Invasion and establishment of exotic vines and scramblers - key threatening process listing
The Scientific Committee, established by the Threatened Species Conservation Act, has made a Final Determination to list Invasion and establishment of exotic vines and scramblers as a KEY THREATENING PROCESS in Schedule 3 of the Act. Listing of key threatening processes is provided for by Part 2 of the Act.
NSW Scientific Committee - final determination
The Scientific Committee has found:
1. A large number of exotic vines and scramblers have become established in New South Wales. This includes:
| Abrus precatorius | Crabs-eye Creeper |
| Acetosa sagittata | Potato Vine |
| Anredera cordifolia | Madeira Vine |
| Araujia sericifera | |
| Aristolochia elegans | Dutchman's Pipe |
| Aristrolochia littoralis | Dutchman's Pipe |
| Asparagus aethiopicus | Ground Asparagus |
| Asparagus africanus | Asparagus Fern |
| Asparagus asparagoides | Bridal Creeper |
| Asparagus plumosus | Climbing Asparagus |
| Asparagus scandens | Climbing Asparagus |
| Asystasia gangetica var . micrantha | |
| Caesalpinia decapetala | Mysore Thorn |
| Cardiospermum grandiflorum | Balloon Vine |
| Clematis vitalba | Old Man's Beard |
| Delairea odorata | Cape Ivy |
| Dioscorea bulbifera | Aerial Yam |
| Dipogon lignosus | |
| Hedera helix | English Ivy |
| Ipomoea alba | Moon Flower |
| Ipomoea cairica | Coastal Morning Glory |
| Ipomoea indica | Morning Glory |
| Ipomoea purpurea | Morning Glory |
| Lathyrus tingitanus | |
| Lonicera japonica | Japanese Honeysuckle |
| Macfadyena unguis-cati | Cat's Claw |
| Passiflora suberosa | Corky Passion Flower |
| Passiflora subpeltata | Passion Flower |
| Passiflora toriminiana | |
| Puearia lobata | Kudzu |
| Senecio angulatus | |
| Senecio macroglossus | |
| Solanum jasminoides | Potato Vine |
| Solanum seaforthianum | Climbing Nightshade |
| Sollya heterophylla | |
| Thunbergia alata | Black-eyed Susan |
| Thunbergia grandiflora | Blue Trumpet Vine |
| Tradescantia fluminensis | |
| Vinca major | Periwinkle |
The majority of these species were originally introduced for horticultural purposes and have escaped from cultivation. Other horticultural vines may currently be environmental weeds at particular locations and other species currently in cultivation may become weeds in the future.
2. A number of exotic vines and scramblers are currently recognised as significant environmental weeds in particular regions (e.g. The NSW North Coast Weeds Advisory Committee, undated). Exotic vines and scramblers are widespread, and locally abundant, in the eastern part of NSW.
3. Exotic vines and scramblers may act as transformer species (Richardson et al. 2000), altering the nature of the environment where they become dominant. Rainforests are susceptible to invasion by exotic vines particularly after canopy disturbance (Floyd 1989). Exotic vines and scramblers may smother existing vegetation, both in the ground layer and canopy (e.g. Groves and Willis 1999, Greenberg et al. 2001, Kriticos et al. 2003, Timmins and Reid 2000). This alters the light climate in the invaded community and may suppress regeneration of native species. The sheer weight of exotic vines may cause breakage of branches in the canopy, and in some cases total canopy collapse (Harden and Fox 1988, Harden et al. 2004). Some species form dense ground cover carpets that suppress native species (for example Tradescantia fluminensis and Vinca major). In sclerophyll communities, exotic vines and scramblers are more mesic than the native species, and may change the nature of the fuel and thus alter fire behaviour and regime. Invasion by exotic vines and scramblers can also alter other biotic aspects of communities such as the abundance and diversity of plant-dwelling invertebrates (Ernst and Cappuccino 2005). Dense smothering blankets or thickets of exotic vines and scramblers may also restrict movement of some native fauna and adversely affect their ability to access water or other resources (while sometimes favouring other fauna by providing protective shelter and/or food). Exotic vines and scramblers such as Asparagus spp. form masses of tuberous roots that may alter the biota of the soil and litter, changing rates of litter decomposition and nutrient cycling and compete for water and mineral nutrients with other plant species (Raymond 1996, Groves and Willis 1999, Timmins and Reid 2000, Willis et al. 2003). They may also create a humid microclimate at ground or lower trunk level, favouring pathogenic attack and altering soil moisture and nutrient fluxes. Riparian vegetation is particularly prone to infestation by vines such Cat's claw, Macfadyena unguis-cati due to high water and nutrient availability.
4. Many exotic vines and scramblers reproduce prolifically and are well adapted to spread both from asexually produced vegetative propagules (for example Anredera cordifolia) and by seed. Species that produce fleshy fruit may have their seeds dispersed by birds, for example Asparagus spp. (Stansbury 2001) and Solanum spp.
5. The following threatened species and communities may be affected by Invasion and establishment of exotic vines and scramblers:
Endangered species
| Acronychia littoralis | |
| Daphnandra sp 'C' Illawarra | |
| Davidsonia jerseyana | |
| Davidsonia johnsonii | |
| Diploglottis campbelli | |
| Endiandra floydii | |
| Epacris hamiltonii | |
| Fontainea oraria | |
| Gossia (Austromytrus) fragrantissima | |
| Irenepharsus trypherus | |
| Isoglossa eranthemoides | |
| Pimelea spicata | |
| Rapanea sp. A Richmond River | |
| |
|
| Turnix melanogaster | Black-breasted button quail |
Vulnerable species
| Acacia pubescens | |
| Desmodium acanthocladum | |
| Hicksbeachia pinnatifolia | |
| Tinospora tinosporides | |
| Kerivoula paupuensis | Golden-tipped bat |
| Potorous tridactylus | Long-nosed potoroo |
Endangered ecological communities
| Coastal Saltmarsh in the NSW North Coast, Sydney Basin and South East Corner bioregions |
| Cumberland Plain Woodland |
| Elderslie Banksia Scrub Forest |
| Hunter Lowland Redgum Forest in the Sydney Basin and NSW North Coast Bioregions |
| Illawarra Lowlands Grassy Woodland in the Sydney Basin Bioregion |
| Illawarra Subtropical Rainforest in the Sydney Basin Bioregion |
| Littoral Rainforest in the NSW North Coast, Sydney Basin and South East Corner Bioregions |
| Lowland Rainforest on Floodplain in the NSW North Coast Bioregion |
| Milton Ulladulla Subtropical Rainforest in the Sydney Basin Bioregion |
| Moist Shale Woodland in the Sydney Basin Bioregion |
| Mount Gibraltar Forest in the Sydney Basin Bioregion |
| Pittwater Spotted Gum Forest |
| Robertson Basalt Tall Open-forest in the Sydney Basin Bioregion |
| Shale-sandstone Transition Forest |
| Subtropical Coastal Floodplain Forest of the NSW North Coast Bioregion |
| Swamp Oak Floodplain Forest of the NSW North Coast, Sydney Basin and South East Corner Bioregions |
| Swamp Sclerophyll Forest on Coastal Floodplains of the NSW North Coast, Sydney Basin and South East Corner bioregions |
| Western Sydney Dry Rainforest in the Sydney Basin Bioregion |
6. Bioclimatic modelling suggests that some tropical species of exotic vines and scramblers, such as Cryptostegia grandiflora, may become invasive in northern NSW as a result of climate change (Kriticos et al. 2003). Anthropogenic climate change is listed as a Key Threatening Process under the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995.
7. Invasion and establishment of exotic vines and scramblers is eligible to be listed as a key threatening process as, in the opinion of the Scientific Committee it adversely affects threatened species, populations or ecological communities, or could cause species, populations or ecological communities that are not threatened to become threatened.
Associate Professor Lesley Hughes
Chairperson
Scientific Committee
Proposed Gazettal date: 21/04/06
Exhibition period: 21/04/06 - 16/06/06
References:
Ernst CM, Cappuccino N (2005) The effect of an invasive alien vine, Vincetoxicum rossicum (Asclepiadaceae), on arthropod populations in Ontario old fields. Biological Invasions 7, 417-425.
Floyd AG (1989) The vine weeds of coastal rainforests. In 'Proceedings of the 5th Biennial Noxious Plants Conference'. pp 1109-115. (New South Wales Department of Agriculture and Fisheries: Sydney).
Greenberg CH, Smith LM, Levey DJ (2001) Fruit fate, seed germination and growth of an invasive vine - an experimental test of 'sit and wait' strategy. Biological Invasions 3, 363-372.
Groves RH, Willis AJ (1999) Environmental weeds and loss of native plant biodiversity: some Australian examples. Australian Journal of Environmental Management 6, 164-171.
Harden GJ, Fox MD (1988) Wingham Brush regeneration assessment. Report 9. (Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney)
Harden GJ, Fox MD, Fox BJ (2004) Monitoring and assessment of restoration of a rainforest remnant at Wingham Brush, NSW. Austral Ecology, 29, 489-507.
Kriticos DJ, Sutherst RW, Brown JR, Adkins SW, Maywald GF (2003) Climate change and biotic invasions: a case history of a tropical woody vine. Biological Invasions 5, 145-165.
Raymond KL (1996) Geophytes as weeds: bridal creeper (Asparagus asparagoides) as a case study. In 'Proceedings of the Eleventh Australian Weeds Conference'. (Ed. RCH Shepherd) pp 420-423. (Weed Science Society of Victoria: Frankston).
Richardson DM, Pyusek P, Rejmànek M, Barbour MG, Panetta FD, West CJ (2000) Naturalisation and invasion of alien plants: concepts and definitions. Diversity and Distributions 6, 93-107.
Stansbury CD (2001) Dispersal of the environmental weed Bridal creeper, Asparagus asparagoides by Silvereyes, Zosterops lateralis in south-western Australia. Emu 101, 39-45.
The NSW North Coast Weeds Advisory Committee undated Bushland Friendly Nursery Scheme. BFNS Environmental weeds and native alternatives Taree to Tweed. A guide to identification, control and replacement. NSW North Coast Weeds Advisory Committee.
Timmins SM, Reid V (2000) Climbing asparagus, Asparagus scandens Thunb.:A South African in your forest patch. Austral Ecology 25, 533-538.
Willis AJ, McKay R, Vranjic JA, Kilby MJ, Groves RH (2003) Comparative seed ecology of the endangered shrub, Pimelea spicata and a threatening weed, Bridal Creeper: smoke, heat and other fire-related germination cues. Ecological Management and Restoration 4, 55-65.