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Commonwealth of Australia

Amendment to the list of threatened ecological communities under section 181 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EC149)

I, SUSSAN LEY, Minister for the Environment, pursuant to paragraph 184(a) of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, hereby amend the list referred to in section 181 of that Act by:

including in the list of threatened ecological communities in the endangered category:

   Karst springs and associated alkaline fens of the Naracoorte Coastal Plain Bioregion

as described in the Schedule to this instrument.

Dated this….................3rd......................day of…......................December...................2020

Sussan Ley

SUSSAN LEY

Minister for the Environment

SCHEDULE

Karst springs and associated alkaline fens of the Naracoorte Coastal Plain Bioregion

The Karst springs and associated alkaline fens of the Naracoorte Coastal Plain Bioregion is a type of groundwater dependent wetland limited to the Gambier Limestone formation (Gambier Karst Province). It occurs in the Bridgewater subregion of coastal south-eastern South Australia and south-western Victoria. The ecological community's primary defining features are the underlying limestone geology, predominantly freshwater karst fed (alkaline) springs, soaks, pools or streams and associated fringing fens which include herblands, peatlands, sedgelands and/or shrubland vegetation.

The Karst springs and alkaline fens ecological community includes various interconnected habitats: an open water or aquatic zone; a submergent zone that varies with pool depth; and an emergent/fringing zone. Some occurrences have connecting channels between spring pools.

When present, the open freshwater aquatic zone typically occur as pools such as in a drowned cave system, sinkhole or lake. The submerged assemblage of aquatic vegetation within spring pools is considered unique to this ecological community. Free-floating macrophytes such as duckweeds (Lemna spp.) are often evident on the surface and may extend into the emergent zone on pool fringes. The pools are generally dominated by Phytoplankton (algae) at depth. Algae in the aquatic zone include species from the genera Anabaena, Batrachospermum, Cladophora, Enteromorpha, Lyngbya, Oscillatoria, and Spirogyra.

In the submergent zone vascular plant species vary with water depth, the degree of the pool floor slope and substrate type. True aquatic plant species become evident with increasing depths beyond three metres. In some locations where water depth is generally less than six metres and the pool floor quite broad, extensive beds of macrophytes can occur. Macrophytic species can occur down to six metres and include species such as Cycnogeton procerum, Triglochin striata (Water Ribbons), Ruppia polycarpa (Sea Tassel), Hydrocotyle spp. (Pennywort) and Ranunculus inundatus (River Buttercup). Some species may extend to greater depth due to water clarity and sediment substratum, for example Myriophyllum spp. (Water-Milfoil) and Stuckenia pectinata (Fennel Pondweed). Mosses, such as Cratoneuropsis relaxa, Distichophyllum microcarpum and Fissidens rigidens, may be present on limestone outcrops and floors of submerged caverns to depths