Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2011L01416:body:0:p5
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2011L01416
Segment Type: other
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Character Range: 11157–14161

released in Queensland, they expanded their range at about 10 km per year (Shine 2009b). Since reaching the wet-dry tropics of the Northern Territory, the westward expansion of cane toads has been recorded at around 55 km each year (Phillips et al. 2007).

The New South Wales Key Threatening Process profile for cane toads (DECCW 2006) indicates that their current rate of spread in NSW is approximately 3-4 km per year. However, this may be punctuated by brief spreads of relatively rapid movement often assisted inadvertently by human movement e.g. by "hitch-hiking" with produce or landscaping material.

       Figure 1: Map showing potential distribution (shaded areas) and limit of records of occurrence (black line) of cane toads in Australia (based on
       Kearney et al. 2008).

Ecological impacts
Across their range, cane toads have been implicated in a complex web of direct and indirect impacts on native species and potentially the ecological communities in which these species occur. Assessing cane toad impacts through scientific research is very difficult (Shine 2009a). However, available evidence identifies the direct pathway of lethal toxic ingestion of cane toads as the most important impact. Many native Australian predators have evolved in the absence of prey species with the chemical defences present in cane toads. Consequently, predators are vulnerable to being lethally poisoned when cane toads invade and establish in their areas. No species extinction has ever been attributed to the cane toad, however, research has identified vulnerable predator species and other ecological impacts.

Local population extinctions of the endangered marsupial predator, the northern quoll (Dasyurus hallucatus), have been observed following the arrival of cane toads in some areas (Oakwood 2003a, b). Lethal toxic poisoning through ingestion of the cane toad has been identified as the cause of these local extinctions. Several species of goannas, snakes and the blue tongued lizard (Tiliqua scincoides) have also been identified as highly vulnerable to lethal poisoning through ingestion of cane toads (Shine 2009a).

Other pathways of cane toad impact on native species have been identified (Shine 2009a) as:
       * predation by cane toads (varies, predominantly a minor impact)
       * larval competition with frog tadpoles or mosquitoes (minor impact)
       * parasite transfer (minor impact)
       * competition for terrestrial food (minor impact)
       * competition for shelter sites (e.g. usurpation of burrows) (minor impact).

Historically, in the absence of scientific evidence about the complexities of direct and indirect impacts of cane toads, anecdotal information has served to provide guidance on impacts and priorities for managing them.

Cane toads have had an adverse impact on a number of matters of NES and those impacts are expected to continue as they expand their range. For example, cane toads have impacted:
       * listed threatened species such as