Endangered Pomaderris Plants

Eleven Pomaderris species from south-eastern Australia are listed as threatened under Commonwealth and State legislation. Many are in a precarious position in terms of survival and others in decline. This project aims to better understand and optimise seed and non seed production techniques to deliver a strategy for assuring long-term security of the endangered species Pomaderris cotoneaster and P. brunnea. This project will guide species recovery through the informed use of seed banking, seed and plant production and population enhancement. These activities will address actions identified in National Recovery Plans and for the Saving our Species (SOS) program.

Pomaderris is a genus of 70 shrub species in the family Rhamnaceae. Most are endemic to Australia, 5 to New Zealand. For such a small genus there is a surprising number of species listed as threatened,. Many species have small disjunct populations. Limited work on the ecology of these  two species (Millott 2003) and attempts to collect seed from several of these priority species indicate that flowering and seed production can be irregular. A failure of seed development (including pollination, ripening and dispersal) is likely to have profound negative impacts on the persistence of obligate seeding species like Pomaderris. A lack of an established method of plant production for restoration is also limiting opportunities to undertake population and landscape enhancement. This lack of knowledge reduces both the effectiveness and capacity for restoration activities and the ability to re-establish species.

In this project we are targeting two priority listed species to address: 1) low wild seed-set resulting in minimal ex situ holdings of seed and living plants which are inadequate to undertake effective seed development research and opportunities for restorative management, and 2) the need to deliver a tested method for translocations and enhancement plantings. We have targeted these species as they represent high priority examples relevant to the issues identified above with Pomaderris brunnea listed as endangered, (TSC Act) and vulnerable (EPBC Act) and occurring in highly disjunct populations in eastern Australia and Pomaderris cotoneaster listed as endangered, (TSC Act & EPBC Act) occurring in small, highly disjunct populations from the Victorian border to Sydney outskirts.

As they occupy sites where other significant species co-habit, the appropriate management of the habitat and securing a viable method of exsitu production for restoration purposes are direct actions that will retain habitat quality. For example P . cotoneaster will contribute to the conservation of Correa lawrenceana var. genoensis (endangered, EPBC Act), with which it occurs at one site (Redstone Creek), and two populations of Solanum celatum (endangered, TSC Act) at Bungonia (above Jerrara Creek) with which it occurs in close proximity and in similar habitat. It will also benefit a wide range of threatened fauna species that occur in the vicinity, e.g. Ninox strenua (Powerful Owl), Tyto novaehollandiae (Masked Owl). Miniopterus schreibersii oceanensis (Eastern Bent-Winged Bat), Petaurus australis (Yellow-bellied Glider) and Petrogale penicillata (Brush–tailed Rock-wallaby) Reference: National recovery plan for P cotoneaster.