Pomaderris brunnea  |  

Climate projections for eastern Australia include increased average temperatures and more frequent bushfires (CSIRO Bureau of Meteorology 2015).

Bushfires are likely to become more frequent as a result of climate change and; combined with planned fire; pose a threat to Rufous Pomaderris.

Climate Change Increased intensity and Timing current Climate projections for eastern frequency of drought Confidence suspected Australia include reduced rainfall; increased average temperatures; Consequence moderate and more frequent; intense Trend increasing droughts (CSIRO Bureau of Extent across the entire range Meteorology 2015).

Identify current and future habitat likely to remain or become suitable habitat due to climate change.

The large number of records from relatively fire protected localities where bushfires are uncommon suggests that Rufous Pomaderris may be sensitive to frequent fire (DPIE 2020 Le Breton et al. 2020).

The species is threatened by several fire related threats; including high frequency fire; fire drought interactions and fire promoted weed invasion.

Inappropriate fire Timing future Frequent fires pose risks to regimes Confidence suspected Rufous Pomaderris by imposing short intervals between Consequence moderate successive fires that interrupt Trend static plant maturation and Extent across part of its range replenishment of soil stored seed reserves; limiting regeneration capacity after subsequent fires (Natale 2016).

For example; overly frequent planned burning was identified as a potential threat to a subpopulation at Upper Nepean SCA; Mittagong due to proximity of residential housing developments (DPIE 2020a).

Analysis by the Wildlife and Threatened Species Bushfire Recovery Expert Panel; based on intersecting the modelled distribution of Rufous Pomaderris and the National Indicative Aggregated Fire Extent Dataset; indicates that approximately 77 of the range of the species was within the extent of the 2019 bushfires (Gallagher 2020).

The impact of indirect effects of timber harvesting on Rufous Pomaderris; such as increased fire risk in regrowth forest (Lindenmayer et al. 2009) are poorly understood; but may also negatively affect Rufous Pomaderris.

Protect unburnt subpopulations (i.e. no planned burns; clearing or other disturbance) unless there is a clear case that an ecological burn will benefit the species (e.g. in senescent subpopulations where the impact of fire on the species is well understood).

Take the likelihood of increasingly frequent bushfires into account when developing planned burning programs; to avoid excessively frequent burning of any subpopulations.

The species is threatened by several fire related threats; including high frequency fire; fire drought interactions and fire promoted weed invasion.

Drought has been observed to impact the related Pomaderris cotoneaster (Cotoneaster Pomaderris) species by causing dieback; although resprouting was observed in response (Carr 1999).