Report of a Level 1 Flora and Vegetation Survey at the Capel Dry Plant, Capel
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Report of a Level 1 Flora and Vegetation survey at the Capel Dry Plant, Capel Prepared for Iluka Resources Limited November 2015 PO Box 1180 Bunbury WA 6231 9721 1377 | [email protected] Ecoedge Review Version Origin Review release Issue date date approval V1 M. Strang R. Smith 15/11/2015 V2 R. Smith M. Strang 23/11/2015 V3 M. Strang R. Smith 24/11/2015 V4 M. Strang R. Smith 25/11/2015 V5 R. Smith M. Strang 26/11/2015 A. Bishop / Final M. Strang A. Riedmann 18/12/2015 M. Strang 26/11/2015 draft (Iluka) A. Bishop / M. Strang, Final A. Riedmann 21/12/2015 M. Strang 22/12/2015 R. Smith (Iluka) 2 | Page Executive Summary Ecoedge was engaged by Iluka Resources Limited in August 2015 to undertake a Level 1 Flora and Vegetation Survey of remnant vegetation at the Capel Dry Plant to assist with potential future clearing permit applications. The Project Area, which includes Nature Reserve 3249, is 123.1 ha, of which approximately 24.6 ha is remnant native vegetation. Field assessments were carried out on 21 and 29 September, and 5 and 12 October 2015. Two hundred and fourteen taxa of vascular flora were identified within the Project Area, of which 54 (25.2%) were exotic species. Two weeds classified as Pest Plants under the under the Biosecurity and Agriculture Management Act 2007 (*Asparagus asparagoides, *Zantedeschia aethiopica) were found within the Project Area, both in the C3 management Category. Three species of Priority flora were found within Crown Reserve 3249 viz. Stylidium paludicola (P3), Caladenia speciosa (P4) and Acacia semitrullata (P4). No species of Declared Rare flora under the Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 or plants listed under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 were found. Eleven vegetation units dominated by trees or shrubs were identified within the Project Area, of which nine were naturally occurring. Approximately 0.15 ha of the vegetation unit Corymbia calophylla - Xanthorrhoea brunonis open forest (CcXbOF) adjacent to the Capel Dry Plant (on the rail reserve) was in ‘Good’ or ‘Very Good-Excellent’ condition and is considered to have high conservation value because is inferred as a new occurrence of the Critically Endangered Threatened Ecological Community Corymbia calophylla-Xanthorrhoea preissii Woodlands and Shrublands (SCP 3c). The vegetation unit Acacia saligna-Hakea varia-Melaleuca viminea tall shrubland (AsHvMvTS) has similarities to the FCT ‘Dense shrublands on Clay Flats (SCP 9)’ which is a Threatened Ecological Community with the risk status of ‘Vulnerable’. Most of this unit was classed as ‘Degraded’, however just over 20% of this vegetation unit was assessed as ‘Good’. The vegetation units AfMpLCF, CcMrCF, EmAfMpCF and ErAfMpCF are inferred to represent examples of the Priority 1 Ecological Community ‘Eucalyptus rudis, Corymbia calophylla and Agonis flexuosa Closed Low Forest (of Spearwood Dune Wetlands)’. Almost all of the area of these communities was assessed as ‘Good’ or ‘Very Good/Excellent’ condition. 21.6 ha of the 123 ha Project Area comprises native vegetation in a range of condition classes. About 55% of the Project Area was classified as ‘Completely Degraded’ or ‘Degraded’ while 21.7% of the area was classed as ‘Very Good to Excellent’, the bulk of this being in Crown Reserve 3249. 3 | Page Contents Executive Summary .................................................................................................................... 3 Statement of limitations ............................................................................................................ 7 Reliance on Data .................................................................................................................... 7 Report for Benefit of Client .................................................................................................... 7 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 8 1.1 Scope and objectives ................................................................................................... 8 1.2 Biogeographic region and location ............................................................................. 9 1.3 Geology ....................................................................................................................... 9 1.4 Vegetation ................................................................................................................. 14 1.5 Threatened and Priority Ecological Communities ..................................................... 17 1.6 Threatened and Priority Flora ................................................................................... 18 1.7 Ecological Linkages .................................................................................................... 23 2 Methods ............................................................................................................................ 26 2.1 Desktop Study ........................................................................................................... 26 2.2 Field Survey ............................................................................................................... 27 2.3 Survey limitations ...................................................................................................... 27 3 Results ............................................................................................................................... 28 3.1 Flora ........................................................................................................................... 28 3.2 Rare Flora .................................................................................................................. 29 3.2.1 Drakaea elastica (DRF) ....................................................................................... 29 3.2.2 Stylidium paludicola (P3) ................................................................................... 29 3.2.3 Caladenia speciosa (P4) ..................................................................................... 29 3.2.4 Acacia semitrullata (P4) ..................................................................................... 29 3.3 Conservation Status of the DRF and Priority Flora within the Project Area ............. 32 3.4 Pest Plants ................................................................................................................. 33 3.5 Vegetation Units ........................................................................................................ 33 3.6 Vegetation Condition ................................................................................................ 38 3.7 Phytophthora dieback disease .................................................................................. 38 3.9 Conservation Status of the Vegetation Units ............................................................ 41 3.9.1 Corymbia calophylla -Xanthorrhoea brunonis open forest (CcXbOF) ............... 41 3.9.2 Acacia saligna-Hakea varia-Melaleuca viminea tall shrubland (AsHvMvTS) .... 42 4 | Page 3.9.3 Priority Ecological Communities in Crown Reserve 3249 .................................. 42 4 Discussion and Conclusions .............................................................................................. 42 5 Recommendations ............................................................................................................ 43 6 References ........................................................................................................................ 45 Appendix 1. Protected Matters Search Tool Report ................................................................. … Appendix 2. List of vascular flora found within the Project Area at Capel ............................... … Appendix 3. Species x Vegetation unit matrix .......................................................................... … Appendix 4. Vegetation unit photographs……............................................................................ Table of Tables Table 1. Soil Mapping Units occurring within the Project Area (Barnesby and Proulx-Nixon, 2000). ....................................................................................................................................... 10 Table 2. Vegetation Complexes mapped by Heddle et al. (1980) as occurring within the Project Area. ............................................................................................................................ 14 Table 3. Vegetation Complexes present in the Capel Dry Plant Project Area with regard to the EPA and Commonwealth retention targets (DEC 2007). ................................................... 15 Table 4. Categories of Threatened Ecological Communities under the EPBC Act. .................. 17 Table 5. Threatened ecological communities occurring within 5 km of the Project Area (Gibson et al., 1994; DPaW, 2015a; DotE, 2015b). .................................................................. 18 Table 6. Definitions of Declared Rare and Priority List flora (DPaW, 2014). ........................... 19 Table 7. Categories of Threatened Species under the EPBC Act (DotE, 2015c). ..................... 20 Table 8. List of Declared Rare and Priority List flora known to occur within 5 km of the Project Area. ............................................................................................................................ 21 Table 9. Vegetation