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ACT Conservator of Flora and Fauna Dr Annie Lane has advised that citizen scientists across Canberra have found some new rare plant species in the region.

Speaking on National Threatened Species Day, Dr Lane stated "on National Threatened Species Day, I’m pleased to say that Canberrans are very active in monitoring and even finding rare and threatened species.

“Citizen scientists and professionals alike have been logging their findings on the Canberra Nature Map, which is a community website that has become the authoritative source on the distribution and abundance of plants, animals and fungi in the ACT and surrounding areas.

“The map has over 1000 members who, even in winter, are putting in up to 100 sightings per week.”

Citizen scientists have also been actively sighting already discovered rare species, with sightings of these doubling in the region in the last three years.

Dr Lane added “half of all ACT recordings over the last 110 years of rare or uncommon plants have come from Canberra Nature Map, which has only been operating for three years.

“The Canberra Nature Map has transformed the way wildlife information is collected, reported and accessed across the region.

“For example, the Canberra Nature Map community has been called on to help ecologists understand how orchid presence and abundance on Black Mountain sandstone has been influenced by fire history.

“And on dozens of occasions Canberra Nature Map reports have been the first records of significant weeds or of problem plants in a reserve or private property, enabling land managers to quickly eradicate an infestation before it becomes a problem.

“Canberra Nature Map is not only for people who wish to record sightings of plants and animals, but is a wonderful vault of local information for anyone who wants to find out more about the ACT’s natural environment.”

Both Twining Fringe Lily and Blue Grass Lily were previously thought to be uncommon species in the ACT. Although neither occur in large numbers at a particular site, Canberra Nature Map records have shown them to be widespread, with Blue Grass Lily known from 37 locations in the ACT and Twining Fringe lily from over 100 locations.

Click here to see the Canberra Nature Map.

Images: The Blue Grass Lily (top, courtesy of Michael Mulvaney), the Canberra Spider Orchid - the Canberra Nature Map has greatly increased the known locations of this endemic endangered ACT species both within the known locations on Mt Majura and Mt Ainslie reserve and previously unrecorded locations (middle, courtesy of Aaron Clausen) and the Twining Fringe Lily (below, courtesy of Mathew Frawley).

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