Native Vegetation of North-West Wollemi National Park and Surrounds
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THE NATIVE VEGETATION OF NORTH-WEST WOLLEMI NATIONAL PARK AND SURROUNDS INCLUDING NULLO MOUNTAIN, CORICUDGY AND CUDGEGONG AREAS VOLUME 1: TECHNICAL REPORT Version 1 April 2012 Published by: For enquiries regarding this report please contact Office of Environment and Heritage, Department the Biodiversity Survey and Assessment Section, of Premier and Cabinet Metropolitan Branch, Office of Environment and 59-61 Goulburn Street, Sydney, NSW 2000 Heritage, Hurstville. PO Box A290, Sydney South, NSW 1232 Phone: (02) 9585 6676 Report pollution and environmental incidents Environment Line: 131 555 (NSW only) or This report should be referenced as follows: [email protected] OEH (2012) The Native Vegetation of North-west See also www.environment.nsw.gov.au/pollution Wollemi National Park and Surrounds. Volume 1: Phone: (02) 9995 5000 (switchboard) Technical Report. Version 1. Office of Phone: 131 555 (environment information and Environment and Heritage, Department of Premier publications requests) and Cabinet, Sydney. Phone: 1300 361 967 (national parks, climate change and energy efficiency information and Acknowledgements publications requests) Thankyou to landholders who provided access Fax: (02) 9995 5999 during the field surveys. This includes Gay and TTY: (02) 9211 4723 Terry Summers, Bruce Kerney, Jayne Watson and Email: [email protected] Jodie Nancarrow, Paul Frost and Craig Shaw, Jim Website: www.environment.nsw.gov.au and Sue Gunn, Julio and Lorraine, Tony Stamford, Anthony Thompson, David and Heather Alley, ISBN 978 1 74359 066 9 Gerry Harvey, Russell and Lynne Cooper, Ross OEH Publishing No. 2013/0267 Wicks, Craig and Theresa Martin, Mike Suttor, April 2012 Reg and Jenny Franks, Martin de Rooy, State Forests NSW (particularly Warick Bratby). © Copyright Office of Environment and Heritage, Thankyou to Colin Bower for provision of data. Department of Premier and Cabinet on behalf of Thankyou to everyone who kindly contributed State of NSW. Photographs are copyright Office of photos for the report. Environment and Heritage or the individual photographer. Cover Photos Front cover With the exception of photographs, the Office of Feature Photo © C.H. Barker/OEH Environment and Heritage, Department of Premier Lichen © C. O’Brien/OEH and Cabinet and State of NSW are pleased to Lace Monitor (Varanus varius) © C. O’Brien/OEH allow this material to be reproduced in whole or in Eriostemon australasius © R. Woodward/OEH part for educational and non-commercial use, Bare Rock Bluff © D. Connolly/OEH provided the meaning is unchanged and its Grevillea johnsonii © R. Woodward/OEH source, publisher and authorship are acknowledged. Specific permission is required for Back cover the reproduction of photographs. Goodenia ovata © R. Woodward/OEH Widden valley © R. Woodward/OEH Office of Environment and Heritage, Department Cedar Creek © N. Williams/OEH of Premier and Cabinet has compiled The Native Bare Rock Bluff © D. Connolly/OEH Vegetation of North-west Wollemi National Park and Surrounds. Version 1 in good faith, exercising all due care and attention. Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) does not accept responsibility for any inaccurate or incomplete information supplied by third parties. No representation is made about the accuracy, completeness or suitability of the information in this publication for any particular purpose. OEH shall not be liable for any damage which may occur to any person or organisation taking action or not on the basis of this publication. Readers should seek appropriate advice when applying the information to their specific needs. Map data is not guaranteed to be free from error or omission. OEH and its employees disclaim liability for any act done on the information in the map and any consequences of such acts or omissions. OVERVIEW North-west Wollemi National Park encompasses some of the most dramatic and breath-taking landscapes of the Sydney basin. From the high points of the Hunter Range the expanse of the sandstone plateaux extends to the horizon, interrupted only by occasional conical volcanic peaks and sheer golden cliff lines. Home of the remarkable Wollemi pine, the landscape is largely free of human disturbance and supports a remarkably diverse flora that blends a range of regional influences from dry north-west New South Wales, to the northern tablelands, north coast, central tablelands and Sydney sandstone regions. This document describes a systematic vegetation survey and detailed mapping project undertaken across north-west Wollemi National Park and surrounding areas. The study area, situated about 150 kilometres north-west of Sydney, encompasses the section of the Park that is managed from the Mudgee Area office of the National Parks and Wildlife Service and contains over 180,000 hectares of native vegetation. In addition 50,000 hectares of state forests and private lands that adjoin the Park are included. This project is not a stand alone study and has built on preliminary vegetation survey and classification work completed by Bell (1998). However in this project, for the first time, the vegetation communities described and mapped have been derived and understood in terms of their local, regional and statewide distribution patterns and conservation status. The survey and mapping effort is part of a wider program aimed at ensuring that the management of reserves in the Sydney basin is underpinned by adequate levels of biodiversity data. Such data aids with key land management tasks relating to fire, weeds and Threatened Ecological Communities. The project completed survey of 136 new systematic floristic sample sites within the study area, targeting previously unsampled vegetation types and addressing some of the major gaps that existed in the spatial distribution of sites. Detailed vegetation mapping was completed using stereoscopic interpretation of recent high resolution digital aerial photography to define patterns at a viewing scale between 1:10,000 and 1:15,000. A wide range of remotely-sensed data was collected, including dominant vegetation type, geology, understorey characteristics, vegetation cover and disturbance. The aerial photography interpretation phases were supported by extensive field traverses and review of existing literature and data. A total of 62 vegetation communities have now been identified in the study area. These were primarily defined using numerical analysis of 402 systematic floristic sample sites located within or adjoining the area. The vegetation communities are referable to seven statewide vegetation formations of Keith (2004) and in this way are split into six rainforests, 11 wet sclerophyll forests, six grassy woodlands, 30 dry sclerophyll forests, two heaths, four freshwater wetlands and three forested wetlands. Dry sclerophyll forests are by far the most extensive formation of the study area. In total 1237 native vascular plant species were recorded during survey of the systematic floristic sample sites within the study area. Included in this total are 65 eucalypt species which is almost two-thirds of the current inventory of eucalypt trees known to occur in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. In contrast, exotic species numbered only 104. Not surprisingly those vegetation communities with the greatest number of weeds were associated with richer soils preferentially targeted by agricultural land use. The assessment of conservation status identified that eight Threatened Ecological Communities listed under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 are aligned with 12 vegetation communities described within the study area. Eight of these vegetation communities are also components of Threatened Ecological Communities recognised under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. The most significant vegetation types were found to include tall forests on high elevation basalt, dry grassy woodlands associated with basalt or Permian shale, and freshwater swamps on sandstone and valley flats. The Threatened Ecological Communities span multiple tenures in the study area, necessitating co- operative land management strategies to assist with their conservation. Also worthy of note is the existence of four communities that have a limited distribution, with the study area encapsulating their entire known extent in the Sydney Basin Bioregion. The Native Vegetation of North-west Wollemi National Park and Surrounds – Version 1 i TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 BACKGROUND.................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 PROJECT AIMS................................................................................................................. 1 1.3 STUDY AREA.................................................................................................................... 2 1.3.1 Location............................................................................................................. 2 1.3.2 Tenure and land use......................................................................................... 2 1.3.3 Biogeography.................................................................................................... 2 1.3.4 Geology and geomorphology............................................................................ 2 1.3.5 Elevation ..........................................................................................................