Biodiversity Report 2020 Technical Background Report
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Biodiversity Report 2020 Technical Background Report Sunshine Coast Local Government Area 2020 Edition © Sunshine Coast Regional Council 2009-current. Sunshine Coast Council™ is a registered trademark of Sunshine Coast Regional Council. www.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au [email protected] T 07 5475 7272 F 07 5475 7277 Locked Bag 72 Sunshine Coast Mail Centre Qld 4560 Acknowledgements Council wishes to thank all contributors and stakeholders involved in the development of this document. Disclaimer Information contained in this document is based on available information at the time of writing. All figures and diagrams are indicative only and should be referred to as such. While the Sunshine Coast Regional Council has exercised reasonable care in preparing this document it does not warrant or represent that it is accurate or complete. Council or its officers accept no responsibility for any loss occasioned to any person acting or refraining from acting in reliance upon any material contained in this document. Technical Background Report - Biodiversity Report 2020 for the Sunshine Coast Local Government Area Contents 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................4 2 Method …………………………………………………………………………………………5 2.1 Reporting categories and scale ...................................................................................5 2.2 Vegetation……………………………………………………………………………………...6 2.3 Habitat analysis ...........................................................................................................12 2.4 Conservation estate analysis .....................................................................................15 3 Glossary ………………………………………………………………………………………18 4 References …………………………………………………………………………………...23 Appendix A: Sunshine Coast vegetation communities and regional ecosystems......24 Appendix B: Sunshine Coast rare and threatened flora and fauna species ................33 Appendix C: Sunshine Coast conservation estate and regional ecosystems.............40 Appendix D: Maroochy River catchment vegetation and conservation estate............45 Appendix E: Mary River catchment vegetation and conservation estate.....................47 Appendix F: Mooloolah River catchment vegetation and conservation estate ...........49 Appendix G: Pumicestone Passage catchment vegetation and conservation estate.51 Appendix H: Upper Stanley River catchment vegetation and conservation estate.....53 Appendix I: Noosa River catchment summary results...................................................55 . Technical Background Report - Biodiversity Report 2020 for the Sunshine Coast Local Government Area 3 1 Introduction The Biodiversity Report 2020 - Technical Background Report (TBR) outlines the datasets used and the methods adopted to analyse and generate the results for the reporting categories. The TBR is intended to be read in conjunction with the Biodiversity Report 2020 for the Sunshine Coast Local Government Area (the Report) and provides the background to each result as well as the reference and link to the detailed appendix. The appendices include a suit of tables detailing the local government and river catchment area’s remnant and non-remnant vegetation, threatened flora and fauna, and conservation estate results. The Report is the second report of its type to be produced by the Sunshine Coast Council and follows the inaugural Biodiversity Report 2016 for the Sunshine Coast Local Government Area. This Report maintains the same reporting categories and provides a comprehensive overview of the local government areas biodiversity assets including: Native vegetation extent Vegetation community number, extent and distribution Conservation estate number, extent and distribution, and Threatened ecological communities, flora and fauna number, extent and distribution. Technical Background Report - Biodiversity Report 2020 for the Sunshine Coast Local Government Area 2 Method 2.1 Reporting categories and scale In managing terrestrial biodiversity at a landscape scale within the Sunshine Coast Council area the focus is on our core habitat areas. The Sunshine Coast Council area has a range of different vegetation communities that contribute to habitat areas that may support threatened flora and fauna species listed as endangered, vulnerable or near threatened. Parts of our habitat areas are actively managed in the conservation estate, where properties are either protected by national parks, nature refuges, council reserves and statutory covenants or through voluntary programs such as Land for Wildlife. Habitat not conserved is considered more at risk from threats such as pest plants and animals, urbanisation, habitat loss and fragmentation. An improved understanding of these categories will assist to guide strategic biodiversity planning and investment. Table 2.1 lists the indicators associated with each reporting category. Collectively, these make up the reporting categories and are tabulated below. Table 1: Biodiversity reporting categories and associated indicators Reporting category Indicator Vegetation Total extent of vegetation Type and extent of each vegetation community Conservation status at a local, state and commonwealth scale Flora and fauna Known endangered and vulnerable species Catchment occurrence of endangered and vulnerable species Seasonal and migratory fauna species Conservation estate Type of conservation tenure and extent of vegetation conserved Extent of vegetation in the conservation estate Type and extent of vegetation communities within the conservation estate Number and extent of poorly conserved vegetation communities Habitats Number and type of core and connecting habitat areas Extent of vegetation and conservation estate in core and connecting habitat areas Occurrence of listed flora and fauna species within core and connecting habitat areas *Each category utilises a different method of assessment outlined in the Methods. Reporting units The Sunshine Coast Council local government area as defined by the Queensland Government’s Local Government Boundaries (2014) extent data (Department of Natural Resources and Mines) and the river catchments contained within the local government area are the reporting units used in this report. The local government area (LGA) supports the landscape management approach adopted by the Environment and Liveability Strategy 2017 while the smaller catchment unit has a defined boundary thereby allowing changes in biodiversity to be more easily monitored, measured and communicated. Spatial data analysis All vegetation area values (from here on defined as extent) are reported in hectares and have been rounded to whole numbers, except values less than a hectare (10,000m2). In these cases, results are reported to two decimal places to ensure representation of these limited extents. Technical Background Report - Biodiversity Report 2020 for the Sunshine Coast Local Government Area 5 2.2 Vegetation Native vegetation is a fundamental component of biodiversity and provides an effective surrogate measure of general biodiversity health. Understanding the overall extent of vegetation, the type and extent of different vegetation communities and their respective conservation status in the Sunshine Coast Council area can inform the development of, and assist with, the effective delivery of strategic biodiversity conservation and management programs. Vegetation extent provides an important snapshot in time against which future data can be compared in order to understand changes in vegetation extents across the Sunshine Coast Council area. The total extent of native vegetation in the Sunshine Coast Council area was determined by analysing state and council produced vegetation datasets. The dataset and associated spatial layers were developed by combining the State’s regional ecosystem vegetation mapping data and the fine-scale vegetation (FSV) data developed by Council to produce an integrated dataset known as the foundational vegetation layer. Regional ecosystem vegetation mapping The Queensland Herbarium’s regional ecosystem mapping process originally defined by Sattler and Williams (1999) maps native remnant vegetation at a scale of 1:50,000 with a minimum patch/polygon size of 10,000m2. The mapping uses a three part numeric code that systematically classifies remnant vegetation into distinct regional ecosystem/vegetation communities (Neldner et al., 2012). The three part code refers to: 1. The biogeographic region: Queensland is split up into 13 bioregions and the Sunshine Coast Council area occurs within the South-east Queensland bioregion which is represented by the number 12 2. The land zone which is determined by the underlying geology or substrate on which the regional ecosystem occurs: there are 12 different land zones ranging from flood plain depositional soils and sands to ancient volcanic soils, and 3. The vegetation composition typically defined by the dominant vegetation species. For example, if a vegetation community has a dominant canopy species made up of grey gums (Eucalyptus propinqua) and bloodwoods (Corymbia intermedia) occurring on volcanic soils and located within the South-east Queensland bioregion the resultant regional ecosystem classification would be 12.12.15 (for further information on the regional ecosystem classification go to www.ehp.qld.gov.au/regional-ecosystems). The regional ecosystem data set also includes information about the extent of each regional