Conservation Management Zones of Australia
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Conservation Management Zones of Australia Naracoorte Woodlands Prepared by the Department of the Environment Acknowledgements This project and its associated products are the result of collaboration between the Department of the Environment’s Biodiversity Conservation Division and the Environmental Resources Information Network (ERIN). Invaluable input, advice and support were provided by staff and leading researchers from across the Department of Environment (DotE), Department of Agriculture (DoA), the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the academic community. We would particularly like to thank staff within the Wildlife, Heritage and Marine Division, Parks Australia and the Environment Assessment and Compliance Division of DotE; Nyree Stenekes and Robert Kancans (DoA), Sue McIntyre (CSIRO), Richard Hobbs (University of Western Australia), Michael Hutchinson (ANU); David Lindenmayer and Emma Burns (ANU); and Gilly Llewellyn, Martin Taylor and other staff from the World Wildlife Fund for their generosity and advice. Special thanks to CSIRO researchers Kristen Williams and Simon Ferrier whose modelling of biodiversity patterns underpinned identification of the Conservation Management Zones of Australia. Image Credits Front Cover: Dergholm State Park, Victoria – Bill Doyle Page 4: Glenelg river, Lower Glenelg National Park – Parks Victoria Page 10: Painted Burrowing Frog (Neobatrachus pictus) – Matt Clancy Page 14: Swamp Wallaby (Wallabia bicolor) – Toby Hudson Page 16: Murray River Estuary Coorong National Park – Allan Fox Page 18: Wimmera Bottlebrush (Callistemon wimmerensis) – Reiner Richter Page 21: Southern Brown Bandicoot, Quenda (Isoodon obesulus) – Dave Watts Page 22: Orange-bellied Parrots (Neophema chrysogaster) – Chris Tzaros Page 23: South-eastern Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus banksii graptogyne) – Peter Campbell Page 26: Coorong – Rene Kisselbach Photography Page 28: Gang-gang Cockatoo (Callocephalon fimbriatum) – Benjamint444 Page 29: Sugar Gliders (Petaurus breviceps) – Viper76 Page 33: Lake Monibeong, Discovery Bay Coastal Park – Parks Victoria Page 34: Eucalyptus woodlands with tussock grass, near Naracoorte – Dragi Markovic Page 35: Eucalyptus woodlands with a shrubby understorey, Brown Stringybark (Eucalyptus baxteri) – Bill Doyle Page 36: Casuarina and Allocasuarina forests and woodlands – Natural Resources South East Page 37: Mallee with tussock grass – Murray Fagg Back Cover: Dergholm State Park, Victoria – Bill Doyle © Commonwealth of Australia, 2015. The Conservation Management Zones of Australia profile is licensed by the Commonwealth of Australia for use under a Creative Commons By Attribution 3.0 Australia licence with the exception of the Coat of Arms of the Commonwealth of Australia, the logo of the agency responsible for publishing the report, content supplied by third parties, and any images depicting people. For licence conditions see here. Conservation Management Zones of Australia, Naracoorte Woodlands Contents Acknowledgement of Traditional Owners and Country ����������������������������������������������2 Introduction ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������2 Zone at a glance ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������3 Population characteristics �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������6 Employment, volunteering and incomes �������������������������������������������������������������������������9 Agriculture, Natural Resource Management practices and sources of NRM advice ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������11 Land tenure, land use, Native Title and Local Government Areas ������������������������� 13 Zone vegetation characteristics����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 15 Ramsar and Nationally Important Wetlands�������������������������������������������������������������������17 World and National Heritage ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 18 Major National Reserve System properties �������������������������������������������������������������������� 19 EPBC Act (1999) threatened ecological communities ������������������������������������������������� 20 EPBC Act (1999) threatened species ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 21 EPBC Act (1999) migratory species ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 27 Threatened endemic species ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 29 Invasive species ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 31 Vegetation profiles and management recommendations ��������������������������������������� 33 Conservation Management Zones of Australia, Naracoorte Woodlands Acknowledgement of Traditional Owners and Country The Australian Government acknowledges Australia’s Traditional Owners and pays respect to Elders past and present of our nation’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities� We honour the deep spiritual, cultural and customary connections of Traditional Owners to the Australian landscape, including Australia’s waterways, land and sea country� Introduction The 23 Conservation Management Zones of Australia are geographic areas, classified according to their ecological and threat characteristics. The zones are also aligned with the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation of Australia. The Conservation Management Zones provide a way of understanding Australia’s natural environment that will assist in long-term conservation planning and help the Australian Government to better design, deliver and report on Natural Resource Management (NRM) investments, including ensuring alignment of national NRM priorities with local action. The Conservation Management Zones also provide a filter through which to make national environmental and socio-economic data more accessible and comprehensible, and a framework for gathering on-ground knowledge and expertise about the environment. This will improve information flow to the Australian Government about regional NRM requirements, best practice management, emerging NRM issues and knowledge gaps. The Conservation Management Zones do not represent any change to existing administrative boundaries or governance structures, but aim to support the NRM and wider community to cooperatively manage environmental assets across boundaries, where they share common threats, ecological characteristics and stakeholders. Each Conservation Management Zone profile contains a standard suite of nationally available ecological and socio-economic information. We hope that this information will enable Australians of all ages and backgrounds to engage with, understand and appreciate Australian landscapes, and support all Australians to manage our natural resources more effectively. The profile information provides an indicative, high-level stock-take of the environmental and socio-economic landscape and it is not intended to be comprehensive. It should also be noted that, at present, the profiles contain only limited information on aquatic ecosystems, coastal assets and Indigenous land management practices. In future, consultation and comprehensive literature reviews will enable us to provide more complete information. 2 / Conservation Management Zones of Australia, Naracoorte Woodlands Zone at a glance Area of zone: Population density: 4,862,805 hectares % of Australia: 2.26 people 0.63% per square kilometre Zone population characteristics Zone employment characteristics 120,000 3.8% 100,000 108,936 80,000 60,000 Number of people 40,000 20,000 0 otal T er 65 Ov a second language English as ndigenous 96.2% I outh (15–24) Y Employed Unemployed Source: Based on Australian Bureau of Statistics data 3 / Conservation Management Zones of Australia, Naracoorte Woodlands Major cities and towns Population Top five agricultural commodities Value (millions) Horsham 15,260 Lamb $328 Mount Gambier 25,207 Beef $259 Victor Harbour-Goolwa 8,039 Wool $226 Cereals for grain $221 Regional centres Population Dairy $176 Donald 1,355 Total value of agricultural Kingston 1,613 commodities (including other $1,791 commodities not listed here) Millicent 4,802 Naracoorte 4,903 Climate characteristics* Penola 1,330 Mean annual temperature 14.2 Celsius Portland 3,387 Mean Maximum of the Hottest Month 27.4 Celsius Robe 1,021 Mean Minimum of the Coldest Month 4.4 Celsius Mean Annual Rainfall 549.2 mm Natural Resource Management (NRM) regions Dominant rainfall season Winter Natural Resources SA Murray Darling Basin SA * The figures are interpolated 75-year means (1921 to 1995) Natural Resources South East SA representing the period prior to the onset of rapid climatic warming. Cited in: Williams KJ, Belbin L, Austin MP, Stein J, Ferrier S (2012) Glenelg Hopkins Catchment Which environmental variables should I use in my biodiversity model? VIC Management Authority International Journal of Geographic Information Sciences 26(11), 2009–2047. (Data derived from Australian Climate surfaces version 2.1 North Central Catchment VIC for the ANUCLIM-BIOCLIM package). Management Authority For future climate projections please