Byron Flora and Fauna Study 1999 - Byron Shire Council

A GREENPRINT FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
National Parks, Nature Reserves and other reserves) was usually held by the relevant land managers, and
vegetation mapping for State Forests and the National Parks estate was in progress during the study period.
Therefore, these public lands were not included in the study area. However, these additional lands provide
context for the study of biodiversity elsewhere in the Shire, and inevitably required consideration. Generally,
public lands were considered during the study but were usually treated differently from the study area
(described in each relevant section).
At the commencement of the study, terrestrial vascular flora and terrestrial vertebrate fauna were the only
groups of species occurring within Byron Shire that were represented on the Schedules of the TSC Act,
1995. Consultation with Byron Shire Council resulted in a decision to restrict the study to these groups.
1.3 ON-GOING PROCESSES
Changes to land tenure and assessment of conservation status are on-going and have taken place during the
study period. Major changes to land tenure, involving the transfer of the bulk of the Shire’s State Forests and
Crown Land to the National Parks estate took place at the end of the study period. These changes will alter
the areas of some vegetation mapping units, the reservation status of some species, vegetation communities
and associations, and will decrease some threats to some species.
Schedules of the TSC Act, 1995 have been modified and extended during the study period. The status of
two Threatened flora species that occur in the Shire has changed whilst an invertebrate fauna species (the
land snail Thersites mitchelliae, known from the Cumbebin Swamp area) has been listed as Endangered. Two
new Key Threatening Processes have been declared, being the Invasion of Native Plant Communities by
Bitou Bush Chrysanthemoides monilifera and Predation by the Plague Minnow (or Mosquito Fish) Gambusia
holbrooki. In addition Lowland Rainforest on Floodplain has been declared an Endangered Ecological
Community and aquatic vertebrate species have been listed as Threatened under the Fisheries Management
Act, 1994.
These changes have been incompletely incorporated into this report and associated databases and maps, as
noted in the relevant sections.
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