Flora and Fauna of the Southern Yorke Peninsula

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Flora of the Southern Yorke Peninsula

Twelve plant species of southern Yorke Peninsula are considered rare and a further nine are in danger of becoming extinct in South Australia. Of the nine "at risk" species, seven are classified nationally as endangered or vulnerable, meaning they are likely to become extinct if no action is taken to protect surviving populations and their habitat.

Silver Daisy-bush

The threatened plants of southern Yorke Peninsula include Osborne's Eyebright Euphrasia collina ssp. osbornii (150Kb PDF), rated as nationally endangered, Annual Candles Stackhousia annua, Bead Samphire Halosarcia flabelliformis, Large-fruit Groundsel Senecio macrocarpus, Silver Candles Pleuropappus phyllocalymmeus, Silver Daisy-bush Olearia pannosa ssp. pannosa, and Winter Spider-orchid Caladenia brumalis, all rated nationally as vulnerable.

Lehmann's Apple-berry Billardiera lehmanniana is considered endangered in South Australia and the Limestone Leek-orchid Prasophyllum calcicola is vulnerable. Rare species include Goldsack's Leek-orchid Prasophyllum goldsackii, Small Nut-heads Haegiela tatei, Lanky Buttons Leptorhynchos elongatus, Creeping Boobialla Myoporum parvifolium and Scaly Poa-grass Poa fax. The survival of these important plant species, communities and habitats is still threatened by ongoing fragmentation and isolation, invasion by weeds such as African Boxthorn, Bridal Creeper and Horehound, pest animals, increasing salinisation, mining of samphire wetlands, and altered fire regimes.

Fauna of the Southern Yorke Peninsula

The southern Yorke Peninsula is home to many animal species, including; four species of terrestrial mammals, three bats, five marine mammals, three geckos, eleven lizards, two frogs, four snakes and 131 bird species. This list of species is sure to expand, with the completion of the Department for Environment and Heritage's 2004 biological survey of the Yorke Peninsula. In particular, there is limited data available on the small, terrestrial mammals of the region, with the Western Pygmy Possum being the only one recorded to date.

A species of primary conservation importance on the Yorke Peninsula is the Tammar Wallaby. The particular sub-species of Tammar Wallaby that inhabited mainland South Australia Macropus eugenii eugenii is now extinct in the wild. To prevent the total extinction of this species in the wild, the Department for Environment and Heritage is undertaking a reintroduction program for this species, into Innes National Park.

There are four species of bird that are considered at risk of extinction on the southern Yorke Peninsula, the Malleefowl Leipoa ocellata (200Kb PDF), Western Whipbird Psophodes nigrogularis leucogaster (100Kb PDF), Hooded Plover Thinornis rubricollis and Little Tern Sterna albifrons. These species have declined considerably in abundance across Australia, primarily due to habitat loss and predation from foxes and feral cats.

Another important component of our biological diversity is our invertebrate fauna. One invertebrate species at risk of extinction is the Yellow Sedge-skipper Butterfly Hesperilla flavenscens flavia. The former range of this small yellowish-brown butterfly once encompassed the Adelaide plain, the mouth of the Murray River and the Coorong. Today, they exist only on the southern tips of the Yorke and Eyre Peninsulas and are classified as vulnerable to extinction. Yellow Sedge-skippers are dependent on wetlands for their survival as their eggs, larva and pupa are either laid or feed on Smooth-leaved Saw-sedge Gahnia filum and, to a lesser extent, Mallee Saw-sedge Gahnia deusta or Cutting Grass Gahnia trifida. Current threats to the species include; overgrazing by stock and kangaroos, chemical spray drift, swamp drainage, wildfires and the removal of nectar plants.