Strategic Management Prospects v4.0 Species Forecast Report created on 05 February, 2024

A Species Forecast Report is a summary of currently available information, the predicted 50-year outlook for the species, and potential pathways to recovery through species-specific and landscape-scale actions.

The report collates data from a range of sources including the Victorian Biodiversity Atlas, Strategic Management Prospects (SMP), Specific Needs Assessments, Threatened Species Action Statements, the Genetic Risk Index, and the IUCN Common Assessment Method.

Species Forecast Reports are intended to be used in conjunction with SMP and other spatial outputs in NatureKit, and Action Statements where relevant.

For more information on Species Forecast Reports, SMP and other biodiversity decision support tools, including user guides, visit Choosing actions for nature webpage on the DEECA website.


Species Overview

Taxon ID 501666
Scientific name Hibbertia diffusa
Common name Wedge Guinea-flower
Group Dicotyledons
FFG status Endangered
EPBC status
Wedge Guinea-flower (Image Source: Atlas of Living Australia)

Wedge Guinea-flower (Image Source: Atlas of Living Australia)


Species description

Description and life history

The taxon is a prostrate to decumbent shrubs with pubescent to tomentose branches to 0.5 m long. Vestiture of forward-directed simple hairs more or less curved to coiled. Leaves linear-oblanceolate to broadly spathulate, 4-28 mm long, 3-14 mm wide, usually unequally toothed or lobed, puberulous to glabrous; apex acute to obtuse; base cuneate; margin scarcely recurved. Flowers sessile, terminal mainly on short shoots with usually 1 triangular sheathing bract 1.3-2.6 mm long; sepals 3.8-5.4 mm long, unequal, glabrous; petals obovate, 5.2-10.4 mm long, bright yellow; stamens 20-25 in groups around the ovary; filaments free; carpels 2 or 3, glabrous. The taxon flowers from September to November (VicFlora, 2019).

Distribution

In Victoria, the taxon is scattered and uncommon, occurring eastward from near Maffra (e.g., upper Avon River, Genoa River, Howe Range). The taxon also occurs in Queensland and New South Wales (VicFlora, 2019)

Habitat

The taxon usually occurs on shallow, rocky soils in dryish open forest and woodland (VicFlora, 2019).

Genetic Risk Index

No genetic risk information is currently available.


Species maps

Habitat Distribution Model

The Habitat Distribution Model (HDM) layer shows the modelled distribution of habitat for Wedge Guinea-flower in Victoria. Red shading indicates areas of habitat with relatively higher suitability, compared with yellow shaded areas. HDMs are developed by combining Victorian Biodiversity Atlas (VBA) occurrence records for the species with a range of environmental variables to predict where the most suitable habitat for the species is in Victoria. Species may not always occupy areas of suitable habitat. Threatening processes (prior or ongoing) and disturbance regimes (e.g. fire, timber harvesting) may stop species from occupying otherwise suitable habitat for periods of time. Management actions often focus on currently occupied areas, however management of unoccupied areas can also be important to allow populations to re-establish.

No Habitat Distrabution Model is currently available.


Species Forecast

No Species Forecast data is available because Wedge Guinea-flower is not yet included in our decision-support tools.

About Species Forecast

A Species Forecast is the estimated likelihood of a species being present in 50 years time. The data for Species Forecasts is drawn from DEECA’s decision support tools, Strategic Management Prospects and Specific Needs Assessments.

Many species benefit from the management of widespread threats, such as weeds and pests, and the benefit of these landscape-scale actions to ~4,200 species is modelled in Strategic Management Prospects. In addition to landscape-scale actions, some species also need actions that improve or protect habitat at certain sites, such as nest boxes or hollow logs, or actions to improve certain populations, such as gene mixing or translocation.

As part of a continuous improvement program for our decision-support tools, we are working to expand the scope of actions modelled in Strategic Management Prospects, and to build the dataset of species benefits from location-specific and population-specific actions.

We can use this data to consider how different actions may benefit a species and examine how different types of on-ground management may contribute to a species’ recovery in 50 years, to develop a Species Forecast.


Potential actions for species recovery

No Species Forecast data is available because Wedge Guinea-flower is not yet included in our decision-support tools.


Species prospects in SMP

The benefit data in SMP can be used to consider what the Wedge Guinea-flower’s prospects are if the landscape scale management actions in SMP are implemented.

No Species Prospects figure is available becuase Wedge Guinea-flower is not yet included in SMP.


How to get further information and provide feedback

For more information on the decision support tools, products and underlying data used in this report, and how the data is collected and developed into products, please visit the following links:

These links include information on how to provide data and feedback into these products.

The Species Forecast Reports will be updated periodically to reflect changes and improvements in the products and tools that inform them (e.g., following updates to SMP).

As the data contained in Species Forecast Reports is drawn from multi-species datasets, it is not currently possible to incorporate species-specific information or feedback directly.

For help or further information get in touch by visiting Choosing actions for nature webpage on the DEECA website.


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