Distribution and conservation status of the Mt Mangana stag beetle, Lissotes menalcas (Coleoptera: Lucanidae)

Abstract

Lissotes menalcas (the Mt Mangana Stag Beetle) is an obligate log dwelling beetle and is presently classified as vulnerable under theTasmanian Threatened Species Protection Act 1995. The distribution, habitat and conservation status of this species were investigatedthrough a combination of collation of known locations and searches for the in decaying logs across likely areas of occurrence.L. menalcas was found to have a wide distribution in south eastern Tasmania and is now recorded from 34 localities. The species was foundin a variety of wet forest habitats from old-growth mixed forest through to 23-year-old wet eucalypt silvicultural regrowth. About 12%of wet eucalypt forest within the predicted range of L. menalcas is formally reserved, and another 14% on Crown land is unlikely to besubject to logging. L. menalcas appears to tolerate both wildfire and clear felling with regeneration burning. Because the species dependson an ongoing supply of rotting logs for its long-term survival, plantation development will probably lead to the elimination of the speciesfrom such areas. Analysis of the likely impact of plantation establishment within its range over the next ten years indicates that it will notreach levels that would lead it to be considered as vulnerable. Thus, it is recommended that the status of the species be changed fromvulnerable to rare. However, there is a need to determine the ecological sustainability of present forest management practices in relationto the decaying-log habitat and to continue to monitor the extent of clearing and modification of the species' habitat.