Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2025L00287:reg:3:p130
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2025L00287
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 3 (pt 130/276)
Character Range: 514826–518159

Predation by Argentine ant                                                                                     Possible (26–50%)         Moderate     Medium
11. Competition from/change of habitat because of weed invasion                                                    Possible (26–50%)         Minor        Low
12. Infection by pathogens already present                                                                         Unlikely (11–25%)         Minor        Low
13. Impacts of potential new invasive species or pathogens                                                         Unlikely (11–25%)         Minor        Low
14. Changes to vegetation, increased fire risk and/or direct physiological stress as a result of climatic changes  Likely (51–90%)           Major        High
15. Problems caused by small populations, including lack of genetic diversity                                      Likely (51–90%)           Major        High

Management actions
Restore native vegetation, control introduced weeds and feral animals (rodents, chickens, Argentine ants). Ensure rodent control targets all three known rodent species. Remove and replace red guava and other weeds with native vegetation to provide suitable food plants for larvae. Ensure wind falls and felled trees are left to rot naturally (not burnt or mulched) to provide habitat for reproduction. Conduct further surveys to determine the distribution of the species and improve the understanding of its ecology. Vigilance is required to ensure poachers do not impact the species.

Relevant literature
IUCN (2020) 2020 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Accessed 24 January 2024.
Reid AM, Smith K and Beatson M (2018) Revision of the genus Lamprima Latreille, 1804 (Coleoptera: Lucanidae). Zootaxa 4446: 151–202.
Tweed J (2024) Personal communication by email, 17 January. University of Queensland.

6.2         Reptiles

Christinus guentheri—Lord Howe Island gecko

Conservation significance
Endemic to the Norfolk Island Group and the Lord Howe Island Group.
EPBC Act Listing Status: Vulnerable.
State Listing Status: Listed as vulnerable under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (NSW).
Non-statutory Listing Status: Listed as Vulnerable under The Action Plan for Australian Lizards and Snakes 2017 (Chapple et al. 2019).
For further information on the species outside of the Norfolk Island Group, see the species profile on SPRAT.

Distribution
The Lord Howe Island gecko (Christinus guentheri) was described from Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island in 1885. On the Lord Howe Island complex this species was abundant on the main island until the 1930s, after which it declined dramatically. It is now found only in small numbers in few locations, but it has remained common on some of the other islands of the group, occurring on most vegetated rocky outcrops in the Lord Howe complex.
On the Norfolk Island Group, this species has been found on Nepean and Phillip Islands and on three small rocky islets—Moo-oo Stone, Bird Rock and Green Pool Stone, each about 100 m from the northern cliffs of Norfolk Island. It almost certainly occurs on other rocky islets but it has not been found on the main island and probably became extinct there prior to European settlement (Cogger et al. 2006). Early European reports expressed surprise at the absence of