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An Inventory and Condition Survey of the Lower Murchison River Area, Western Australia

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An Inventory and Condition Survey of the Lower Murchison River Area, Western Australia Research Library Technical Bulletins Research Publications 2009 An inventory and condition survey of the lower Murchison River area, Western Australia P Hennig Follow this and additional works at: https://researchlibrary.agric.wa.gov.au/tech_bull Part of the Agricultural and Resource Economics Commons, Agricultural Economics Commons, Agricultural Science Commons, Desert Ecology Commons, Environmental Education Commons, Environmental Health Commons, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment Commons, Environmental Monitoring Commons, Geology Commons, Geomorphology Commons, Natural Resource Economics Commons, Natural Resources and Conservation Commons, Natural Resources Management and Policy Commons, Physical and Environmental Geography Commons, Soil Science Commons, Sustainability Commons, Systems Biology Commons, and the Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons Recommended Citation Hennig, P. (2009), An inventory and condition survey of the lower Murchison River area, Western Australia. Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Western Australia, Perth. Technical Bulletin 96. This technical bulletin is brought to you for free and open access by the Research Publications at Research Library. It has been accepted for inclusion in Technical Bulletins by an authorized administrator of Research Library. For more information, please contact [email protected]. An inventory and condition survey of the lower Murchison River area, Western Australia Peter Hennig Front cover: The Murchison River about 90 km inland from the west coast of Western Australia. The trees in the background are river red gums (Eucalyptus camaldulensis), a species commonly associated with river courses of arid or semi-arid areas in Western Australia. An inventory and condition survey of the lower Murchison River area, Western Australia By: Peter Hennig Technical Bulletin No. 96 June 2009 Department of Agriculture and Food 3 Baron-Hay Court SOUTH PERTH 6151 Western Australia ISSN 0083-8675 Copyright © Western Australian Agriculture Authority, 2009 Copies of this document are available in alternative formats upon request. 3 Baron-Hay Court South Perth WA 6151 Tel: (08) 9368 3333 Email: [email protected] www.agric.wa.gov.au i Acknowledgments The author wishes to thank the following people: • Ms Alanna Chant, Conservation Officer (Flora), Department of Environment and Conservation (Geraldton District), for helping the survey team to identify plants in the field, and examining collected samples. With fieldwork conducted at the driest time of the year, Ms Chant’s expertise was invaluable. • Special thanks to Mr Alan Payne, arguably the most experienced rangeland surveyor in WA (if not Australia), for his learning, patience and thoroughness. • Ms Sandra van Vreeswyk, Derby District Manager, for your organisational skills and dedication. • Mr Brendan Nicholas, Esperance District Manager, for assisting in the fieldwork. • Members of the pastoral industry, for taking the time to show interest in the survey program. One trusts the information provided within this document will assist in maintaining or improving sustainable land uses. • Mr David Blood, now with the Department of Environment and Conservation (Geraldton District), thanks for instigating this survey—regretfully you could not participate in the whole survey. Special thanks are extended to Mr Ken Leighton (Manager—Landgate), for guidance, support, encouragement and supervision of map production, and to Mr PJ Waddell for advice, guidance and patience. To Pam Booker, Department of Agriculture and Food Document Support Centre, for her patient and thorough typing and reworking of manuscript drafts. Finally, many thanks to Ms Sharon Zappelli and Mr Stuart Dijkmans for mapping and database support. Definition The lower Murchison River area, as used in this report, occurs on the Ajana 1:250 000 map sheet and part of the Yaringa 1:250 000 map sheet, Western Australia. National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry An inventory and condition survey of the lower Murchison River area, Western Australia. Bibliography ISBN 978-0-9806315-0-0. 1. Rangelands – Western Australia – Murchison (WA) Region. 2. Pastures – Western Australia – Murchison (WA) Region I. Hennig, P. (Peter), 1957- . II. Western Australia. Department of Agriculture and Food. (Series: Technical Bulletin (Department of Agriculture and Food) ; No. 96). 633.202099413 The Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Agriculture and Food and the State of Western Australia accept no liability whatsoever by reason of negligence or otherwise arising from the use or release of this information or any part of it. ii Contents Page Summary .............................................................................................................................................. 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 3 Review A brief European land use history .................................................................................................... 7 Climate ........................................................................................................................................... 11 Geology .......................................................................................................................................... 13 Land use ......................................................................................................................................... 15 Declared plants and animals .......................................................................................................... 17 The survey Methodology ................................................................................................................................... 21 Soils ................................................................................................................................................ 29 Vegetation....................................................................................................................................... 45 Land systems ................................................................................................................................. 95 Condition of the natural resource ................................................................................................. 145 Appendices 1 Individual station reports ....................................................................................................... 153 2A Plant species recorded at inventory sites ............................................................................. 171 2B Plant species recorded at inventory sites sorted by botanical family ................................... 175 Quick reference index to soil groups, vegetation types and land systems...................178 iii iv Summary 1. The area defined as the lower Murchison in this report is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the west, freehold farming land to the south and pastoral grazing land or ‘vacant’ land to the east and north. The area is located on part of the Ajana and Yaringa (1:250 000 scale) map sheets. The survey covers 1 303 933 hectares and fieldwork was conducted in late spring 2002 and autumn 2003. Other than the township of Kalbarri, the area is sparsely populated. The Murchison River is a dominant physical feature with the river flow in an east-west direction and an extensive catchment (outside the survey area) further inland. 2. In the late 1840s mineral deposits were found just south of the survey area, leading not only to mineral extraction, but also the establishment of farming enterprises. Pastoral leases were excised in the lower Murchison survey area from the late 1850s onwards. The town of Kalbarri was officially gazetted in 1951, and the Kalbarri National Park, created in 1968, is now a major drawcard for many visitors. The climate comprises mild wet winters and warm to hot dry summers. Rainfall is relatively consistent (on an annual basis) and decreases from about 350 mm on the coast to about 275 mm at the eastern margin of the survey area. The geology is principally extensive sheets of sandplain with minor areas of sandstone, calcrete, limestone and granite. Outside the township of Kalbarri, land uses include conservation reserves (about half of the total survey area), Unallocated Crown Land (less than one-quarter of the survey area), pastoral grazing enterprises (greater than one-quarter of the survey area), and small areas of freehold land. Resources of the township of Kalbarri and the freehold cropping areas were not described. Minor areas contain feral animals (goats and to a far lesser extent, pigs) and some areas of land (devoid of native vegetation) may support introduced weeds. 3. This report provides a regional inventory and descriptive reference of land resources, accompanied by a 1:250 000 scale land system map. Included are brief reviews of background information, e.g. history, climate, geology, etc., and more detailed information on the soils, vegetation, land systems and resource condition (in terms of pastoral impact). Individual station reports and plant species lists are supplied as appendices. 4. Lands within the area have been described and mapped into 23 land systems comprising 13 broad land types. The broad land type ‘Sandplains supporting acacia, mallee and heath’ comprises over 70 per cent of the survey area. 5. The survey identified
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