Murraguldrie Flora Reserve Working Plan
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Murraguldrie Flora Reserve Working Plan MURRAGULDRIE FLORA RESERVE No.179 WORKING PLAN Murraguldrie State Forest Hume Region Xanthorrhoea arborea Grass Tree in open dry forest, Murraguldrie Flora Rese rve 1 Murraguldrie Flora Reserve Working Plan CONTENTS 1.INTRODUCTION 2. KEY VALUES OF THE RESERVE 3. DESCRIPTION OF THE RESERVE 3.1 LOCATION 3.2 EXCLUSIONS 3.3 GEOGRAPHY 3.4 GEOLOGY AND SOILS 3.5 CLIMATE 3.6 VEGETATION 3.7 FAUNA 4. HISTORY 4.1 INDIGENOUS CULTURAL HERITAGE 4.2 NON-INDIGENOUS HERITAGE 4.3 FOREST MANAGEMENT 4.4 FIRE 5. CURRENT USAGE 6. MANAGEMENT 6.1 OBJECTIVES OF MANAGEMENT 6.2 MANAGEMENT ISSUES 6.2.1 AVAILABLE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND SCIENTIFIC DATA 6.2.2 HUMAN IMPACT 6.2.3 ROAD ACCESS AND ADJACENT LAND MANAGEMENT 6.2.4 WEEDS 6.2.5 FERAL ANIMALS 6.2.6 FIRE 6.2.7 GRAZING 6.2.8 ENDANGERED ECOLOGICAL COMMUNITIES 6.3 FUTURE MANAGEMENT 6.3.1 ACTIVITIES NOT PERMITTED 6.3.2 ACTIVITIES PERMITTED STANDARD CONDITIONS 6.3.3 ACTIVITIES PERMITTED WITH SPECIAL CONDITIONS 7. MONITORING, REPORTING AND REVIEW 8. REFERENCES 9. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 10. APPENDICES APPENDIX 1: LOCALITY MAP APPENDIX 2: FLORA RESERVE AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP APPENDIX 3: FLORA SPECIES LIST APPENDIX 4: FAUNA SPECIES LIST 11. AMENDMENTS 2 Murraguldrie Flora Reserve Working Plan 1. INTRODUCTION This plan has been prepared in accordance with the terms of section 25A (5) of the Forestry Act 1916 with the objective of providing for the future management of that part of the Murraguldrie State Forest No. 403, set aside as Murraguldrie Flora Reserve No. 179. Murraguldrie Flora Reserve forms part of the dedicated reserve system for the Southern Region Forest Agreement. 2. KEY VALUES OF THE RESERVE Murraguldrie Flora Reserve has the following identified values requiring protection: · Remnant native vegetation, including White Box Yellow Box Blakely’s Red Gum Woodland – an ecological community listed as endangered in the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995. · Habitat for threatened and vulnerable fauna species, including Petaurus norfolcensis (Squirrel Glider), Pyrrolaemus sagittatus (Speckled Warbler), Climacteris picumnus (Brown Treecreeper) and Neophema pulchella (Turquoise Parrot). Petaurus norolcensis (Squirrel Glider) populations in the Wagga Wagga Local Government Area are classified as an endangered ecological community under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995. · Habitat for significant flora species. For example, Pultenaea humilis is currently under review with a recommendation for listing on the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 Flora schedule as Vulnerable. 3. DESCRIPTION OF THE RESERVE Refer to Appendices 1 and 2 for locality and topographic maps. 3.1 Location Murraguldrie Flora Reserve is 6 kilometres south east of the town of Kyeamba within Murraguldrie State Forest. The Wagga-Tumbarumba Road runs along the length of the Flora Reserve on southern and western sides and the Reserve is within 5 km of the Hume Highway. 3 Murraguldrie Flora Reserve Working Plan 3.2 Exclusions There are three small areas within the boundaries of the Flora Reserve that are excluded from the Reserve. These are – a. The Arboretum: A pine species arboretum (Research Trial R2/3.1) was established in 1965 to test species suited to the drier parts of the Wagga Wagga sub-district plantation areas. Assessment in 1986 concluded that P.radiata was the only species worth growing on a commercial basis, and the trial was terminated. b. Cypress Pine plantation located on the north western boundary of the Reserve c. Travelling Stock Reserve: located on the edge of the Flora Reserve along Wagga – Tumbarumba Road, managed by Hume Rural Lands Protection Board. Refer to Map Misc. F. 1388 Schedule 3 National Parks Estate (Southern Region Reservations) Act 200 No. 103 for detail on Murraguldrie Flora Reserve boundaries. 3.3 Geography Murraguldrie Flora Reserve includes an area of approximately 1524 ha, with elevation ranging from 400 - 550m ASL. The Reserve has predominantly westerly and southern aspects. Pinus radiata plantations occur on its north-eastern and south-western boundaries. The upper reaches of the Murraguldrie Creek and several tributaries flow through the Reserve. Murraguldrie Creek is within the Murrumbidgee River catchment (see Appendices 1 and 2). 3.3 Geology and Soils Geology is predominantly Ordovician metasediments. These metasediments were deposited in the warm shallow sea of the Wagga Marginal Basin. Metamorphism has occurred due to heat, folding and intrusion of igneous material. Murraguldrie Flora Reserve is within the Coreinbob Low Hills physiographic region (a characteristic mix of geology and landform). A soil landscape is an area of land with a distinct suite of soil and landscape properties and a regular pattern of parent material, landform, soils, slope, relief, vegetation community and capability for use. Soil landscapes for Murraguldrie Flora Reserve over the majority of the Reserve on metasediment geology are: Veteran on the hills, Lloyd on the low hills and high level plateaux and Pulletop 4 Murraguldrie Flora Reserve Working Plan on the undulating rises. A summary for each of these landscapes as provided by Janet Wild, Regional Soil Surveyor, Murrumbidgee Region, Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources from draft work on Soil Landscapes of the Tarcutta 1:100 000 Sheet follows – SOIL LANDSCAPE UNIT LANDSCAPE LOCATION SOIL DESCRIPTION VETERAN Crests, ridges, upper Shallow (<200mm) slopes regolithic rudosols Rock outcrops Common LLOYD Broad crests, ridges, upper Shallow (<50cm) lithosols slopes mid-lower slopes Red Earth soils Broad drainage Moderately deep (80 – depressions 150cm) Brown Solodic soils PULLETOP Crests, ridges, upper Shallow to moderately deep slopes (40 – 100cm) Red Podzolic soils Mid –lower slopes Moderately deep (80 – 150cm) bleached and haplic Red Podzolic Soils Drainage lines Moderately deep (80 – 150cm) mottled- subnatric brown solodic soils Within Murraguldrie Flora Reserve, there is a small section of Kyeamba Adamellite, where igneous material has intruded the metamorphosed sedimentary rock. Adamellite is a granite with a high proportion of silica, which forms light coloured minerals (such as muscovite, quartz and orthoclase). These minerals are acidic, resistant to weathering and tend to form a shallower, more acidic and infertile soil profile. A soil type profile was located within Murraguldrie Flora Reserve by Department of Land and Water Conservation (Chen,X.Y. and McKane, D.J. 1997) for this section of Adamellite (attached as Appendix 3). 3.4 Climate Figures provided are averages for Murraguldrie State Forest from readings taken over the period 1938 – 1974. This data was taken from the Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology website www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw072035. Median annual rainfall 881.1mm Mean daily minimum temperature 1.6° Celcius Mean daily maximum temperature 29.7° Celcius 5 Murraguldrie Flora Reserve Working Plan The highest monthly rainfall occurs during winter and spring (May - November), although regular rain is experienced in the other months. The minimum daily temperature recorded between 1938 and 1974 was – 5.6° C and the maximum 42.2° C. 3.5 Vegetation See Appendix 4 for the Murraguldrie Flora Reserve flora species list. The remnant vegetation within the Flora Reserve has significant natural values in a landscape that has been greatly altered by clearing for agricultural production and pine plantation establishment. Few other areas of native forest in the vicinity cover an area the size of the Flora Reserve (ie. over 1500 ha). Murraguldrie Flora Reserve contains White Box Yellow Box Blakely’s Red Gum Woodland – an endangered ecological community listed on Part 3 of Schedule 1 of the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995. This vegetation community is endangered due to a drastic reduction in its area and a high level of fragmentation through clearing for cropping and pasture improvement. For details on the assemblage of flora species characterising this woodland, and the significant species that may occur, refer to www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au (threatened species, box-gum woodland). Pultenaea humilis is an erect to prostrate rhizomatous shrub occurring in NSW, Victoria and Tasmania. The population within the Flora Reserve is restricted to a few hundred mature individuals. Hogbin (2002) recommended the Scientific Committee assessing Flora Schedules for the Threatened Species Conservation Act list Pultenaea humilis as Vulnerable. In addition to loss of populations through land clearing and grazing, this species is also recorded as possibly being significantly affected by Phytophthora cinnamomi, a soil borne pathogen that is probably not native to NSW. 3.6 Fauna Appendix 5 lists recorded fauna species for Murraguldrie Flora Reserve. A limited number of bird count surveys have revealed a variety of bird species present in the Reserve, including Pyrrolaemus sagittatus (Speckled Warbler), Climacteris picumnus (Brown Treecreeper) and Neophema pulchella (Turquoise Parrot). These three species are listed in Schedule 2 of the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 as Vulnerable. A recent study into Petaurus norfolcensis (Squirrel Glider) populations in the Wagga Wagga local government area by van der Ree (unpubl.) placed traps and spotlighted within Murraguldrie Flora Reserve. A total of 8 male and 4 female Squirrel Gliders) were trapped. Van der Ree concluded the population number of 6 Murraguldrie Flora Reserve Working Plan Squirrel Gliders in Murraguldrie [Flora