Rutila Resources Railway Corridor Flora and Vegetation Assessment
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RUTILA RESOURCES RAI LWAY CORRIDOR FLORA AND VEGETATION ASSESSMENT Preston Consulting COPYRIGHT STATEMENT FOR: Rutila Resources Railway Corridor Flora and Vegetation Assessment Our Reference: 9633-3228-14R final Copyright © 1987-2014 Ecoscape (Australia) Pty Ltd ABN 70 070 128 675 Except as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), the whole or any part of this document may not be reproduced by any process, electronic or otherwise, without the specific written permission of the copyright owner, Ecoscape (Australia) Pty Ltd. This includes microcopying, photocopying or recording of any parts of the report. Direct all inquiries to: Ecoscape (Australia) Pty Ltd 9 Stirling Highway • PO Box 50 NORTH FREMANTLE WA 6159 Ph: (08) 9430 8955 Fax: (08) 9430 8977 Rev. Author Approved Date Draft rev 0 LA JN/BT 06/06/2014 Final LA BT 10/06/2014 9633- 3 2 2 8 - 1 4 R F I N A L 1 0 / 0 6 / 2 0 1 4 II TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Acronyms and Abbreviations ..................................................................................................................... 1 Summary ...................................................................................................................................................... 2 1.0 . Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 3 1.1 .... Project Overview ................................................................................................................................. 3 1.1.1 ....Study Area Location ......................................................................................................................... 3 1.2 .... Project Objectives ............................................................................................................................... 4 1.3 .... Legislation and Policies ....................................................................................................................... 5 1.4 .... Permits ................................................................................................................................................ 5 1.5 .... Previous Surveys ................................................................................................................................ 5 2.0 . Physical Environment .......................................................................................................................... 6 2.1.1 ....Climate ............................................................................................................................................. 6 2.1.2 ....Geology ............................................................................................................................................ 7 2.1.3 ....Land Systems ................................................................................................................................... 7 2.1.4 ....Drainage ........................................................................................................................................... 8 3.0 . Biological Environment ....................................................................................................................... 9 3.1 .... Biogeographic Region ......................................................................................................................... 9 3.2 .... Flora ..................................................................................................................................................10 3.2.1 ....Conservation Significant Flora .......................................................................................................10 3.2.2 ....Commonwealth Protected Matters Search ....................................................................................10 3.2.3 ....DPaW Threatened and Priority Flora Database Search ................................................................10 3.2.4 ....NatureMap Search .........................................................................................................................11 3.2.5 ....Significant Species According to Guidance Statement No. 51 ......................................................11 3.2.6 ....Ecoscape Experience .....................................................................................................................11 3.2.7 ....Introduced Species .........................................................................................................................12 3.3 .... Vegetation and Ecological Communities ...........................................................................................12 3.3.1 ....Vegetation Association Mapping ....................................................................................................12 3.3.2 ....Threatened and Priority Ecological Communities ..........................................................................13 3.3.3 ....Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems ...........................................................................................15 3.3.4 ....Mulga Communities ........................................................................................................................17 3.3.5 ....Ecosystems at Risk ........................................................................................................................18 3.3.6 ....Significant Vegetation According to Guidance Statement No. 51 ..................................................18 3.3.7 ....Previous Surveys ...........................................................................................................................19 4.0 . Methods ...............................................................................................................................................22 4.1 .... Reconnaissance Survey ....................................................................................................................22 4.1.1 ....Vegetation Type Assessment and Mapping Methodology .............................................................22 4.2 .... Conservation Significant Flora Likelihood Assessment ....................................................................22 5.0 . Results .................................................................................................................................................24 5.1 .... Reconnaissance Survey ....................................................................................................................24 5.1.1 ....Access ............................................................................................................................................24 5.1.2 ....Vegetation Types ...........................................................................................................................24 9633- 3 2 2 8 - 1 4 R F I N A L 1 0 / 0 6 / 2 0 1 4 III TABLE OF CONTENTS 5.1.3 ....TECs and PECs .............................................................................................................................24 5.2 .... Conservation Significant Flora Likelihood .........................................................................................27 5.3 .... Level 2 Field Survey Timing ..............................................................................................................29 References .................................................................................................................................................30 Maps ............................................................................................................................................................36 Appendix One: Definitions and Criteria ..................................................................................................41 Appendix Two: Desktop Assessment Results .......................................................................................46 Appendix Three: Database Search Results ............................................................................................50 Appendix Four: Conservation Significant Flora Likelihood Assessment ...........................................62 TABLE OF FIGURES Figure 1: Study area ...................................................................................................................................... 4 Figure 2: Monthly rainfall and daily maxima and minima for Roebourne and Wittenoom (BoM 2014b; 2014c) ....................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Figure 3: NatureMap (DEC 2007-2014) search area ..................................................................................52 T ABLE OF TABLES Table 1: Extent of land systems within the study area and regional representation (Van Vreeswyk et al. 2004) ....................................................................................................................................................................... 8 Table 3: Pre-European vegetation associations within the study area (Government of Western Australia 2013) ............................................................................................................................................................13 Table 4: Type of GDE, likelihood