Biodiversity Strategy - Gosford City Council - NSW Government

• Extensions of species’ geographic range boundaries toward the poles or to higher
elevations (i.e. saltmarsh mangrove and wetland communities under threat due to
low elevation, limited opportunity to extend inland)
• Extinctions of local populations along range boundaries at lower latitudes or
elevations (i.e. species dependant on communities such as saltmarsh, wetlands
mangroves (seagrass)
• Increasing invasion by opportunistic weedy and/or highly mobile species, especially
in sites where local populations of existing species are declining
• Progressive decoupling of species interactions (e.g. plants and pollinators) due to
mismatched phenology, especially where one partner is cued by daylength and the
other by temperature.
(Hughes 2003 and additional comments GCC in italics).
Actions that government could consider to reduce these impacts included mitigation and
adaptation. Dunlop and Howden (2003) suggest five key strategies for managing climate
induced changes to biodiversity,
1. understanding and managing climate variability (use of climate variability information
for environmental flows, estuaries and coastal areas)
2. preserving biodiversity that is sensitive to climate change (limit land clearing and
land degradation, restore environmental flows,
3. facilitating long term adaptation (preserve corridors, restore degraded habitats,
4. monitoring, research and policy development
5. mitigating climate change and reduce other pressures (such as feral animal and
weed control programs).
It was suggested that managers and others need to adopt a dynamic rather than static view of
biodiversity. Actions that improve the health, condition and functioning of ecosystems and the
connectivity of natural areas were major recommendations.
Conclusions
Pressures and threatening processes need to be effectively managed to protect biodiversity in
Gosford City. This includes having adequate knowledge about the risks, being proactive in
identifying new risks and issues, effectively managing the issues and adopting adaptive
management techniques that can improve on past management and utilise current knowledge.
A collaborative and integrated approach is required between the community, special interest
groups and government agencies to manage these threatening processes.
Biodiversity - Technical Report Page 167