Reconnaissance and Targeted Flora and Vegetation Survey Wingebellup Road and Kojonup – Frankland Road
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Reconnaissance and Targeted Flora and Vegetation Survey Wingebellup Road and Kojonup – Frankland Road Prepared for the Shire of Cranbrook December 2020 PO Box 9179, Picton WA 6229 0484 771 825 | [email protected] Version Origin Review Review date Release approval Issue date V1 C. Spencer 25/11/2020 V2 C. Spencer R. Smith 30/11/2020 Final Draft D. Brace SoCranbrook 1/12/2020 Ecoedge 1/12/2020 Final C. Spencer D. Brace 7/12/2020 Ecoedge 7/12/2020 2 | Page Executive Summary Ecoedge was engaged by the Shire of Cranbrook to undertake a Reconnaissance and Targeted Flora and Vegetation Survey of approximately 0.58 hectares of road reserve located in four separate locations, one on Wingebellup Road and three along the Kojonup Frankland Road. Area 1 is approximately 6.5 km west of the town of Frankland River. The flora and vegetation survey was undertaken on the 30 September 2020 in accordance with the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) Technical Guidance - Flora and Vegetation Surveys for Environmental Impact Assessment (EPA, 2016). 72 species of vascular flora (including 24 introduced species) were identified across the four areas No Threatened flora, Priority flora or other flora of conservation significance were found. One of the introduced species was the Declared Pest Asparagus asparagoides (Bridal creeper). Seven vegetation units were described across the survey area, most of which is in a degraded condition due to the occurrence of the vegetation in road reserves in a predominantly agricultural area. None of vegetation units meet the criteria of a State listed Priority Ecological Community (PEC) or the criteria of a State or Federally listed Threatened Ecological Community (TEC). One Vegetation Association is mapped across the four Survey areas: Association 4 ‘medium woodland; marri & wandoo’. The current Statewide extent of this association (at 26.95 %) is below the Commonwealth government’s 30% retention threshold, with 14.48% represented within the DBCA estate. The current extent of this association within the Shire of Cranbrook exceeds the target at 33.12%. Vegetation Units A, B and C are regarded as having vegetation associated with and dependant on the Frankland River waterway. Vegetation Units E and F which is dependent on and associated with an ephemeral wetland in a depression at the base of a hill. Vegetation associated with waterways and wetlands is specially protected under the EP Act. The survey areas 1, 2 and 3 form part of a network of connected native vegetation associated with the Frankland River in a predominantly cleared agricultural landscape. There are no Environmentally Sensitive Areas within or in close proximity to the survey area. 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 ............................................................................ 8 1.3 Climate ...................................................................................................................... 14 1.4 Geology...................................................................................................................... 14 1.5 Vegetation Description according to pre-European Mapping Datasets ................... 16 1.5.1 Vegetation Associations ..................................................................................... 16 1.5.2 Assessment of Remaining Extent against Pre-European Extent ....................... 16 1.6 Threatened and Priority Ecological Communities ..................................................... 17 1.7 Threatened and Priority Flora ................................................................................... 20 1.8 Ecological Corridors and Connectivity....................................................................... 27 1.9 Wetlands and Watercourses ..................................................................................... 27 1.10 Environmentally Sensitive Areas ............................................................................... 27 2 Methods ............................................................................................................................ 29 2.1 Desktop Assessment ................................................................................................. 29 2.2 Field Survey ............................................................................................................... 29 2.3 Survey Limitations ..................................................................................................... 29 3 Results............................................................................................................................... 31 3.1 Flora ........................................................................................................................... 31 3.2 Vegetation Units ........................................................................................................ 32 3.2.1 Survey area 1 - Wingellebup Road ..................................................................... 32 3.2.2 Survey area 2...................................................................................................... 33 3.2.3 Survey area 3...................................................................................................... 36 3.2.4 Survey area 4...................................................................................................... 38 3.3 Vegetation Condition ................................................................................................ 40 3.3.1 Threatened and Priority Ecological Communities ............................................. 46 3.3.2 Waterway Dependent Communities ................................................................. 46 4 | Page 4 Discussion and Conclusions .............................................................................................. 49 5 References ........................................................................................................................ 51 Appendix 1. Categories of DBCA Threatened and Priority Ecological Communities (DBCA 2018a, 2019b). ......................................................................................................................... 54 Appendix 2. Categories of Threatened Ecological Communities under the EPBC Act (DotEE, 2018b). ......................................................................................................................................... Appendix 3. Protected Matters Search Tool and NatureMap reports ........................................ Appendix 4. Categories of Threatened and Priority List flora (DBCA, 2019b). ............................ Appendix 5. Categories of Threatened Species under the EPBC Act (DotEE, 2018b). ................ Appendix 6. Track log. .................................................................................................................. Appendix 7. Vegetation Condition Scale (EPA, 2016). ................................................................. Appendix 8. List of Vascular Flora found within the survey area. ............................................... Table of Tables Table 1. Soil mapping units for the survey area (Stuart-Street 2005). .................................... 14 Table 2. Vegetation Associations within the project area with regard to the Commonwealth retention targets (Government of Western Australia, 2019). ................................................. 17 Table 3. TECs potentially occurring within 30 km of the survey area (DBCA 2020b, DAWE 2020b). ..................................................................................................................................... 18 Table 4.Threatened and Priority List flora known to occur within 30 km of the survey area (DBCA 2020c, 2020d; DAWE 2020b.) ....................................................................................... 21 Table 5. Limitations of the field survey with regard to assessment adequacy and accuracy. 30 Table 6. Breakdown of vegetation unit areas with Area 1. ..................................................... 33 Table 7. Breakdown of vegetation unit areas within Area 2. .................................................. 35 Table 8. Breakdown of vegetation unit areas within Area 3. .................................................. 37 Table 9. Breakdown of vegetation unit areas within Area 4. .................................................. 39 Table 10. Breakdown of vegetation condition per survey area. ............................................. 40 Table 11. A breakdown of vegetation condition by vegetation unit. ...................................... 41 Table 12. Typical waterway dependent flora species within the Survey area. ....................... 46