Perseverance Mining : 6 Month-Report
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,. t. I THE FLORA AND FAUNA OF THE PERSEVERANCE CORPORATION LIMITED MINE LEASE AREA, NAGAMBIE, VICTORIA Prepared by: A.RG. McMahon and G.W. Carr Ecological Horticulture Pty. Ltd. and Charles Meredith Biosis Research Pty. Ltd. for: R.W. Corkery and Co. Pty. Ltd. i I ~ . Orange, NSW 10 ~logical Horticulture Pry. Ltd. PERSEVERANCE MINING : 13iosis Research Pty. Ltd. 6 MONTH-REPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS .~. 1.0 INTRODUCTION .................................................... ......................... 1 FLORA 2.0 METHODS 2.1 Date collection.......... .................... ................................... 1 2.2 Data storage and analysis .............................................. 2 2.3 Vegetation terminology............ ...................................... 2 2.4 Limitations ....................................................................... 2 3.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 3.1 Vascular plant species .................................................... 3 3.2 Vegetation communities and summary sheets ........... 3 3.3 Significance of vegetation 3.3.1 Significant plant species ................................................. 6 3.3.2 Significant vegetation communities .............................. 8 FAUNA 4.0 INT'RODUCTION ............................................................................. 10 5.0 MEIBODS .......................................................................................... 10 6.0 RESULTS 6.1 Birds .................................................................................. 10 6.2 Mammals .......................................................................... 11 6.3 Reptiles and amphibians ................................................ 13 6.4 Habitat value .................................................................... 13 7.0 OPTIONS FOR LAND PURCHASE. ............................................ 13 8.0 REVEGETATION AND HABITAT RECONSTRUCTION ... 14 9.0 RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................. 15 10.0 PIA1ES AND CAPTIONS .............................................................. 16 11.0 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................. 16 12.0 REFERENCES ................................................................................... 16 13.0 APPENDICES 1.0 INTRODUCTION Perserverence Corporation Limited propose a gold mining operation some 7 kilometres east of Nagambie in central Victoria. The lease covers an area of approximately 5 x 6 kilometres with the proposed mining activity centred on a Bushland Reserve (LCC 1981) located in the middle of the lease area. The geology is predominantly Quaternary alluvium with scattered outcrops of Silurian or Devonian sediments (LCC 1978). The latter includes the Bushland Reserve. The lease area has been largely cleared for agriculture, with the notable exceptions of remnant River Red Gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) swamps occupying some of the areas of lowest relief, and the surviving tree canopy of Yell ow Box (E. melliodora) and Grey Box (E. microcarpa) on the Bushland Reserve. Ecological Horticulture Pty. Ltd. has been commissioned to describe the vegetation of the lease area, assess its significance and to suggest suitable species from the regional flora for revegetation programs. As the Bushland Reserve would be eliminated by the proposed development, recommendations are made as to appropriate sites supporting native vegetation that could be purchased to satisfy the requirements of the Department of Conservation Forests and Lands. Biosis Research Pty. Ltd. has been commissioned to assess the fauna of the lease area and alternate purchase sites. FLORA 2.0 METHODS 2.1 Data collection Field work was carried out on 2~3 August 1988. Quadrat data were collected at 9 sites located in areas which would be directly affected by the proposed development,.. or in immediately adjoining areas supporting native vegetation. Quadrat data were also collected from nearby areas that were considered suitable for purchase by Perseverance Corporation Limited. Sampling was carried out in areas carrying discrete, visibly homogeneous stands of vegetation and care was taken to avoid ecotones or vegetation boundaries. At each site a circular quadrat (30m diameter, 717 m2) was delineated, or in the case of narrow zones of vegetation the shape of the quadrat was adjusted to a rectangle of appropriate dimensions. All vascular plant species in each quadrat were assigned a visually-assessed cover/abundance value from the modified Braun-Blanquet scale (Gullan 1978) as follows: + cover 5%, few individuals 1 cover 5%, any number of individuals 2 cover 5-20%, any number of individuals 3 cover 20-50%, any number of individuals 4 cover 50-75%, any number of individuals 5 cover 75-100%, any number of individuals Page 1 L~ b <;:A\~ MAP 1 - THE HA.GAM BI E STUDY AREA N SCALE -;1 130 000 t ·' UOENO ·•' ...- ...... ...... STUOY ARfA BOUHOARY 1- ~ OUAORAf SIUS @ RIV ER RED BUld SWAMPLAND ".No's 1 ·-3 · BUSHLAND ·RES[RVE • BUNGAKAll RO . ' =CZ: KIRWANS BR IOGf RO ~ & ~ =ex: RAC £GOURSE RO .....__ - r ..--. -·~ t f = ) ~= I Jf I RAUANTYNES NAGAhlB. IE. --~ ... ~ ... " I , ~----~~~~~~~--JI ,.. I _, ....... I e5· > ·. I '""" I I I '- - - - RO- l OCXSuY - - Notes were made on features of biological or ecological interest at the quadrat site (e.g. geology, effects of grazing, weed invasions, soil type, hydrological regime) as well as the locality and other relevant information. All quadrat sites are marked on Map 1. .t-. 2.2 Data storage and analysis All quadrat data have been stored permanently on magnetic disc at the Flora Survey Group, Department of Conservation, Forests and Lands, Melbourne. Analysis was in the form of a computer·based numerical classification procedure, coupled with a hand-sorting procedure of the type outlined by Gullan (1978). This produces a two-way table which contains all species that occurred in > 10% of quadrats and arranges them according to quadrat similarity as well as plant groups commonly found growing together. The two-way table (Table 1) is set out in the following manner: the numbers across the top represent quadrat sites; each vertical column of figures represents a list of the species found at one site, and each horizontal row of figures represents all the sites at which the given species has been recorded. If a species occurred in < 10% of quadrats but its occurrence was significant, it was also included in the two-way table. 2.3 Vegetation terminology The terminology used for the vegtation classification follows Gullan et al. (1981) viz: Sub-community: Defined as a group of quadrats sharing a similar floristic composition. Community: A collection of one or more sub-communities with floristic and environmental affinities. The communities may represent highly discrete vegetation types with sharp boundaries, or more-or-less arbitrary divisions drawn for convenience along a floristic continuum to delimit sub-communities. Character species: A character species is one that occurs frequently and consistently in the quadrats of a sub-community. It is often a useful indicator species of that sub-community alone or when considered with a suite of other character species. Depending upon the size of the data set, character species occur in upwards of 35% of quadrats (Gullan et al. 1981). 2.4 Limitations Field work was carried out at a sub-otpimal time of the year to record seasonal species (e.g. annuals, orchids), thus a percentage of the flora will have been overlooked. Taxonomic authorities and nomenclature in this report follow Forbes and Ross (1988). Page 2 3.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 3.1 Vascular plant species A total of 56 vascular plant species were recorded from the Bushland Reserve and the River Redgum Swamps. Of these 38 ( 68%) were indigenous species and 18 (32%) were introduced species. Ml species are listed in Appendix 1 with family and common names. 3.2 Vegetation communities and sub-communities Two vegetation communities have been recognised for the study area on the basis of the data from the 9 quadrats. Their distribution is given on Map 1. TI1ey are as follows: Community LO : Yellow Box - Grey Box Degraded Open Forest Community 2.0 : River Red Gum Swampland Community summary sheets The following information has been amalgamated to produce a summary sheet for each of the two communities and sub-communities. These surnrnal)' sheets constitute the primary means for describing each vegetation type. Character species tables These tables summarise information from the two-way table and list the character species of each sub-community in order of their frequency. They indicate the frequency and the mean cover/abundance of character species. In contrast with the two-way tables in which species are arranged to demonstrate relationships l:retween sub cornmunities, these tables have the species arranged to show their relative importance within an individual community. Sub-community descriptions and annotations Each community is described according to its distribution, altitude, structure, floristic richness and weed composition. Page 3 Yellow Box - Grey Box Degraded Open Forest : Community 1.0 CHARACTER CHARACTER *· SPECIES C/A SPECIES C/A Eucalyptus milleodora 2 *Hypochoeris radicata 1 Eucalyptus microcarpa 2 *Cotula a:ustralis 1 *Arctotheca calendula 3 Oxalis perennans 1 *Romulea rosea 3 Danthonia spp. 1 *T1ifolium repens 2 Microlaena stipoi.des 1 *Lolium sp. 2 Stipa scabra + Structure: Open Forest Quadrat Numbers: 01 Distribution: Confined largely to the Bushland Reserve