves will potentially hold populations that are more robust to disturbance
and also will have greater genetic diversity and so be better able to adapt to any
changes in the PA. This is an encouraging result, but there is clearly room for
improvement.
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