There are 493 species of native vertebrate fauna in the Goulburn Broken Catchment which includes mammals, birds, reptiles, fish and amphibians(35 introduced species).
Of these 110 species are recognised as being threatened with extinction in Victoria and 17 threatened with extinction at a national level. The catchment also supports an unknown (but very large) number of invertebrates. Invertebrates are often forgotten but play an extremely important role in the health of our catchment.
Many species of fauna in the catchment exist beneath minimum threshold habitat levels and natural and human-induced events can cause their extinction. With the extensive clearing of native vegetation and fragmentation of habitat, populations of species are often isolated. This limits gene flow.
For a complete list of vertebrate fauna found in the Goulburn Broken Catchment click here (PDF file - 146 KB). It should be noted that this list contains only a few of the invertebrates found in the Goulburn Broken Catchment.
Invertebrates
Invertebrates constitute by far the majority of animal species in all habitats. The Catchment has an unknown, but likely to be very large, number of invertebrates which play an extremely important role in the health of the catchment. They are not as well understood as vertebrate animals, in part because of their great diversity, and in part because they are insufficiently studied.
There are 16 terrestrial invertebrates listed as endangered in Victoria, some of which are known to occur in the Goulburn Broken Catchment including:
- Hemiphlebia mirabilis Damselfly
- Acrodipsas brisbanensis
- Acrodipsas myrmecophila Ant-blue Butterfly
Overview of Invertebrates in the Goulburn Broken Catchment
Threatened Species
Threatened is a general term to designate species whose survival is at risk. For fauna the term threatened covers a range of categories including:
| Extinct: |
A taxon is Extinct when there is no reasonable doubt that the last individual has died. |
| Critically Endangered: |
A taxon is Critically Endangered when it is facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild in the immediate future. |
| Endangered: |
A taxon is Endangered when it is not Critically Endangered but is facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future. |
| Vulnerable: |
A Taxon is Vulnerable when it is not Critically Endangered or Endangered but is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium-term future. |
| Lower Risk: |
A taxon is Lower Risk - near threatened when it has been evaluated, does not satisfy the criteria for any of the threatened categories, but which is close to qualifying for Vulnerable. In practice, these species are most likely to move into a threatened category should current declines continue or catastrophes befall the species. |
| Data Deficient: |
A taxon is Data Deficient when there is inadequate information to make a direct or indirect assessment of its risk of extinction based on its distribution or population status. Listing of taxa in this category indicates that more information is required and acknowledges the possibility that future investigation will show that a threatened classification is appropriate. |
Flora and Fauna species have separate conservation status rating systems. Notably there is no "Rare" rating for fauna. There are also different rating systems at a National and State Level. A species may have a rating at one level and not the other, or have ratings under both.
Click the link to view a table showing the numbers of vertebrate fauna in the Goulburn Broken Catchment that are threatened in Victoria.
Several species are 'Nationally Listed Species' under the EPBC Act. Information on the status of Victorian and nationally threatened species can be found on the Victorian Government's Department of Environment and Primary Industries website and the Commonwealth Government's Environment Australia website .
1 Threat categorisation follows IUCN classification system