CAFE YqRK-PENIN,SULA LANO USE STRATEGY
NATURAL RESOURCES ANALYSIS PROGRAM (NRAP)
I 1 WETLAND DEFINITION AND FAUNA ASSESSMENT OF CAPE YORK PENINSULA
P.V. Driscoll Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage 1995
CYPLUS is a joint initiative of the Queensland and Commonwealth Governments CAPE YORK PENINSULA LAND USE STRATEGY (CYPLUS)
Natural Resources Analysis Program
WETLAND DEFINITION AND FAUNA ASSESSMlENT OF CAPE YORK PENINSULA
P.V. Driscoll Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage 1995
CYPLUS is a joint initiative of the Queensland and Commonwealth Governments
Final report on project:
NR09 - WETLAND FAUNA SURVEY Recommended citation:
Driscoll, P.V. (1995). 'Wetland Definition and Fauna Assessment of Cape York Peninsula'. (Cape York Peninsula Land Use Strategy, Office of the Co-ordinator General of Queensland, Brisbane, Department of the Environment, Sport and Territories, Canberra, and Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage, Brisbane.)
Note:
Due to the timing of publication, reports on other CYPLUS projects may not be fully cited in the BIBLIOGRAPHY section. However, they should be able to be located by author, agency or subject.
ISBN 0 7242 6208 3
The State of Queensland and Commonwealth of Australia 1995.
Copyright protects this publication. Except for purposes permitted by the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any means without the prior written permission of the Office of the Co-ordinator General of Queensland and the Australian Government Publishing Service. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to:
Office of the Co-ordimator General, Government of Queensland PO Box 185 BRISBANE ALBERT STREET Q 4002
The Manager,
' Commonwealth Information Services GPO Box 84 CANBERRA ACT 2601 CAPE YORK PENINSULA LAND USE STRATEGY STAGE I
PREFACE TO PROJECT REPORTS
/ Cape York Peninsula Land Use Strategy (CYPLUS) is an initiative to provide a basis for public participation in planning for the ecologically sustainable development of Cape York Peninsula. It is jointly funded by the Queensland and Commonwealth Governments and is being carried out in three stages:
Stage I - information gathering; Stage II - development of principles, policies and processes; and Stage III - implementation and review.
The project dealt with in this report is a part of Stage I of CYPLUS. The main components of Stage I of CYPLUS consist of two data collection programs, the development of a Geographic Information System (GIs) and the establishment of processes for public participation.
The data collection and collation work was conducted within two broad programs, the Natural Resources Analysis Program (NRAP) and the Land Use Program (LUP). The project reported on here forms part of one of these programs.
The objectives of NRAP were to collect and interpret base data on the natural resources of Cape York Peninsula to provide input to:
evaluation of the potential of those resources for a range of activities related to the use agd management of land in line with economic, environmental and social values; and formulation of the land use policies, principles and processes of CYPLUS.
Projects examining both physical and biological resources were included in NRAP together with Geographic Information System (GIs) projects. NRAP projects and are -, listed in the following Table. i I Physical ResourceIGIS Projects I Biological Resource Projects I. Bedrock geological data - digitising and Vegetation mapping (NROI) integration (NR05) Airborne geophysical survey (NR15) Marine plant (seagrass/mangrove) distribution (NR06) Coastal environment geoscience survey Insect fauna survey (NR17) N14) Mineral resource inventory (NR04) Fish fauna survey (NRIO) Water resource investigation (groundwater) Terrestrial vertebrate fauna survey (NR03) (NR16) Regolith terrain mapping (NR12) Wetland fauna survey (NRW) Physical ResourcelGIS Projects Biological Resource Projects - . . . .. 1 Land resource inventory (NR02) Flora data and modelling (NR18) Environmental region analysis (NRl 1) Fauna distribution modelling (NR19) CYPLUS data into NRIC database FINDAR Golden-shouldered parrot conservation - (NR20) management (NR2 1) Queensland GIs devglopment and maintenance (NRO8)
* These projects are accumulating and storing all Stage I data that is submitted in GIs compatible formats.
Research priorities for Qe LUP were set through the public participation process with the I objectives of: ,- !
collecting information on a wide range of social, cultural, economic and environmental issues relevant to Cape York Peninsula; and highlighting interactions between people, land (resource use) and nature sectors.
Projects were undertaken within these sector areas and are listed in the following Table.
Population Current land use Surface water resources Transport services and Land tenure Fire infrastructure Values, needs and aspirations Indigenous management of land Feral and pest animals and sea Services and infrastructure Pastoral industry weeds Economic assessment Primary industries (non-pastoral, Land degradation and soil non-forestry) erosion Secondary and tertiary industries Forest resources Co~l~ervationand natural heritage assessment Traditional activities Commercial and non commercial Conservation and National Park fisheries management Current administrative structures Mineral resource potential and mining industry Tourism industry .. Lists of Tables. Figures and Appendices ...... 11 .... summary ...... 111
1.0 Introduction ...... 1
2.0 Methods ...... -2
3.0 Description of Data sets for transfer to CYPLUS GIs ...... -4 3.1 Wetland vegetation summary ...... 4 3.1.1 Data Quality information ...... 4 3.1.2 Data Dictionary ...... 6 3.2 Coastal data set ...... -8 3.2.1 Data Quality information ...... 8 3.2.2 Data Dictionary ...... 10 3.3 Aerial wetland bird counts ...... 13 3.3.1 Data Quality information ...... 13 3.3.2 Data Dictionary ...... 15 3.4 Site wetland bird counts ...... 17 3.4.1 Data Quality information ...... 17 3.4.2 Data Dictionary ...... 17
4.0 Results ...... 20 4.1 Wetland categories using vegetation mapping ...... 20 4.1.1 Distribution of wetland categories...... 20 4.1.2 Classification of ten minute grid cells using wetland categories...... -25 4.2 Wetland features of the coastline ...... 29 4.2.1 Distribution of coastal features ...... \ ...... 32 4.2.2 Classification of ten minute grid cells using coastal features...... 36 4.3 Vertebrate fauna records for ten minute grid cells ...... -40 4.3.1 Diversity patterns of birds, mammals, frogs and reptiles ...... 46 4.3.2 Diversity patterns of different wetland bird groups ...... 48 4.4 Quantitative aerial survey of waterbirds ...... 51
5.0 Discussion ...... 53
6.0 Acknowledgments ...... 5.4
8.0 Appendices ...... 57 Tables Page 1. Vegetation map units and photo patterns used in determining wetland categories...... 21
2. ~~rnrnar~values for a selection of "wetland" parameters from the CSIRO database...... -30
' 3. Bird species characteristic of wetlands...... 41
4. Mammal, frog and reptile species characteristic of wetlands...... 44
Figures Page 1. Coverage of different wetland categories of vegetation...... 22
2. Classification of ten minute grid cells using wetland categories of vegetation ...... -26
3. Mapping of wetland vietation classification groups onto ten minute grid cells...... 27
4. Mean values of wetland vegetation for each classification group...... 28
5. Spatial variation in indices of coastal wetlands...... 33
6. Classification of ten minute grid cells using indices of coastal wetlands...... 37
7. Mapping of coastal wetland classification groups onto ten minute grid cells...... 38
8. Mean values of coastal wetland indices for each classification group...... 39
9. Distribution of wetland bird species compared with all bird species ...... : .. . . .47
10. Distribution of other vertebrate groups: wetland species and all species ...... 49
A~~endices Page A. Vegetation types considered for use in categorising wetlands...... 57
B. Summary values for all parameters in CSIRO coastal data set for Cape York coastline.. . .. 60
C. Results of aerial transects in the coastal region south of Aurukun (Blackman data) ...... 64
D. Results of wetland site counts in the coastal region south of Aurukun (Taplin data) ...... 74
E. Distribution of different groups of wetland birds...... 83 r F. Summary mapping of each wetland category based upon preliminary vegetation maps.. . .. 85
G. Wetland areas for each 1:250 000 map sheet...... -92 SUMMARY
C The aim of the project was to define the types and distribution of wetlands in the study area and where possible relate the distribution of vertebrate wetland fauna to the occurrence of wetland habitat. Knowledge of the variation and distribution of wetland habitat could then be used in the effective management of wetland fauna. All the information came from other CYPLUS projects or from past fauna surveys. No field data were collected specifically for the project.
A preliminary version of the vegetation mapping of Cape York Peninsula formed the basic tool of categorising wetland areas and looking at their distribution. However, development of the vegetation map and its validation was far from complete at the time of data transfer. In particular, seven of the fourteen 1:250 000 map sheets were in an elementary form with field notes being the only description of the different photo patterns being mapped Vegetation map units had not been assigned to photo patterns and it was necessary to resolve the photo pattern descriptions with map units for the other seven map sheets. Decisions were than made as to which map units and photo patterns were indicative of wetlands and how they could be grouped into a range of wetland types. The categories chosen were broadly described as mangrove, saline open areas, perennial waterbodies, ephemeral waterbodies, sedgeland and swampy forested areas. The respective polygons were extracted digitally and used on a. desktop computer to map boundaries and to form the basis of a database for the integration of other sets of data. Over 3000 polygons were used in compiling the information on wetlands and half of these had a cover of 100% of a "wetland" map unit or photo pattern.
Another major set of data was transferred from CSIRO. It was based on interpretation of aerial photography of the coastline of Australia in the early 1980s and, for each ten kilometre section of the coast, gave values for a wide range of physical and vegetative features. Many of the features in this coastal data set were indicative of wetlands &d have been transferred to the CYPLUS GIs. These data were also manipulated to give nine indices of wetlands that include inde; for tidal flats, mud, mangroves, channels or estuaries, swamps, perennial waterholes and lakes, lagoons open to the sea, sedgeland or grassland, water, and sand.
The major sources of fauna data were the distribution records from NR03 and results from aerial surveys on waterbirds and waders undertaken in 1990 and 1991 along the coast and hinterland southwards from Aurukun. Species were categorised as "wetland" on the basis of published habitat descriptions and subjective assessments.
The various sets of data were primarily interpreted and integrated on the basis of ten minute grjd cells. However, specific locations for many fauna records and more precise boundaries of wetlands are given in the report.
Major stands of mangrove occur in the Newcastle Bay area and around large estuaries on the central west coast. Mangroves are also abundant around Lloyd Bay, Temple Bay and Princess Charlotte ... 111 Bay on the east coast and between the Mitchell and Nassau Rivers. However, mangroves are generally widespread and variously associated with open saline areas, sedgelands, intertidal areas and muddy substrate. They are a component of structurally diverse coastal wetlands that are typical of mid to south west coastal regions. Often there are fewer mangroves and a far greater cover of open saline areas, especially in Princess Charlotte Bay and along open sections of both the east and -west coasts.
Sub coastal wetlands are often dominated by sedgelands that are seasonally inundated and can extend a long way inland along river flood plains from more diverse coastal wetlands. These areas are concentrated in the south west and form a major resource for waterbirds in the wet season.
Perennial waterbodies are scarce on Cape York Peninsula and concentrated in the dune systems of Shelburne Bay and Cape Flattery. A few are scattered through the Lakefield region and in the coastal strip, around Aurukun, at Cape Keer Weer, and south of the Mitchell River. On the west coast they form an important complfment to the extensive seasonal wetlands. Ephemeral waterbodies are concentrated in thee~akefieldregion.
Most swampy forested areas occur sub coastally or inland, from Cape Keer Weer north to Port Musgrave, near Silver Plains, or to the south east of Shelburne Bay. They can be associated with perennial waterbodies, sedgelands or with mangroves in coastal locations.
Lagoons open to the sea are typically found south ffom Aurukun along the west coast, whereas coastal swamps are found fiom Port Musgrave to Newcastle Bay and scattered along the east coast, especially around Shelburne and Princess Charlotte Bays.
Through a combination of wetland categories and features it is apparent that Cape York Peninsula has a diverse range of wetlands and no two regions are exactly alike. There are some noticeable disjunctures in the distribution of coastal wetlands such as between the Edward and Holroyd Rivers, between Aurukun and Weipa, between Newcastle Bay and Shelburne Bay and south of the Jackhart River.
Consideration of geographical variation in species diversity of wetland fauna indicates that there remains a strong bias due to sampling effort but some general patterns emerge which can be related in broad terms to the distriiution and variation in wetlands. For example, coastal regions north of Port Musgrave and north of SheIburne Bay appear to have a lower diversity of wetland birds and are qualitatively different ffom one another and from other regions in terms of wetland features. More explicit links between variation in wetland and aerial bird counts in the south west indicate the greater importance of sections of the coast such as around Cape Keer Weer and the Mitchell River region. 1.0 INTRODUCTION
A One of the many intriguing aspects of Cape York Peninsula is the phenomenon of seasonal wetlands due to monsoonal flooding of vast river plains. There is also an impressive array of non seasonal wetlands that include mangrove lined estuaries, perennial dune lakes, extensive intertidal areas, coastal lagoons and swamps, and pristine creeks and rivers. At the inception of this project, the focus was to be on the fauna of this complex mix of wetlands, and primarily by using survey results fiom other studies. However, the focus soon shifted towards a determination of wetland distribution and categorisation which was necessary before there could be an understanding of faunal distributions and movement patterns.
The project was very dependent upon other CYPLUS projects, particularly the vegetation mapping (NRO1) and assessment of vertebrate fauna distributions (NR03). The first was seen as a key to the determination of wetland types and distribution, and the latter to linking wetlands to the fauna. No attention was given to invertebrate fauna. Other major inputs would come from specific surveys of wetland buds on the west coast, undertaken a few years ago, primarily under the direction of Gavin Blackman. It soon became apparent that a major, remote survey of biological and physical features of the coastline.was undertaken in the early 1980s and could also be useful in determining wetland distribution. This database is held by CSIRO and has been developed further with incorporation of some information from an Australian wetlands survey.
The project has sought to define the distribution of wetland habitat and where possible relate this to the distribution of fauna Data from a number of sources were brought together for this purpose and the need to integrate, filter and interpret these data has been the major challenge of the project. 2.0 METHODS
The information used has been gathered from a range of sources, as explained in the description of data sets. There were considerable delays of up to 9 months in getting access to some data and technical difficulties arose in working with unchecked and incomplete sets of data. Also, much of the information, such as the Coastal Data Set, needed to be decoded and worked up from raw data files. Methods of storing, manipulating, and presenting the various sets of data in a standard format had to be developed. I did not have ready access to a standard GIs system and even if this were available, the degree of data manipulation was such that much of the work would have had to be done using more orthodox programming and databases.
At present, the various programs and all the data are held in two main databases which have the facility of producing, - graphi4al output The work was undertaken primarily in Hypercard 2.1 on a Macintosh (68040LC processor). Limited statistical analysis and some graphical presentations have been done using SYSTAT 5.2 while the suite of multivariate analysis programs known as BIOSTAT II were used to do the pattern analyses.
In many ways the methods I have used added to delays in the project, mostly because they were being developed as the work proceeded. However, it is unlikely that other methods would have been much easier because of the disparate nature and the variable fonnat of the data sets.
One of the early decisions I made was to work on the basis of ten minute grid cells and collate data on this basis, largely because the main set of vertebrate data I had at the time was from the work of David McFarland and was based on a ten minute grid scheme. Greater spatial precision of other sets of data has not been lost but an overview of much of the data is given on the basis of ten minute grid cells. This serves the purpose of integrating the various sets of data
A major problem with the project on wetland fauna is that it is primarily an interpretive project that probably should have waited until information on vertebrate distributions and vegetation mapping had been fmalised. The problems of running concurrently with these projects have been considerable and at this stage much of what has been the basis of the wetland fauna project has been interim data, often unchecked and incomplete. This is particularly the case with the derivation and mapping of wetland categories on the basis of vegetation mapping which, at the time and for the lower half of Cape York Peninsula, was far from complete or adequately annotated.
Derivations of most of the data sets are described in detail in the next section, in the form needed for transfer to the central GIs. However, other data are used in this report for interpretive purposes that are already a part of CYPLUS. These include data sets from NR03 and from NROl as follows.
I have used the records compiled fiom the literature by David McFarland of the occurrence of taxa in various ten minute grid cells. Records of uncertain identifications were not used and all taxa have been matched against the Census of Australian Vertebrate Species (CAVS) list of vertebrates and names changed to match those in CAVS. No other filtering of these records on the basis of date or reliability has been or could have been undertaken. I received the 22 000 records on disk as a list of species and grid cell code numbers. Another 22 500 records were t~kn£rom that collected andlor , compiled by John Winter and Phil Lethbridge. These came with specific locations and other information including some measure of abundance. However, they have been used here in the same context as data fiom McFarland and simply assigned to particular ten minute grid cells.
What was of interest were those species likely to be associated with wetlands and the choice of these species was based upon i) general texts and field guides, ii) my experience, and iii) a comparison with the list produced as wetland species by Winter and Mbridge, and as waterbids by McFarland (NR03). I originally made up a list without reference to either of the other two lists and then, in reviewing my list used a general rule that if a species was categorised as wetland in two or more of the three lists, it would be included in my final list. However, McFarland did not categorise vertebrates other than birds as wetland so the inclusion of a number of frogs, in particular, has been based more on my own judgement and notes in the literature. For the frogs, many of which suddenly - appear from hiding under appropriate wet conditions, labelling of a species as wetland is even more difficult than with other taxa
Apart from the manipulation of vegetation polygons to create a derived data set on the basis of ten minute grid cels (see next section), the polygons have been extensively used and considered in interpreting wetland distributions and boundaries in the results section (see Appendices F and G). 3.0 DESCRIPTION OF DATA SETS FOR TRANSFER TO GIs
3.1 Wetland vegetation summary
3.1.1 Data Quality information
Lineage.
Data are derived from the vegetation mapping undertaken under NRO1. Digital transfer of vegetation polygons and associated information was undertaken ffom the DEH GIS system in July and August 1993 with assistance from ~bkKelly. The mapping was incomplete at the time with seven of the fourteen 1:250 000 map sheets for Cape York being much closer to completion than the other seven Mapping polygons for these latter seven sheets were only identified as "photo patternsn with field notes as a guide to the vegetation they represented Inconsistencies and errors in the mapping had not yet been resolved. In contrast, preliminary vegetation map units (here referred to as map units) had been identified for the other sheets and they had undergone reasonable validation.
The validated sheets included Thursday Island, Cape York, Jardine River, Orford Bay, Weipa, Cape Weymout. and Cape Melville. The less well prepared sheets were Aurukun, Coen, Holroyd River, Ebagoola, Rutland Plains, Hann River and Cook
Data ffom NROl has subsequently been fmalised into vegetation mapping units which are referred to here as "fmal VMUsw.They are presented in the final report and GIS cover for that project
In order to examine wetland related vegetation from the whole of Cape York the polygons, defrned simply as photo patterns, had to be matched against those given as vegetation map units. Details of the matching of photo patterns and map units are given in Appendix A. There were many uncertainties in this procedure because of the prelii nature of the mapping and associated documentation.
Another major process involved deciding which of these photo patterns and map units were relevant to the project as wetland vegetation. The data transfaed hmDEH included a much wider range of vegetation types than was ultimately used in the analyses. Table 1 gives the final choice of relevant map units and photo patterns and the way they have been grouped. The groups come under the general headings of mangroves (MAN), open saline areas (SAL), sedgelands (SED), perennial waterbodies (PER), ephemeral waterbodies (EPH) and swampy forested areas (DRA).
In order to gain a general perspective on the coverage of the various wetland vegetation types across Cape York Peninsula, the area calculations for each ten minute grid cell were undertaken. Manipulation of the data for this purpose involved two approximations. Firstly, the area within a polygon represented by different vegetation types was calculated using the area for each polygon times the proportion of each polygon that was assigned to different vegetation units (polygons usually represented more than one unit). Where only photo patterns had been assigned there was no , reference table of proportional representation and the following ratios were applied. The ratios were devised on the basis of mean values of proportional representation for map units. Two units ratio of 7:3, three units ratio of 6:3:1, four units ratio of 5:3:1:1 and for more than four units ration of 5:3:1:1:1 etc.
Once the areas of vegetation types within polygons were calculated they were broken down into coverage within ten minute grid cells by using the proportion of the perimeter of polygons that occurred within each cell. Summations for vegetation types within grid cells was the final step in this procedure. This was the most accurate approach given the computing facilities available.
The a.measures of individual vegetation types within grid cells were then summed under the various groupings given in the data dictionary and in Table 1.
Positional Accuracy
The centre point of each ten minute grid cell to which the summary area values pertain were used as reference co-ordinates. Data are for the whole of the ten minute grid cell (see above).
Attribute Accuracv
The accuracy of the data are a reflection of the interim nature of the vegetation mapping at the time of transfer and the techniques of derivation (see above). In addition, many subjective decisions were used in combining particular vegetation types into summary data sets presented here. Details of the procedures are given above, in the data dictionary and in Appendix A of the report. The final outcome should be used with caution and only as a general guide to wetland distribution within Cape -, York Peninsula. 1
Logical consistency
The data as presented have been rigorously checked in the various stages of transfer, manipulation and derivation Some initial checks included area calculations done on the transferred data against those conducted on a map sheet basis with the DEH GIs. Completeness
A selection and a summay of the original data are presented. There has been an involved process of fitstly choosing a full range vegetation types that could be related to wetlands and then filtering out what was most relevant on the basis of closer inspection of the data and consultation with other biologists, particularly the botanists undertaking the vegetation mapping. The data have also been combined into subjective categories (Table 1) in order to describe wetland distribution and areas . calculated on a basis of ten minute grid cells (see above). There appears to be no published precedent :
for this approach to describing wetland distribution. C
3.1.2 Data Dictionary
Data muv
Wetland vegetation surnrnd ,- Desaiution of data The data include the estimated areas of combinations of vegetation types (NRO1) that have relevance ! to wetlands. The combinations can be broadly categorised as "mangrove", "saline" open areas, :> 1 "sedgelands", "ephemeral" water bodies, "perennial" water bodies and "swamp" forest. The area 7 values are for 10 minute grid cells and are spatially referenced to the centre points of grid cells. 5
In addition there is a set of values which give an objective "grouping" to which cells belong, based i upon a numerical classification of grid cells. The grid cells were classified using the area estimates as $ attributes and a Euclidean distance measure (Whitlakeis transformed distance) to calculate a dissimilarity matrix between cells. Flexible sorting (beta = -0.25) was used to classify cells into a 3 groups and membership of the top nine groups is indicated by the attribute "GROUP"(Values 1 to j 9) -
Content of data
Number of layers: 1; Layer name: Area of wetland vegetation; Spatial features: ten minute grid cell j
centres; Data structure: point. I$
Related files
The standard Arc/Info file .AAT is used as derived fiom an ASCII file of the data which included the . latitude and longitude of the spatial variable, and associated attribute values. The original athibutes . were passed over in fiee format (cornma delimited) and included the wetland vegetation category and + its areal cover. That is, there are multiple records for each point depending upon how many of the vegetation categories were recorded for each grid cell. Attributes: Item name Width Ouput DIE --Dec. Places Indentifier 4 5 I Latitude 7 9 F 4 Longitude 8 9 F 4 Parameter-code 6 7 C Vhe 8 9 F 1
List and description of spatial features
On the basis of the spatial feature of ten minute grid cells (centre point in decimal degrees) the following attributes are recorded:
PARAMETER CODE This attribute indicates the wetland vegetation category that the record relates to. The following categories apply:
MAN - (mangroves) included the following: Photo patterns 005 005C 005D (Near channels, sea margins, Mangrove CF - Rhizophora zone). Photo patterns 006 006A 006C (Behind (landward fiom 5) Mangrove LCF - Brugiera & Ceriops zone). Map unit 207 (Rhizophora stylosa +- Bruguiera spp (Outer mangroves) Closed forest). Map units 245 245A (Ceriops tagal +- Avicennia spp (landward mangrove zone) Low closed forest). Map unit 319 (Aegicera corniculata, Excoecaria agallocha +- Lumnitzera sp. with emergent Avicennia marina (tidal rivers - inland) Closed-scrub). Final VMUs (NRO1 report and GIs data) are 34,34A, 132 and 160.
SAL - (open saline areas) included the following. Photo patterns 007 007A 007B (Littoral salt marsh & mud flat, sparse herbland). Photo patterns 008 008C 008D (Saline between mudflat and land, (Sedgeland - Eleocharis, Fimbristylis - 8B? not here)). Map units 268 (Sporobolus virginicus (western coastal plains) Closed tussock grassland). Map units 272 2724 (Bare saltpans with areas of Haloscarcia spp. sparse forbland and/or Xerochloa irnberbis tussock \grassland Sparse herbland). Map units 275 (Eleocharis hlcis closed sedgeland (marine plains) Open sedgeland). Final VMUs (NRO1 report and GIs data) are 185,190 and 194.
SED - (sedgelands) including the following: Photo pattern 008B (Sedgeland - Eleocharis, Firnbristylis?). Photo pattem 015 (Sedgeland, Leptocarpus - swamp centres). Photopattern 036 (GrassyISedgey areas in depression in colluvial sand). Photopatterns 041 041A (Grasslands/sedgelands - drainage depression, alluvial plains). Photopattern 043 (Grasslandlsedgeland in drainage area of grassland). Photopatterns 096 096A 096B (Wetland flats on sandplains, Flattery, sedgelands - Gahnia sieberana). Map unit 274 (Restio tetraphyllus subsp. meiostachyus (to closed sedgeland) +- Leptocarpus spathaceus, Gahnia sieberana (drainage swamps, % dunefields) (Separate swamps on sandstone 2741261 or reverse coding??) Open sedgeland). Final VMUS (NRO1 report and GIS data) are 180,183,190,191,191A and 199. PER - (perennial waterbodies) included the following: Photopatterns 037 037A (Perennial lake or lagoon with water). Map units 276 (Perennial lakes with sedgelands on the margins (lakes in dunefields) Lakes and lagoons). Map units 277 (Permanent lakes and lagoons frequently with fringing woodlands (Lakefield N.P.) Lakes and lagoons). Final VMUS=(NRO~report and GIs data) are 200 and 201.
EPH - (ephemeral waterbodies) included the following: Photopattern 070 (Lakes in wet, dry out later. Melaleucas on edge, sedges in middle). Map unit 315 (Ephemeral lakes (variety of associations) Lakes and lagoons). Final VMUs (NRO1 report and GIs data) is 199.
DRA - (swampy forested areas) included the following: Photopattern 117 (depressions in rolling plains, Weipa-Cape Weymouth. Possibly Mel. viridiflora low shrubland or M. clarksonii. Map unit 248 (semi-deciduous microphyll species +/- emergent Melaleuca spp. [sinkholes; Mission River road] Low closed forest). Photopattern 013 (swamp Woodland or mesophyll palm forest - drainage lines). Photopattern 135 (cloM forest 8-12 m Swamp forest complex near McIlwraith Range flat, , - Dillenia data, M. leucadenctron, M. quinquenervia, Corallia brachiata, Buchansonia. Map unit 214 (Lophostemon suaveolens, Xanthostemon crenulatus, +/- Melalaca leucadendra (alluvial and swampy areas) Open forest). Final VMUs (NRO1 report and GIs data) are 19,47 and 129.
GROUP - a value fiom 1 to 9 depending upon the classification group to which the grid cell belongs. The analyses used to derive the groups and characteristics of the various groups are described in the report.
i VALUE i Thii is the area in hectares of the wetland vegetation category as specified by the 1 PARAMETERRCODE, except when the PARAMETER-CODE is given as GROUP, in which case i the value indicates the classification group to which the particular ten minute grid cell belongs (see ! i description of data). !. !
i 3.2 Coastal data set
3.2.1 Data Quality information
Data are derived fiom two studies. One on the characteristics of the coastline of Australia within segments approximately 10 km along the coast and 3 krn inland, although the form of boundaries varied considerably under set criteria The study involved detailed inspection of aerial photographs and was based on "foreshore" and "backshore" observations (recorded in km) and point sampling (each point representing 3 sq km) (Galloway, R. W., Story, R., Cooper, R., and Yapp, G. A. 1984. Coastal lands of Australia CSIRO Division of Water and Land Resources, Natural Resources Series No. 1.). The other study also used photography but looked at wetlands in particular, and on a coarser scale throughout the county. It recorded the number of small wetland types, and the area of larger ones (Paijrnans, K., Galloway, R. W., Faith, D. P., Fleming, P. M., Haantjens, H. A., Heylingers, P. C., Kalma, J. D., and Loffler, E. 1985. Aspects of Australian Wetlands. CSIRO Division of Water and Land Resources Technical Paper no. 44). Information on both large and small , wetlands were subsequently converted to area measurements (Wood, N. H., and Cocks, K. D. 1990. Distriiution of wetlands in Australia - current status of data set and maps. Working document 90n, Decision Support Systems Program, Division of Wildlife and Ecology, CSIRO, Canberra).
Both sets of data have been integrated for the coastal strip and set up as part of the Australian Resources Information System. It should be noted that the coastal wetlands data are stiii developmental (pers. cornrn. N. Woods). The data are spatially referenced for i) the mid-points of the 10 km coastal sections and ii) for eighth degree grid cells. CYPLUS received data for the coastal sections (see Cocks, K. D., Walker, P. A., and Parvey, C. A. 1988. Evolution of a continental scale geographical information system. International Journal of Geographical Information Systems, Vol. 1.; and Wood, N. H., and Cocks, K. D. 1990. Coastal data sets in the Australian resources information system. Working Document 90/10, AMNRS Program, Division of Wildlife and Ecology, CSIRO, Canberra).
Using a raw data file supplied by CSIRO, two summation data sets were derived. The first being for the original 10 km coastal segments and the second for ten minute grid cells. The second set of data ! was derived using a subjective assessment of where grid cell boundaries fell in relation to coastal segment boundaries. On this basis, area and length values for segments were partitioned into grid cells. The parameters chosen for presentation were a subset of those received (Appendix B), being , - what was considered appropriate indicators of wetland (Table 2). Table 2 is a summary table of the '2 '2 $2 coverage of each of the "wetland" parameters for Cape York Peninsula and for each parameter gives E s total coverage, the maximum value for any one cell, the number of cells the parameter occurs in and $ the computer code for the parameter.
=A 5p ti In addition to area and length measurements of selected parameters, a s@$ of ind& were derived for I the grid cells. These indices were calculated as follows. Parameter values for each grid cell were I ranked from 1 to 10 according to the proportion of the maximum value for any one grid cell that they - represented. That is, a value of anywhere between 10% and 20% of the maximum was ranked as a g E "2". These rankings for particular combinations of parameters were then summed for each grid cell as hSf and a new ranking taken in the same way before, based on the summed ranks. The resulting ranks were used as indices for each combination of parameters. k -.' - r Positional Accuracy
:s In the case of data for grid cells, centre points of grid cells have been used as reference coadinates. &
+-y Data are for the coastal segment component of each ten minute grid cell (see above). In the case of 1. data for coastal segments, the original centre points of segments as supplied by CSIRO have been used as reference co-ordinates. Attribute Accuracy
The accuracy of the data are a reflection of the developmental nature of components of the coastal data setand the original method of derivation of information from aerial.photographs that dated back to prior than 1978. Details are given in the publications cited earlier. In the case of data for grid cells, the subjective assessment of boundaries in relation to coastal segment boundaries could constitute a substantial source error but no better technique of partitioning values was feasible. Derivation of the indices described above, and in Table 2 and Appendix B also involved a number of subjective decisions. The final outcome should be used cautiously as a general guide to wetland distribution within Cape York Peninsula
Logical consistencv
The data as presented have been rigorously checked in the various stages of transfer, manipulation and derivation. Some initiq checks included area calculations done on the transferred data against ! those reported in the literature.
Comoleteness
A selection of the original data are presented. There has been a process of firstly collating all of the information then choosing the range of parameters which were indicative of wetlands or were an obvious wetland feature. Further data manipulation involved the calculation of indices of wetland features where more than one parameter appeared to be some type of measure of each of these features. There appears to be no published precedent for this latter approach to describing wetland distribution
3.2.2 Data Dictionary
Data mug
Coastal data set
Description of data
The data include a number of landform, vegetation and geological features of the coastline, as both linear and area measurements, that have relevance to wetlands (Table 2). There are two sets of the same data in different compilations. One has values for 10 km x 3 km segments of the coastline, the other is based upon ten minute grid cells. For the latter set, a number of indices have been included that broadly relate to either tidal flats, muddy substrate, mangroves, channels, swamps, lakes,. lagoons, open water, sedgelands or sandy substrate.
In addition there is a set of values which give an objective "grouping" to which grid cells belong, based upon a numerical classification of grid cells. The grid cells were classified using the indices mentioned above as attributes and Gower's general similarity coefficient to calculate a dissimilarity matrix between cells. Flexible sorting @eta = -0.25) was used to classify cells into groups and membership of the top nine groups is indicated by the attribute "GROUP" (Values 1to 9).
Content of data
Number of layers: 1; Layer name: Coastal data set; Spatial features: segment centres or grid cell centres; Data structure: point.
Related files
The standard Archfo file .AAT is used as derived fiom an ASCII file of the data which included the latitude and longitude of the spatial variable, and associated attribute values. The auributes were passed over in free format (comma delimited) and included the parameter code and its value. That is, there are multiple records for each point depending upon how many of the parameters were recorded for each coastal segment or for each grid cell. Grid cells and segments are differentiated using another attribute (Spatial-type).
Variable name Width me --Dec. Places Indentifier 4 I Latitude 7 F 4 Longitude 8 F 4 Parameter-code 6 C Value 6 F 1 Segment 4 I Spatial-type 3 C
List and description of s~atialfeatures
On the basis of the spatial feature (centre point in decimal degrees) of either grid cells or coastal segments the following attributes are recorded. .. i SPATIAL, TYPE
This attribute indicates the basis of data compilation The following categories apply:
SEG - 10 km x approx. 3 km coastal segments
GRD - ten minute grid cells.
SEGMENT
This attribute is only relevant to the SEG category above and gives the original segment number as transferred fiom the CSIRO file. Values range from 1051 to 1265, although a value of 0 occurs for all grid cell entries. PARAMKIT% CODE
This attribute indicates the type of information contained in the VALUE attribute. The following categories apply:
TIDA -Tidal flats (R) wetland type as per CSIRO Wetl. in Aust] TIDB - Intertidal surfaces (l)[landfarm area (sq km)] TIDC - Some tidal flats and blowing sand (B) [vegetation area (sq km)] TIDD - Some tidal flats and blowing sand (B) - [veg. linear (h)(bkshore)] TIDE - Intddal surfaces (l)mdform linear (km)(backshore)] TIDF - Supratidal shces(P) flandfarm linear (Ian) (backshore)] TIDG - Suptidal bces(F') [landform area (sq km)] TIDH - Lacwhine flab 0[landform area (sq km)] MZTDA - Mud 0 [geology area (sq Ian)] MUDB -Mud (M) [geology lin4(km) (backshore)] , - MUDC -Mud [foreshore lineat (Ian)] AUA - Actively accumulating alluvial plains (A) bdfonn area (sq km)] ALLB - Alluvium (A) [geology area (sq km)] ALLC - Alluvium (A) keology linear (km) (backshore)] MANA - Mangroves (N) [Wetland type as per CSIRO Wetl. in Aust] MANB -Mangrove 0[vegetation area (sq km)] MANC -Mangrove (M) - [vegetation hear &xu) (backshore)] ESTA -Channels or normal estuary (C) [landform linear (km) (backshore)] ESTB - Channels or normal estuary (C) [landform area (sq km)] WC- lnlets pennan. open sea - entrance < 1km. (N) flandh area (sq km)] SWAA - Perennial swamps (E) wetland type as per CSIRO Wetl. in Aust] SWAB - Periodic swamps (H) wetland type as per CSIRO Wetl. in Aust] SWAC - Swamps (Y) [landform area (sq km)] LAKA - Perennial lakes (A) wetland type as per CSIRO Wetl. in Aust] LAKB - Intermittent lakes (B) Wetland type as per CSIRO Wetl. in Aust] LAKC - Lagoons intermittently open to the sea (G) [landform area (sq km)] LAKD - Lakes never open to the sea (K) [landform ma(sq km)] LAKE - Lnundation (M) wetland type as per CSIRO Wetl. in Aust] LAKF - Open lagoons (T) [Wetland type as per CSIRO Wetl. in Aust] LAKG - Perennial waterholes (PW) wetland type as per CSIRO Wetl. in Aust] LAKH - Water (W) [geology area (sq km)] LAKI - Water (W) [soils area (sq km)] LAW - Water (W) [geology linear (krn) (backshore)] LAKK -Water [foreshore linear (km)] SEDA - Grassland or sedgeland (G) [vegetation area (sq km)] sEDB -Grassland or sedgeland (G) - [vegetation linear (km) (backshore)] WWA - Paperbark forest - swampy areas (P) [vegetation area (sq km)] WOOB - Paperbark woodland - alluvial & colluvial plains (V) [veg area (sq km)] SANA - Pleistocene quartz sand [geology area (sq !a)] SANB -Sand (S) [geology area (sq km)] SANC - Sand (S) [geology linear measure (km) (backshore)] SAND - Sand [foreshore linear (h)] TIDIND - Tidal flats index - combination of TIDA, TIDB, TIDE. MUDIND - Mud index - combination of MUD& MUDB, MUDC. MANIND - Mangrove index - combination of MANA, MANB, h4ANC. CHAIND - Channels index - combination of ESTA, ESTB, ESTC. SWAIND - Swamps index - coastal - combination of SWAA, SWAB, SWAC. LAKIND - Perennial waterholes and lakes index - combination of LAKA, LAKG. LAGIND - Open Lagoons index - combination of LAKC, LAKF. WATZND - Water index - combination of LAKH, LAKI, LAKJ, LAKK. SEDIND - Grasslandlsedgeland index - coastal - combination of SEDA, SEDB. SANIND - Sand index - combination of SANB, SANC, SAND. GROUP - Group number as per classification based upon index values.
VALUE
In most instances, this is the area in square kilometres or the distance in kilometres as determined by the PAm-CODE (see above). Where the P--CODE is an index value the VALUE is a rank based on the sum of ranks of a combination of other parameters (see above). Also, where the PARAMETER-CODE is "GROUPw,VALUE indicates the classification group to which . the particular grid cell belongs (see description of data).
3.3 Aerial wetland bird counts
3.3.1 Data Quality information
These data were collected as part of a broader scale sampling conducted by the QDM wetlands : group under guidance of Gavin Blackman. An extensive preliminary report on the data is held by "DM in Townsville and Taplin (1993) has published some of the information. The aerial transects ran approximately perpendicular to the coast at intervals of 2.5 minutes of latitude, or of longitude depending upon the general trend of the coastline. The records are mapped in Appendix C.
', All of the transects included for CYPLUS were flown along latitudinal lies with the northem most one at about 13 degrees 12.5 minutes (just north of Aurukun) to approximately 16 degrees- The transects were flown in three seasons April 1990, August 1990 and April 1991. In 1991, sampling extended all the way to the Northern Territory border, whereas in 1990 it went as far as the south west of the Gulf of Carpentaria.
Various compilations of the data are given by Blackman or Taplin. For CYPLUS, data are given for individual segments of each transect and for each season. Transects varied from one to over seventy krn in length and averaged between 15 and 33 km for the different sampling times. Sampling intensities were between 9% and 10%of the total area of land with transect widths of approximately 400 m. Observations were recorded for every 2 minutes flying time (90 knots at 200 feet). Data are referenced to the mid points of the transect segments. Waterbirds and waders were counted and recorded to species where possible, but otherwise counted under gendcategories.
Positional Accuracv
The centre point in decimal \degrees of each segment of the transects has been used to pinpoint the counts. Data are foi -holeskrnents that are about 400 m wide by about 2.78 km in length. For the survey of 1991 GPS was installed in the aircraft and readings were taken approximately every minute. ?he segment lengths were fxed and accurately located. The surveys of 1990 were flown using sighted starting points. The start and end coardinates of these transects were available on disk having been located on topographic maps. However, in preparing the data for CYPLUS the segment positions and lengths have been calculated assuming a straight line of flight from beginning to end of each transect and an equal length to each of the segments.
Attribute Accuracy
The data would be subject to etrors due to difficulties of counting fiom aircraft, variation in segment width and length, and observer bias. There has been no attempt to evaluate these errors here but reference could be made to Gavin Blackman and other relevant documentation.
Lorrical consistency
The data as presented have been rigorously checked in the various stages of transfer, manipulation 3 7 and derivation Some initial checks included comparison of total values for particular trans- with those documented by Blackman.
Completeness
All the count data that were transferred fiom the files of Blackman for the CYPLUS region are given : with suitable parameters describing the time and place for each record. 3.3.2 Data Dictionary
Data Pup
For Aerial wetland bird counts
ItY Description of data ng :ly The data are aerial counts of wetland birds made along f~edtransects in segments of approximately ire 400 m by 2.78 km between Aurukun and the CYPLUS boundary on the west coast. Transects were nd run from the coast inland for lengths of up to 70 krn and covered about 10% of the land surface during three sampling periods (April 1990, August 1990 and April 1991). There are 1,617 records or counts of particular taxa Identification was not always to species. Records include the location of the transect segment (midpoint in decimal degrees), the taxa and count, the sample period, segment and transect numbers and the date.
Content of data
Number of layers: 1; Layer name: Aerial wetland bird count; Spatial features: transect segment centres; Data structure: point.
Related files
The standard Arc/J.nfo file .MT is used as derived from an ASCII file of the data which included the latitude and longitude of the spatial variable, and associated attribute vhes. The original attributes were passed over in free format (comma delimited) and included the date, taxa code (CAVS code or unidentified taxa code - see below) and the count. That is, there are multiple records for each point depending upon how ever many taxa were recorded and in how ever many sampling sessions.
Attributes: . \ -Item me Width TJW --Dec. Places on Indentifier 4 I ith Latitude 7 F 4 Longitude 8 F 4 Taxa-code 4 C Count 5 I Date 8 C Sample 1 I Transea 3 I Segment 2 I List and description of spatial features
On the basis of the spatial feature of transect segments (centre point in decimal degrees) the following attributes are recorded: TAXA CODE
This attribute indicates the bird taxa that the record relates to. For species it is the latest CAVS code. Other codes are for unidentified taxa What follows is a list of all taxa used with the relevant code in brackets (see also Appendix C).
Little Pied Cormorant (YO 1OO), Pied Cormorant (G0099), Great Cormorant (A0096), Little Black Cormorant (C0097), Unidentified Cormorant (#777 I), Darter (KOlOl), Australian Pelican (U0106), White-faced Heron (Y0188), Pied Heron (U0190), Pacific Heron (K0189), Great-billed Heron (A0 184), Unidentified Heron (#7773), Unidentified Egret (#7772), Black-necked Stork (W0183), Glossy Ibis (E0178), Roypl Spoonbill (S0181), Straw-necked Ibis (QO180), Yellow-billed Spoonbill (U0182),' ~ustralianWhite Ibis (G0179), Magpie Goose (ZOlW), Unidentified Duck (#7775), Purple Swarnphen (M0058), Sarus Crane (U0898), Brolga (C0177), Unidentified Crane (#7776), Pied Oystercatcher (U0130), Black-winged Stilt (M0 146), Masked Lapwing (C0133), Unidentified Curlew (#7778), Unidentified Wader (#0777), Silver Gull (C0125), Unidentified Tern (#7779)
COUNT
This attribute indicates the count of the taxa as given by the TAXA-CODE.
DATE
This attribute indicates the date of the record.
SAMPLE I
This attribute indicates the sample number as 1 (April 1990), 2 (August 1990) or 3 (April (1991). i
TRANSECT
This attribute indicates the transect number as used by Blackman.
SEGMENT
This attribute indicates the consecutive segment number along the transect going from the coast inland. I
3.4 Site wetland bird counts ing ' 3.4.1 Data Quality information
me Data are fiom files supplied by Andrew Taplin of site records and counts of wetland birds from some of these sites on the western coast of Cape York Peninsula. The counts were made in either early April 1990 or early October 1990. No other details are available, although there was often a brief note describing the site. Sites were referenced with a four letter code for the 1:100 000 map sheet name and a sequential site number within the map sheet. The records are mapped in Appendix D.
Positional Accuracy Presumably the sites were located accurately using maps but there is no indication of the area over which the counts were made. However, the notes indicate that each site was a discrete wetland such as a lagoon or waterhole etc.
Attribute Amcv Taxa are always identified to species and counts were being made by experienced field workers.
Logical consistencv The data as presented have been rigorously checked in the various stages of transfer and manipulation. The site and count records had to be matched and information drawn from both I sources to establish the records presented here.
I Completeness ' The data are a subset of information on sites that were not confined to the CYPLUS region, and at . least some relevant counts have been omitted due to lack of spatial information. . 3.4.2 Data Dictionary I
Data Group Site wetland bird counts
Description of data Adapted from files held by Andrew Tapliin on site information and wetland bird records linked to those sites. The choice of data was based upon the site being within the CYPLUS region and there st being at least some wetland bird counts.
Content of data Number of layers: 1; Layer name: Site wetland bird counts; Spatial features: site locations; Data structure: point. Related files The standard Arc/Info file .AAT is used as derived fiom an ASCII file of the data which included the latitude and longitude of the spatial variable, and associated attribute values. The original attributes were passed over in free format (comma delimited) and included the &e, taxa code (CAVS code) and the count That is, there are multiple records for each point depending upon how many taxa were recorded and in how many of the sampling sessions.
Variable name Width Output me --Dec. Places lndentifier 4 5 I Latitude 7 9 F 4 Longitude 8 9 F 4 Taxadcode 4 5 C Count 5 6 I Date 8 9 C Season '1 2 I Site-code 6 7
List and description of spatial features On the basis of the spatial feature of site locations (decimal degrees) the following attributes are recorded:
TAXA CODE This attribute indicates the bird species that the record relates to. The latest CAVS code is given and the following list of codes and species are all that occur in the data (see Appendix D). COO61 Australasian Grebe YO100 Little Pied cormorant COO97 Little Black Cormorant KO101 Darter YO1 88 Whitefaced Heron KO189 Pacific Heron U0190 Pied Heron SO977 Cattle Egret C0185 Little Egret E0186 lntmediate Egret GO1 87 Great Egret Black-necked Stork Royal Spoonbill Glossy Ibis Straw-necked Ibis Australian White Ibis Wandering Whistling-Duck Plumed Whistling-Duck $ L - so201 Green Pygmy-Goose the j- yo208 Pacific Black Duck E0206 Radjah Shelduck W0211 Grey Teal ere r: Z0199 Magpie Goose MOO58 Purple Swamphen U0898 Sarus Crane C0177 Brolga ZOlll Gull-billed Tern c0109 Whitewinged Tern MOllO Whiskered Tern
COUNT This attribute indicates the count of the taxa as given by the TAXA-CODE.
DATE This attribute indicates the date of the site record.
Ire SEASON This attribute indicates the sample number as 1 (April 1990) or 2 (October 1990).
SllT CODE nd This attribute indicates the 1: 100 000 map sheet for the site using the first four letters of the name and a 2 digit number for the site number on the map sheet as used by Taplin. TaJb 4.0 RESULTS Yorb units phot earl3 unit! 4.1 Wetland categories using vegetation mapping Y or1 Six The chosen wetland categories and the vegetation map units and photo pattems they are based upon part are presented in Table 1. The actual polygons which form the basis of the analyses given below, belc have been mapped in two condensed forms in Appendices F and G. The polygons for each category TYP are mapped separately at a small scale in Appendix F while Appendix G shows the categories mi combined, but at a larger scale to represent each of the map sheets. Dl PhP ; PI There were 3120 polygons @at had at least some coverage of the various wetland categories. In ? Eq1 , La1 assessing which of thkse was suitable for mapping in the Appendices, I frst looked at the proportion Fin of the polygon that was covered by wetland. The numbers of polygons with different proportions of total wetland were: 106 (lo%), 124 (20%), 522 (30%), 54 (40%), 41 (50%), 99 (60%), 513 (70%), 87 (go%), 52 (go%), 1522 (100%). The 230 that had less than 30% were not considered for mapping. The others were catkgorised as either 30-6046 cover, or 70-1001 cover. In Appendix F, only the latter group has been mapped for each of the wetland categories separately. Appendix G has a page for each of the 1:250000 map sheets and the polygons were chosen on combined coverage of wetland categories with both the 30-60% and the 70-1001 classes being mapped. Th'e latter can be distinguished by thicker border lines.
Appendix F is designed to give a quick, overall impression of the distribution of the wetland categories for the whole of the Cape, much in the same way as Figure 1. Appendix G is for closer examination of distribution and boundaries and can be matched up visually with other map coverages. Work with the polygons could be extended to make up lists that belong to particular catchment systems or natural zones. These lists could then be used to extract the polygons fi-om the NROl coverage because they should still have the same reference code. Alternatively, I could regenerate the coordinates for each polygon in a form suitable for loading back into a master GIs. Fiy,boundaries of many polygons could be rationalised into single polygons where it made good sense to treat a larger area as a single wetland unit. This would require deciding where it was appropriate to run across other types of vegetation to form a more coherent boundary. Lack of time and the fact that the information is fi-om an early version of the vegetation map were the reasons that none of these options have been pursued.
4.1.1 Distribution of wetland categories ._i
#
?- :; i For each wetland category, the coverage within ten minute grid cell has been used to rank cells and f , thereby give an indication of relative coverage throughout Cape York (Figure 1). All area measures f -i .. , i
Fi~ure- 1. Ranking of ten mirmte grid cells using the coverage of various categories of wetland vegetation.
each graph, the cells have been ranked on a scale of between 0 tf) 10 against the cell with the maximum value of the variable, and shaded accordingly. For example, if the value for a cell was between 10% and 20% of the maximum it
was. . ranked as a 2, etc. The higha the ranking the darker the shading.
Ljdimde andlongitude are given on the axes and each graph is labelled with the GIS variable code and brief description. Details of the list of vegetation units that were combined in calculating values is MAN - mangroves given in Table 1.
I.- -- . I ' 1 I I I L n I7 1455 1455 l41.0 1425 144.0 1.11.0 1425 la0 SAL - open saline areas SED - sedgelands I I . _.
.'I ' ..' I : - ,.,/ +?. -
.'- ;.-.. - += - . ,.
+- !-: --,!> .4.: - . "- .5 ' I,.. .# : ' .' '--- - ,)'., .-< . -
t,. *: .-.-. - ... ,'< - ' - ...r :
-< \ - '<- .. . ? 3 t '[ ;,:w,;:;-.* - ~ ;:. . -&. ..- . .. 55 -L- , ... ,:-.\,*:$. .. .,+ :.,* <.. 1.
. I V.? -- *.. ! 131iN.
141.0 1425 144.0 1455 PER - perennial waterbodies EPH - ephemeral waterbodies
. . 1" 1
-..-.;>+*i..-. ' - ;:P - , ,. " >*.. . . ;, - >-=A, .: .-. %. . - -5. k. - $' -::.. :..,* L..:;?"' - ,. ...& $ .:11 - ,::: ,::: .:-- E: .,
?;p-+ E'r:&. :: - r - - e. Rj - .: ' - -m - . . . -. .,, . : - '% - ": -- I... . ,... - -., , ->
'I " 17 L I 141.0 1425 144.0 I415 DRA - swampy forested areas of a wetland category within a cell were used in deriving the total cover for the cell, even if the proportional cover for a particular polygon was as low as 10%. Therefore, the cover values represented in Figure 1 may not always reflect the distribution of polygons as presented in Apperidices F and G which are those with a minimum of 70% or 30% cover. The following comments are based primarily on information presented in Figure 1 but also on the details presented k the Appendices.
Each category shows a different distribution of wetland type throughout Cape York Peninsula The highest cover of mangroves (MAN) occurs on the north east tip of the Cape between Escape River and Jacky Jacky Creek, but there are extensive stands of mangroves on the north west coastline and the associated estuaries of the Ducie, Wenlock and Pemefarther Rivers, Nomenade Creek, and the Hey, Mission and Archer Rivers. On the east coast, Lloyd Bay and Temple Bay represent more isolated areas of mangroves on the east coast. The cover of mangroves is somewhat less extensive in Princess Charlotte Bay and qt the mouths of the Mitchell and Nassau Rivers in the south west. 1 < - Even though the distribution of open saline areas (SAL) is similar to that of mangroves, the highest cover of this category is in Princess Charlotte Bay and along the coastline of the south west of the Cape.
The areas of sedgelands (SED) penetrate much farther inland and lie across the top of Cape York Peninsula where they are most common in the region of the Jardine River and extend as far as Temple Bay on the east coast. There are other smaller areas of this category down the east coast around the Lockhart River, north of Silver Plains and between Cape Flattery and Cape Bedford On the west coast, areas of sedgelands extend inland between heWenlock and Mission Rivers and over a vast area south from the Archer River. However, the coverage of sedgelands in greatest on the extensive flood plains between the Holroyd and Mitchell Rivers, running inland to the south east.
Perennial waterbodies (PER) are scattered inland with very few on the west coast. On the east coast between the top of Cape York and Cape Grenville there are more, particularly at Cape Grenville. They occur around Lloyd Bay and between the Howick River and Cape Bedford, particularly on Cape Flattery. The other major concentration of perennial waterbodies is in the Lakefield region in the vicinity of the Norrnanby and Jack Rivers. Ephemeral waterbodies have an even more restricted distribution and are particularly prevalent south of Cape Melville from Lakefield to Norrnanby. Virtually the only other areas that are apparent from the vegetation mapping are between Vrilya Point and the Skardon River, and around the central Ducie River.
Melaleucas and a suggestion of swampy conditions were the primary features that were looked for in - making the choice of vegetation types to include as swampy forested areas (DRA) (Table 1). .' However, this represented a rather subjective basis for inclusion of polygons and gave rise to an odd assortment of vegetation types. The distribution of swampy forested areas (DRA) should therefore be viewed with caution. For example, no polygons occurred below about 14 degrees latitude which . is most likely a reflection of the choice of polygons rather than the total lack of similar areas at lower . le latitude. As it stands, the category includes sub coastal areas fiom around Port Musgrave to Cape es Keer Weer on the west coast, sinkholes near the upper reaches of the Wenlock and Mission Rivers, in and areas near the base of the McIllwraith range and around the Olive River on the east coast. .. 4.1.2 Classification of ten minute grid cells using wetland categories
Using the area estimates for wetland categories as variables, the grid cells were classified into nine groups as shown in the dendrograrn in Figure 2. Details of the analysis are given in the caption to the figure. Figure 3 maps out the cells belonging to each classification group. Higher level grouping of the cells would put groups 1 and 2,3 and 4,5 and 6, and 7, 8 and 9 together into four main groups (Figure 2). However, interpretation of the results is more appropriate at the nine group level. Figure 4 gives the mean value in hectares for each of the original wetland categories for members of each of the classification groups. Standard errors of the means are also ploaed but cannot be used to indicate statistically significant differences between the groups because group membership was optimised in the analysis to reduce the variation between groups. Also, the analysis reflects the ratio of the various wetland categories in each cell more than the absolute measures and should be looked at in conjunction with Figure 1, that shows the geographical variation in absolute cover for each category.
The 21 grid cells belonging -to Group 1 had on average, a combination of moderate cover of mangroves, open saline areas and sedgelands. Twelve of these grid cells occur on the west coast to the south of the Archer River forming a continuous ship, with the exception of a member of Group 2 near Pormpuraaw, and several members of Group 3 in the far south around the Mitchell River mouth and beyond.
Sedgelands is by far the-predominantfeature of Group 2, while grid cells in Group 3 tend to lack sedgelands but have the highest cover of open saline areas with the second highest cover of mangrove. For members of Group 4, the balance is reversed with mangroves predominating and a moderate cover of open dieareas. . 1 \ Other cells in Group 1 are found scattered around the top of the Cape (4 cells) and 3 widely separated cells occur on the east coast. The latter 3 are probably not significant but the 4 on the tip of Cape York could represent a link between here, and the central and southern parts of the west coast.
Group 2 cells also occur in the south western region and near the top of Cape York including a section of the east coast south of Orford Bay. Otherwise, they are mostly sub coastal or inland cells such as around the middle reaches of the Archer River and from south of the Jardine River to sub coastal regions north of the Ducie River. The predominance of the sedgeland category throughout the flood plains of the Kendall, Holroyd, Ward, Coleman and north side of the Mitchell Rivers is reflected in Group 2 membership of all of the cells in this region.
AS noted above, Group 3 cells with a high representation of open saline areas are found on the far south west coast but also around the Archer River mouth and fiom just beyond Cape Direction down Dissimilarity measure
i' 5 Figure 2. Dendrogram showing the result of a classification of ten minute grid cells using ? coverage values for the vegetation categories listed in Table 1. The groups are simply labelled 1r* from 1 to 9 and grid cells belonging to these groups are labelled accordingly in Figure 3 on a 9 J small scale map of Cape York. The number of members of each group is given in brackets !"r I (237 in total). Mean values for each of the area measurements of the vegetation categories 4 and standard erron are displayed in Figure 4. The classification was undertaken using -, Whittaker's transformed distance to calculate a dissimilarity matrix betweeen cells which .5 were then grouped using flexible sorting @eta value of -0.25). Choice of the cutoff of the number of groups was taken upon visual inspection of the dendrogran Interpretation of a (! larger number of groups would have been impractical. The clustering had a cophenetic correlation coefficient of 0.83.
# 17 141.0 142.5 144.0 145.5 Figure 3. Ten minute grid cell's numbered according to their classsification group based ' upon vegetation categories defined in Table 1. Groups are defined by the dendrogram in Figure 2 and group mean values for the vegetation categories are given in Figure 4. Individual cell values for the vegetation categories are graphically presented in Figure 1. Axes give the latitude and longitude. 500 3p~ 60
250 - 300 -Y
-4
0 I 123456789 123456789 Fi~we4. Group mean values for each of the vegetation categories used in the classification of ten minute grid cells. Standard errors (upper value) are alw indicaed for each gmup, numbered 1 to 9 as in Figures 2 and 3. Cell values for each of the caiegones are display& in Figure 1. A defdtion of each of the categories can be found in Table 1 The number of members of each group is given in Figure 2. the east coast to the Starcke River, including the sub coastal areas of Princess Charlotte Bay.
Group 4 has the second highest number of members (48, Group 2 has 80, see Figure 2). These cells which on average have a ratio of about 3: 1 cover of mangroves and open saline areas occur around ' the estuaries of Albatross Bay, Pon Musgrave and Newcastle Bay and along much of the coastline and mouths of rivers in between. Group 4 cells also occur from Shelbume Bay to Cape Direction and in particular Temple Bay and the mouth of the Lockhart River (see also Figure 1) A few cells of Group 4 are also scattered south from Bathunt Bay. Although mangroves are well represented in Princes Charlotte Bay (Figure I), open saline areas tend to predominate and the cells here belong to Group 3.
Groups 5 and 6 relate almost entirely to the distribution of ephemeral (EPH) and perennial waterbodies (PER). Thirteen of the fifteen Group 5 cells occur in the Lakefield region and the other two near the Ducie River (Figures 1 and 3). Four of the eight members of Group 6 reflect the perennial waterbodies on the dune systems south of Shelburne Bay and around Cape Flattery. Of the remaining four, two occur around the Lakefield region, one between Weipa and Portland Roads and the other on the Palmer River. The distribution of ephemeral and perennial waterbodies is best understood directly through reference to the polygons themselves (Appendix F).
Groups 7, 8 and 9 are very closely related in that they primarily vary in the extent of the cover of swampy forested areas (DRA) and some subtle association with either coastal or sub coastal or inland regions. Members of Group 9 have the least of any other wetland category present, whereas Group 8 and Group 7 tend to have either an element of mangroves (MAN) and open saline areas (SAL), or sedgelands (SED) and perennial waterbodies (PER) (Figure 4). This is also illustrated by the distribution of cells from each Group with Group 8 cells being closer to the coast than the others. Most occur sub coastally or inland from Cape Keer Weer north to Port Musgrave, to the south east of Shelburne Bay, or near Silver Plains.
4.2 Wetland features of the coastline
The CSIRO Coastal data set gives a different perspective on wetland parmeters by primarily focusing on a wide range of physical features, including vegetation. Many parameters were assessed in the original coastline study (Galloway et al. 1984) and others have been incorporated into the data set (see Methods section, and Paijmans et al. 1985, Cocks et al., 1988, Wood and Cocks 1990a, 1990b, 1992). Data were still in a developmental stage when transferred to CYPLUS and in a raw, coded form.
The full list of parameters is given in Appendix B and those chosen for purposes of elucidating wetland distribution are listed in Table 2. The data have been compiled in two formats, one on the basis of the original 10 km sections of coastline and the other using ten minute grid cells to conform with the way other data have been compiled. The latter form of the data is analysed here. Depending -Table 2. Summary values for a selection of "wetland" parameters fiom the CSIRO Coastal Data Set - for the Cape York Peninsula coastline. These parameters were selected for their likely indication of coastal wetland conditions. Many other parametas were used in the original study (Galloway et aL 1984) which compiled data on the basis of 10 km sections of the coastline around Australia. The &I1 list of parameters is given in Appendix B.
Data for 215 ten km sections of the Cape York coastline are presented in CYPLUS GIs files named COASTAL. The same data were reworked unda NR09 to approximately conform to ten minute grid i cell boundaries and the summary values below relate to this derived set of data (also recorded in CYPLUS GIs files named COASTAL). The "index" parameters (43 to 52 below) are only recorded >a for the reworked data Otherwise, the parametas and their computer codes are the same for each set 8x of data. Measurements are recorded as eitha square kilometres or kilometres as indicated for each $ parameter. The indices have no dimensions but are ranks against the maximum for each index (see text for derails). A classification of grid cells using the "index" parameters resulted in 9 groups. Group membership is indibated by the parameter GROUP (see text for details). l-ib E
2 ;j ilQ -2
Alluvial surfaces i 1 i - apt;vpiv duva&in< (A1 llandform area bcl h)l 4-101 i 13: AID3 f ..LA-.-- \--,m----rr, - -, Alluvium (A) [geology linear (km) (backshore)] i 2 i 141 \ ''I
#
*,< Swamps I f !i > Perennial swamps (E) edmd type as per CSRO Wed. in Austl 3 99 '1 52 i 7 1211 SWAA $ Periodic swamps etland type as per CSIRO Wetl. in Austl 173 i 37 24 22i SWAB :- , swamps fi' [iandfom area (~qkm)] i 276 j 32 57 i 23 SWAC 1 t, 3 1 PAMMEIER TOM j Max. No. ref j Computer 1 Areas in sq. krn and linear measures in krn ---> t I j cells i # code i. Set
. of Lakes & water bodies i $ j t -perennial lakes (A) wetland type as per CSIRO Wetl. in Aust] i 30 1 10 i 4 i 24; LAKA f 10 10 f 1 25j Full btermittent lakes (B) Wetland type as per CSIRO Wetl. in Aust] i LAKB i *~a~oonsintermittently open to the sea (G) Pandform area (sq km)] 1 51 i 33 f 2 26j LAKC i Lakes never open to the sea (K) [landform area (sq km)] 30 i 9 12 27: LAKD J Inundation (M) LWetland type as per CSIRO Wetl. in Aust] 150 38 f 9 28: LAKE ... Open lagoons petland type as per CSIRO Wetl. in Aust] i 319 1 60 j 28 i 291 pmnnial watahdes Wlmdtype as per CSRO Wetl. in Aud ! 535 i 136 i 46 ) 30 1 LAKG , Water (W) kcgeology area (sq h)] 546 53 60 31i LAKH in Water (W) [soils area (sq km)] i 1135 i 232 I 30 $ 32; f water (W> [geology hear (km) (backshore)] 41 f 8 1 34 33; LAKJ led Water [foreshore linear (km)] i 1 i fi i set Sedgeland i ~ch , -land w sedgeland (G) [re~etaiionarea (sq km)] ' Grassland or sedgeland (G) - [vegetation linear (h)@gcksh~re)] see I i ; : i I r I ps. i Woodland with water i i $ Paperbark forest - swampy areas (P) [vegetation area (sq km)] j. 87 f 11 3 32 37; WOOA $
i, Paperbark woodland - alluvial & colluvial plains (V) [veg area (sq h)]i ' 126 i 19 ! 20 i 3 8 j WOOB i q; j I i t I 1 Sand areas i j I r t i 4 i, Pleistocene quartz sand [geology area (sq km)] j 795 i 39 1 63 39: SAN.4 7 * t 5 i Sand (S) [geology area (sq km)] i 1828 f 128 i 104 401 SANB I -7 i Sand (S) [geology linear measure (km) (backshore)] i 1247 30 i 108 i 41: SlWC 1 + 1: Sand [foreshore linear (km) ] 1471 29 i 109 42; SAND -,/ -,/ b, i i I 4;1 Combined values I i j h -3 yi .. Tidal flats index - combination of TIDA, TIDB, TIDE. i i I97 43 t TIDIND 1 Mud index - combination of MUDA,MUDB, MUDC. I i lo0 j44 $fUDlND Manpve index - combination of MA,MANB, MANC. I Chaanels index -combination of ESTA, BTB, ESTC. f: I j64 !46 iCHAIND Swamps index - coastal - combination of SWAA, SWAB, SWAC. j I 65 47 SWAIND i r Perennial watdoles and lakes index - combination of LAKA.LAKG. I i46 148 jLAI(IND 1 $ i 3 j28 149 ~LAGIND i -r Open Lagoons index - combination of LAKC, LAW. Water index - combination of LAKH, LAKI, LAW,LAKK. I 169 $50 WATIND Grasslandsedgeland index - coastal - combination of SEDA, SEDB. I 1 92 ! 51 SEDIND I Sand index - combination of SANB, SANC, SAND. { 1552 SANJND 4 ! -, E Iit I i Classification group membership I Group number as per classification based upon combined values i
i. LJ-, J, I ----?i i 1 1- i , .I -: I --":11 " J i i " L"+ i '4: Ej
- 'it: :. upon the nature of the parameter, the total area or total length recorded for the coastline of Cape York is tabulated together with the number of records for grid cells and the maximum value that was recorded. Table 2 also indicates the parameters that were combined into a number of indices to reflect a total of 10 wetland features. Debils of the manipulation of data are explained in the Table and in the Methods section.
4.2.1 Distribution of coastal features
A graphical illustration of the rankiigs of grid cells on the basis of coastal features is presented in Figure 5. The mangrove index offers a useful comparison between information derived from the vegetation mapping and that of the coastal data set. There is a good correlation between changes in the mangrove index (MANIND, Figure 5) with variation in the mangrove (MAN) category of wetland shown in Figure 1. If anything, the mangrove index indicates the pockets of mangrove are less discrete but this is conqeivably because of the poorer defmition of data from the coastal data set '. and the fact the index is derived eom three other measures.
The tidal flats index (TIDIND) has high values around Albatmss Bay, Port Musgrave, Princess Charlotte Bay and Newcastle Bay. Other, less extensive areas of tidal flat would appear to be scattered around the coastline. These other areas from west to east include between the Mitchell River and Edward Rivers, the mouth of the Holroyd River, Shelburne, Temple, Weymouth and Lloyd Bays, a stretch of open coastline north of Silver Plains and south of Cape Melville to Cape Flattery.
In general, the tidal flats index reasonably matches the mangrove index (MANIND) up the east coast around to Albatross Bay. However, the coastline north of Silver Plains appears to have a moderate extent of tidal flats but has relatively less mangrove cover. The reverse is true for the section of coastline north of Port Musgrave to the Jardime River. Here the mangroves are located along narrow estuaries on small rivers. South of Aurukun, tidal flats are generaHy more extensive relative to mangroves when compared with the rest of the coastline. Nevertheless, where tidal flats appear to be best developed in this region there also appears to be a slightly higher density of mangroves, that is, in the vicinity of the Mitchell River mouth.
The mud index (MUDIND) tends to match the distribution of tidal flats while showing perhaps even less variation along the coastline with mostly moderate to high values. However, this index is lowest from the Archer River north to Albatross Bay around Pera Head, and from Port Musgrave to Shelburne Bay with the exception of the Newcastle Bay area. It also shows relatively lower values just south of Cape Direction and just south of Cape Flattery.
The preceding three indices are obviously linked and show similar distributions but with important
# differences. Two other indices, the channels or estuaries index (CHAIND) and water index (WATIND) mirror one another and are directly related, unlike the indirect links between the other three indices. The water index will not be considered. The main estuaries on Cape York Peninsula are highlighted by the channels index, that is, at Weipa and Newcastle Bay, but also at Port I
I ! rk Figure 5. as. Ranking of ten minute grid cells using ct indices of coastal wetland attributes defined le in Table 2.
In each graph, the cells have been ranked on a scale of between 0 to 10 against the 1 cell with the maximum value of the index, in and shaded accordingly. For example, if the value for a cell was between 10% and in 20% of the maximum it was ranked as a 2, of etc. The higher the ranking the darker the shading. et
Latitude and longitude are given on the axes and each graph is labelled with the 17 GIs variable code and brief description. 141.0 1425 144.0 145.5 Details of the list of attributes that were TIDIND - tidal flats index combined in calculating indices is given in Table 2.
141.0 1425 144.0 14r.s 141.0 1425 144.0 145s MUDIND - mud index MANIND - mangrove index 17 141.0 141s 14.0 lrss I425 144.0 1415 CHAIND - channels index SWAIND - swamps index
141.0 105 144.0 145.5 LAKIND - perennial waterholes & lakes index LAGIND - open lagoons index .1' A.I".... 17 17 141.0 1425 14.0 1455 141.0 1425 144.0 1415 WATIND - water index SEDIND - grasslandJsedgeland index
17 141.0 1425 144.0 1115 SANIND - sand index Musgrave, Aurukun and the mouth of the Mitchell River. Temple Bay, Lloyd Bay and Princess Charlotte Bay exhibit smaller scale estuaries. Even smaller estuaries occur either side of Cape Flattery and down the west coast from Aurukun. There are no channels or estuaries along long stretches of the east coast.
-The perennial waterholes & lakes index (LAKIND) indicates waterholes at the back of Princess Charlotte Bay and from Shelburne Bay north to Newcastle Bay. It also highlights the dune lakes at Cape Flattery and Cape Grenville. A similar pattern was given by the vegetation category of perennial waterbodies (PER) in Figure 1, but the difference is a suggestion in LAKIND that waterholes occur from the Mitchell River southwards (Figure 5).
The swamps index (SWAIND) shows a distribution of perennial swamps up the east coast and around to Port Musgrave and Weipa There are some gaps along the east coast but the striking feature is the virtual lack of perennial swamps on the west coast south of Weipa The exception being at Cape Keer Weer. The open lagoons index (LAGIND, lagoons open to the sea) highlights the area between Cape K& Weer and Aurukun, and to a lesser degree the area south of the Mitchell River. Otherwise, there are a few scattered occurrences of low values for this index.
There are positive values for the grassland or sedgeland index (SEDIND) along most of the coastline. Nevertheless, there are areas of consistently higher values from Aurukun to beyond the Holroyd River, south from the Coleman River, in Princess Charlotte Bay, around Cape Melville, south from Cape Flattery and south from Portland Roads. Isolated high grid cell values occur south fkom the Escape River, at Cape Grenville and the Olive River. The sand index (SANIND) discriminates even less between sections of the coastline than does the grassland or sedgeland index. The lowest value occurs in Princess Charlotte Bay.
4.2.2 Classification of ten minute grid cells using coastal features
Using the indices of wetland features described above, coastal grid cells were classified into nine groups as shown in the dendrogram in Figure 6. Details of the analysis are given in the caption to the figure. Figure 7 maps out the cells belonging to each classification group. Higher level grouping of the cells would put groups 1 and 2,3 and 4, and 7, 8 and 9 together (Figure 6). Figure 8 gives the mean values for each of the indices for members of each of the classification groups. Standard errors of the means are also plotted but cannot be used to indicate statistically significant differences between the groups because group membership was optirnised in the analysis to reduce the variation between groups. L There were no vey striking differences between Groups 1,2,3 and 4, and none of these groups 1 have high values for any of the wetland features. In general, cells in Group 2 were on open coastline k or headlands on the east coast, especially in the north. Mean values for Group 2 of the mangrove 6 related features (TIDIND, MUDIND, MANIND, CHAIND) were the lowest for all Groups. In F I, contrast, Group 1 means for these features were higher but not as high as for other Groups such 7, 8 ! t 3 7
Dissimilarity 1 1.2- meaSute
-
0.3 3 I i 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8&9
(24) (14) (30) (17) (3) (13) (8) ., (2 each) Group i Figure 6. Dendrograrn showing the result of a classification of ten minute grid cells using indices of coastal wetland attributes as listed in Table 2. The groups are simply labelled fiom 1 to 9 and grid cells belonging to these groups are labelled accordingly in Figure 7 on a small scale map of Cape York The number of members of each group is given in brackets (1 13 in total). Mean values for each of the indices and standard errors are displayed in Figure 8. The classification was undertaken using Gower's general similarity coefficient to give a dissimilarity matrix betweeen cells which were then grouped using flexible sorting (beta value of -0.25). Choice of hecutoff of the number of groups was taken upon visual inspection of the dendrogram. Interpretation of a larger number of groups would have been impractical. The clustering had a cophenetic correlation coefficient of 0.69. Figure 7. Ten minute grid cells numbered according to their classsification group based upon indices of coastal wetland attributes defined in Table 2. Groups are defined by the dendrogram in Figure 6 and group mean values for the vegetation categories are given in Figure 8. Individual cell values for the indices are graphically presented in Figure 5. Axes give the latitude and longitude. Figure 8. Group mean values for each of the coastal wetland indices used in the classification of ten minute grid cells. Standard errors (upper values) are also indicated for each group, numbered 1 to 9 as in Figures 6 and 7. Cell values for each of the indices $e displayed in Figure 5. A definition of each of the indices can be found in Table 2. The number of members of each group is given in Figure 6. and 9. Group 1 grid cells were scattered around the coastline but a third of them (8) lay between Shelburne Bay and Portland Roads.
The highest number of cells (30) belong to Group 3. They occur on 'either side of the Cape and include an almost continuous strip up the coast from the western side of Princess Charlotte Bay to Cape Direction. Many of the grid cells down the west coast from Albatross Bay are also in Group 3. In contrast, grid cells along the open coastline above Port Musgrave are predominantly in Group 4 and other cells in this Group are scattered down the east coast The ody apparent differences between Groups 3 and 4 are slightly higher values of the channels index and the swamps index for Group 4, and a higher mean value for the sedgelands index for Group 3.
There are only 3 members of Group 5, two of which are at Cape Flattery which relates to the high mean value of the perennial waterholes and lakes index. The mean of the swamps index is also high for this Group which helps to explain the inclusion of the third grid cell in the Group which lies to the north side of Po-fi usg grave.
Most of the grid cells belonging to Group 6 have high values of the open lagoons index but may also have moderate to high values of the sedgelands index and the sand index. With just one exception on the northern side of Newcastle Bay, they lie on the west coast, south from about Aurukun.
Groups 7, 8'and 9 have in common high values of the tidal flats index, the mud index and the mangrove index. The two members of Group 8 differ by having the highest values of these indices and the highest values of the channels or estuaries index. 'These two grid cells are at the mouth of the Wenlock River and Kemedy Inlet respectively. The only two cells belonging to Group 9 are at the base of Princess Charlotte Bay and are distinguished by high values of the perennial swamps index and the sedgelands or grasslands index. Five of the eight members of Group 7 occur around Albatross Bay and another at the mouth of the Ducie River. The other two are on the east coast at the mouth of the Lockhart and near the Starcke River mouth.
4.3 Vertebrate fauna records for ten minute grid cells
A selection was made of vertebrates which are genaally dependent upon wetlands. This led to a list of 119 bird species (Table 3), 4 mammals, 17 frogs and 22 reptiles (Table4). lncluded in Table 3 another 8 taxa categories that were used by Blackman and his co-workers when they were doh : aerial counts and were unsure of the species. These included unidentified connorants, egrets, herons, ducks, cranes, waders, curlews and terns. Eight of the 119 bird species in Table 3 have not been included in the presentations of data because they were considered to be primarily offshore .I species and included a shearwater, storm-petrel, two frigatebirds, two boobies, two noddies and & ,*, . four terns. Also, a number of birds and other vertebrates considered to be wetland have not been included in Tables 3 and 4 if the records indicated presence in just one ten minute grid cell. These 5 !' species included four reptiles and thirteen birds, including four offshore species. The elimination of 1 41 -Table 3 . Birds recorded for the CYPLUS region that are characteristic of wetlands . The list includes species that are primarily offshore seabirds (marked with an asterisk) .
Species were chosen from the full list of vertebrates (NR03) and on the basis of information in the literature on general habitat preferences . Scientific names follow the Census of Australian Vertebrate Species (CAVS) version 8.1, dated 1 May 194and supplied by ERIN. column values give the total number of ten minute grid cells where each species was recorded by: , B) David MacFarland on the basis of a literature review (NR03). C) John Winter and Philip Lethbridge (NR03 and other field surveys) D) Gavin Blackman during aerial surveys in 1990 and 191in coastal regions south of Aurukun. E) Andrew Taplin during site surveys in a similar region in 1990 and . A) any one or all of the above (Species recorded in only one grid cell are not listed) .
Species ABCDE Procellariidae Procellaiiformes PuJinus pacificus ...... Wedge-tailed Shearwater * ..... 65200 Hydrobatidae Oceanites oceanicus ...... Wilson's Storm-Petrel * ...... Podicipedidae Podici~edifmes Poliocephalus poliocephalus . Hoary-headed Grebe ...... Tadrybaprus novaehollandiae . Australasian Grebe ...... Fregatidae Pelecaniformes Fregafa arid ...... Lesser Frigatebird * ...... Fregata minor ...... Great Frigatebud * ...... Phalacrocoracida Phalacrocorax carbo ...... Great Cormorant ...... Phalacrocorax melanoleucos .. Little Pied Cormorant ...... Phalucrocorax sulcirostris ... Little Black Cormorant ...... Phalacrocorax varius ...... Pied Cormorant ...... unidentified connorant ...... Unidentified Cormorant ...... Anhingidae Anhinga melanogaster ...... Darter ...... Sulidae Sula dacrylatra ...... Masked Booby * ...... Sula kucogaster ...... Brown Booby * ...... Pelecanidae Pekcanus conspicillatus .... Australian Pelican ...... Ardeidae Ciconiiformes Ardea alba ...... Great Egret ...... Ardea ibis ...... Cattle Egret ...... Ardea intermedia ...... Intermediate Egret ...... Ardea pmpca ...... Pacific Heron ...... Ardea picata ...... Pied Heron ...... Ardea summana ...... Great-billed Heron ...... Butorides srriatu ...... Striated Heron ...... -..... Egrata garzetra ...... Little Egret ...... Egretta novaehollandiae ..... White-faced Heron ...... Egretta sacra ...... Eastern Reef Egret ...... Ixobrychurflavicollis ...... Black Bittern ...... Lrobrychus minutus ...... Little Bittern ...... Nycricorax caledonicus ..... Nankeen Night Heron ...... unidentified egret ...... Unidentified Egret ...... unidentified heron ...... Unidentified Heron ...... Ciconiidae Ephippiorhynchu asiaticus .. Black-necked Stork ...... Threskiornithida Platalea f2avipe.s ...... Yellow-billed Spoonbill ...... Platalea regia ...... Royal Spoonbill ...... Plegadis falcinellm ...... Glossy Ibis ...... Threskiornis molucca ...... Australian White Ibis ...... Accipitridae Falconifoxmes Table 3 contd . wer page 42 Species (Table 3 ctnd.) ABCDE Accipitridae ctnd . Pandion haliaetus ...... Osprey ...... Haliaeetus leucogaster ...... White-bellied Sea-Eagle ...... Haliaszur indus ...... Brahminy Kite ...... Anatidae Anserifonnes Anas castanea ...... Chestnut Teal ...... Amgracilis ...... Grey Teal ...... Anas superciliosa ...... Pacific Black Duck ...... Aythya australis ...... Hardhead ...... Chenonetta jubata ...... Maned Duck ...... Dendrocygna arcma ...... Wandering Whistling-Duck .... Dendrocygna eytoni ...... Plumed Whistling-Duck ...... Malacorhynchus Pinkeared Duck ...... Nenapus coromandelianus ... Cotton Pygmy-Goose ...... Nettapus pulchellus ...... Green Pygmy-Goose ...... Tadorna radjah ...... Radjah Shelduck ...... unidentified duck ...... Unidentified Duck ...... Anseranatidae heranas sernipahata ..... Magpie Goose ...... Rallidae Gruiformes Fulica atra ...... Eurasian Coot ...... Gallinula tenebrosa ...... Dusky Moorhen ...... Gallirallus philippeniis ..... Buff-banded Rail ...... Porphyrio porphyrio ...... Purple Swamphen ...... Pomna cinereus ...... White-browed Crake ...... Pomna zabuensis ...... Spotless Crake ...... Gruidae Grus antigone ...... Sarus Crane ...... Grus rubicunda ...... Brolga ...... unidenrified crane ...... Unidentified Crane ...... Jacanidae Charadriifonnes Iredipan-a gallinacea ...... Comb-crested Jacana ...... Haematopodidae Haematopusfuliginosus .... Sooty Oystercatcher ...... Haematopus longiroshis .... Pied Oystercatcher ...... Recurvirostridae Himantopus himantopus .... Black-winged Stilt ...... RecmUrVlrostra novaehollandiae . Red-necked Avocet ...... Burhinidae Esacus magniroshis ...... Beach Stone-curlew ...... Charadriidae Charadrius hchenaultii ..... Greater Sand Plover ...... Charadrius mongolus ...... Lesser Sand Plover ...... Charadnus rujicapillus ..... Red-capped Plover ...... Charadrim veredus ...... Oriental Plover ...... ELreyornis melanops ...... Black-fronted Plover ...... Erythogonys cinctus ...... Red-kneed Dotterel ...... Pluvialis fulva ...... Pacific Golden Plover ...... Pluvialis squutarola ...... Grey Plover ...... Scolopacidae Actitis hypakucos ...... Common Sandpiper ...... Arenaria intmpres ...... Ruddy Turnstone ...... Calidris acuminata ...... Sharp-tailed Sandpiper ...... Calidris alba ...... Sanderling ...... Calidris canutus ...... Red Knot ...... Calidris fmuginea ...... Curlew Sandpiper ...... Calidris rujicollis ...... Red-necked Stint ...... Calidris tenuirostris ...... Great Knot ...... Gallinago hardwickii ...... Latham's Snipe ...... Gallinago rnegala ...... Swinhoe's Snipe ...... Heteroscelus brevipes ...... Grey-tailed Tattler ...... Heteroscelus incanus ...... Wandering Tattler ...... t Table 3 contd . over page t Species (Table 3 ctnd.) 43 Scolopacidae ctnd . Limosa lapponica ...... Bar-tailed Godwit ...... Limosa lirnosa ...... Black-tailed Godwit ...... Numeniur madagascariensis .. Eastern Curlew ...... Numenius minutus ...... Little Curlew ...... Numenius phaeopus ...... mmbrel ...... Philomachus pugnax ...... Ruff ...... Tringa nebularia ...... Common Greenshank ...... Tringa stagnatilis ...... Marsh Sandpiper ...... unidentified curlew ...... Unidentified Curlew ...... unident$ed wader ...... Unidentified Wader Xenus cinereus ...... Terek Sandpiper ...... Laridae Amus minutus ...... Black Noddy * ...... Amus stolidus ...... Common Noddy * ...... Chlidonias hybridus ...... Whiskered Tern ...... Chlidonias leucopterus ..... White-winged Tern ...... Lam novaehollundiae ...... Silver Gull ...... Sterna albifrons ...... Little Tern ...... * Sterna anaethetus ...... Bridled Tern * ...... Sterna bengalensis ...... Lesser Crested Tern ...... Sterna bergii ...... Crested Tern ...... Sterna caspia ...... Caspian Tern ...... Sterna dougallii ...... Roseate Tern * ...... Sterna firscata ...... Sooty Tern * ...... Sterna hirundo ...... Common Tern ...... Sterna nilotica ...... Gull-billed Tern ...... Sterna surnatrana ...... Black-naped Tern * ...... unidentified tern ...... Unidentified Tern ...... Alcedinidae Coraciiformes Alcedo azurea ...... Azure Kingfisher ...... Alcedo pusilla ...... Little Kingfisher ...... Halcyonidae Todiramphur chloris ...... Collared Kingfisher ...... Sylviidae Passeriformes Acrocephalus stentoreus .... Clamorous Reed-Warbler ...... Pardalotidae Gerygone levigaster ...... Mangrove Gerygone ...... Dicruridae Rhipidura phasiana ...... Mangrove Fantail ...... Myiagra alecro ...... Shining Flycatcher ...... Myiagra ruficollis ...... Broad-billed Flycatcher ...... Petroicidae Eopsaltna pulverulenta ..... Mangrove Robin ...... Pachycephalidae Puchycephala lanioides ..... White-breasted Whistler ...... Pachycephala melunura ..... Mangrove Golden Whistler .... Zosteropidae Zosterops luteur ...... Yellow Whiteeye ...... Meliphagidae Lichenostomus versicolor ... Varied Honeyeater ...... Myzomela erythrocephala ... Red-headed Honeyeater ...... 44 Table 4 . Mammals. frogs and reptiles recorded for the CYPLUS region that are characteristic of wetlands .
Species were chosen from the Ml list of vertebrates (NR03)and on the basis of information in the liten- on general habitat preferences. Scientific names follow the Census of Australian Vertebrate Species ('24~~) version 8.1, dated 1 May 1994 and supplied by ERIN .
Colurh values give the total number of w minute grid cells where each species was recorded by B) David MacFarland on the basis of a literature review (NR03). aC) John Winter and PupLethbridge (NR03 and other field surveys) and. A) either one or both of the above (Species recorded in only one grid cell are not listed) .
Species mom: Ornithorhynchidae Om~lwrhpchusamtinus..... Plary~us...... -tera; Pteropodidae Preropus alecto ...... 3tack Flyis!-fox ...... - Stmopu conspiciIhus ...... Swctacfed HVing-fox ....**.. Vespertilionidae Myoris adwus ...... :.... k~e-footedMod Bat ... ~0dmt.a.' Muridae wumysschrysogas~er ...... Water Rat ...... Salientia: Myobattachidae Miadeserricalo ...... a fsog ...... Crinia remoia ...... n fro^ ...... Limnodynarter pnii...... Brown-striped Frog ...... Limnodynastes ramattiensis ... Spotted Grass fro^ ...... Linmdynmtes fermrcginae ... NhBauio Frog ...... Upmoleia mimuh ...... a frog ...... Hylidae Cyclorana novaehollandiae .... a £rag ...... Litoria bicolor ...... Northern Dwarf Tree Frog ..... Litoria dahlii ...... a frog ...... Litoria dorsalis ...... Dwarf Rocket Fmg ...... Litoria fallax ...... Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog ...... Litoriainennis ...... afiog ...... Litona nasuta ...... Rocket Frog ...... Litoria pallida ...... a frog ...... Litona rothii ...... a frog ...... Litoria rubella ...... Desert Tree Frog ...... Ranidae RanadasneIi ...... WmdFrog ...... wk Crocodylidae Crocodylws johnsroni ...... Freshwater Cdile...... Crocodylur porosus ...... Estuarine or Salt-Wateh Cdle ~estudioes: Cbelidae Cheludina nowguineae ...... a Mle ...... CheIodina mgoso ...... Northern Snake-Necked Turtle ... Elseya histemrun ...... Saw-Shelled Turtel ...... Emyfura beffrii ...... *.. Krefft's River Turtle ...... Emydrrm subglobosa ...... a turtle ...... Agamidae L4phognarhlrs- rempurafis ..... Northern Water Dragon ...... + Physignorhm lesueun'i *...... Eastern Water Dragon ...... Varanidae Varanus indicus ...... Mangrove Monitor ...... Varanus mertensi ...... Mertens' Water Monitor ...... Varanus semiremex ...... Rusty Monitor ...... Boidae Liasis fuscus ...... ‘.. Water Python ...... Table 4 contd . aver paae C . Species (Table 4 ctnd. ABC Acrochordidae ~crochord#sarafurae...... Arafura File Snake ...... AC~QC~O~~Wgranulatus ,...... a file snake ...... Colubridae Cerberus rhynchops ...... Bockadam (a snake) ...... Enhydris polylepis ...... Macleay's Water Snake ...... Stegonotus cucullatus ...... Slaty-Grey Snake ...... Tropidonophis mairii ...... Keelback or Freshwater Snake ... Elapidae Hemiaspis signata ...... Black-bellied Swamp Snake .... Pseudechis porphyn'acus ...... Red-bellied Black Snake ...... Hgdrophiidae Enhydrina schistosa ...... a sea snake ...... these species helped to overcome the problem of using records of vagrants. Also, the main database for NR03 includes a number of other "wetland" species where there are very few data that were not entered at the time of transfer of information to this project.
The only digital data I have of bird abundances is from Blackman and from Taplin These data are - specifically considered later. Quantitative aspects of the database kom Winter and Lethbridge often involved subjective measures of abundance and I have not used them because it was inappropriate for me to interpret these subjective assessments. As far as this report is concerned, the fauna data are primarily used to compile species lists for each of the ten minute grid cells which were the focus of the analysis of wetland distribution. Figures 9 and 10, and Appendix E give an overview of the distribution of species records for the ten minute grid cells. This is done by indicating the number of species per cell using different data sources and under different categories of vertebrates. Analysis of the records of individual species is not given, except in the case of waterbird counts (see below).
4.3.1 Diversity, patterns- of birds, mammals, frogs and reptiles
Figure 9 illustrates the strong relationship between the diversity per cell of wetland bid species and of all bird species. That is, the data on wetland birds from NR03 is contrasted with data on all birds and there is a reasonably close match of the relative numbers of species. It is apparent that the pattern of recorded diversity for wetland birds follows the general pattern for all species. This pattern is not necessarily related to the distribution of wetlands but is strongly linked to the geographical variation in sampling effort that has been alluded to in other reports on the fauna. Apart fkom this overriding pattern here is the suggestion that inland areas have relatively fewer wetland bird species than other bird species. This is particularly obvious from Figure 9 for inland areas to the north of about 14 degrees where few grid cells have more than 10% of the maximum number of species recorded for any one cell. The maximum being 83 in the Edward River region This may be seen as a reflection of the quality and extent of wetland habitat in the area but it is also a well sampled area In contrast, the grid cell that has been highlighted in this report for its high ranking for mangrove and estuarine habitat in Newcastle Bay has only two fauna records, a mammal and a reptile.
Figure 9 also shows the extent of coverage of the aerial transects and site records of waterbirds down the west mast from Aurukun A maximum of 27 taxa (including the unidentified categories) were noted for any one cell. There is a suggestion that generally higher numbers of species were recorded between Aurukun and the mouth of the Holroyd River, and in the general vicinity of the Mitchell River mouth and to the south of here. The extent to which the aerial transect counts has made up for lack of information in this region can be seen from a comparison with the map of wetland bird diversity using only NR03 data (Figure 9) and also with a compilation of both data sets shown in Figure 10 (wetland birds from NR03 and NR09). This latter illustration is the best assessment of " geographical variation in wetland bird diversity across Cape York Peninsula but is still heavily biased by uneven coverage and sampling effort.
Figure 10 also illustrates the geographical variation in recorded diversity of wetland mammals, frogs Figure 9. Ranking of ten minute grid cells using the number of bird species recorded.
In each graph, the cells have been ranked on a scale of between 0 to 10 against the cell with the maximum number of species, and shaded accordingly. The higher the ranking the darker the shading.
Latitude and longitude are given on the axes. The list of "wetland" bird species that were used is given in Table 3.
17 141.0 1425 144.0 145.5 Records of "wetland" bird species (max 27) from aerial transects (Blackman) and wetland sites (Taplin)
17 17 141.0 1425 144.0 145.5 141.0 1425 144.0 1415 Records of all bird species (max 230) from Records of "wetland" bird species (max 83) NR03 (literature search and fieldwork) from NR03 (literature search and fieldwork) and reptiles and, as with the birds in Figure 9, contrasts these patterns with the recorded diversity of the full suite of each of these vertebrate groups. I have no additional data for these vertebrate groups and the assessment is based purely upon records from NR03.
Only five mammals were categorised as wetland species and it could be argued that the three bats that :were included are by no means exclusively "wetland", or would be expected to be confined to wetlands. In this sense, and because there are only five species, mammals as a group are poor indicators of wetlands. As with the birds, wetland mammal diversity tends to follow the same geographical variation as does overall mammal diversity and, as it stands in Figure 10, is strongly influenced by sampling bias.
Similar effects of sampling bias apply in the case of reptiles and frogs illustrated in Figure 10. There is very little discernible difference between the maps for wetland species and for all species of both groups. There is some "thinning outnof records in inland areas in the case of the reptiles. However, because both these groups, make use of wet microhabitats as well as broad acre wetlands, they are less likely to refl& the distribution of the type of wetlands that have been addressed in this report. On the other hand, wetland birds generally respond more to a larger scale of habitat and would be expected to conform more to the habitat variation that has already been elucidated.
4.3.2 Diversity patterns of different wetland bird groups
Appendix E illustrates the recorded geographical variation in diversity for particular groups of wetland birds, in the same style as in Figures 9 and 10. The groups are chosen on a taxonomic basis from the list of wetland birds in Table 3 and include the following: Pelecaniformes, Ciconiiformes, Anseriformes, Gruifonnes, Charadriiformes, Laridae and a selection of passerines. The patterns of recorded diversity are broadly similar amongst the groups with the following exceptions. The Pelecaniformes and Ciconiiformes are the most widespread with least restriction to coastal areas. A number of the respective species are likely to be found using small scattered waterbodies, riversides or stream sides that could be located away ftom the major areas of wetlands. Nevertheless, the displayed patterns are more focused on the coastline than that for all bird species combined (see Figure 9).
The Anseriformes exhibit a surprising lack of records across the top section of the Cape, even along the western coastline north of Port Musgrave and along the eastern coastline north of Shelburne Bay. These sections of the coast do differ from elsewhere and from each other for a number of reasons that have been described elsewhere in the report Similarly, the coastline from Cape Melville to Cape Flattery shows no records of ducks or their allies which may well be an indication of the type of wetland in this region. .- The Gruiformes, Charadriiformes (except Laridae) and the Laridae show a reasonable degree of restriction in distribution but in different ways. Like the Anseriformes, the Gruiformes seemed to be absent from the same sections of the coastline but are well represented along the west coast between
n
141.0 1425 144.0 145.5 14.0 1425 144.0 145.5 Records of all frog species Records of "wetland" frog species (max 28) from NR03 (max 14) from NR03
17 141.0 1425 144.0 145.5 115.0 1425 144.0 141.5 Records of all reptile species Records of "wetland" reptile species (max 67) from NR03 (max 9) from NR03 port Musgrave and Weipa, and south of Aurukun There are other apparent pockets of the Gruiforrnes which could well be related to habitat distribution but sampling bias must also be playing a part.
/ predictably, the Laridae is the group most restricted to coastal regions and is recorded more evenly around the coast than a number of the other groups. Other members of the Charadriiformes (waders and Jacana) also have a primarily coastal distribution but with a significant number of records in the Lakefield region and scattered occurrences inland on the flood plains of the western river systems.
The wetland passerines are well represented in those regions where sampling would have been most intense such as around Portland Roads, Pormpuraaw, Cooktown and Weipa. However, they appear to be less widespread along the coast and less confined to the coastal strip than the more typical wetland bird fauna, such as terns and waders.
4.4 Quantitative aerial survey of waterbirds
Data from the aerial surveys south from Aurukun during two wet seasons and a dry season are presented in Appendix C. Results from the different seasons are represented by different symbols. However, at the scale of presentation in the Appendix some definition is lost where records are clustered together. Full details of the methods of data collection and collation are given in the section on GIS data presentation. These data will be more carefully scrutinised in relation to the distribution of wetland polygons displayed in Appendices F and G in a subsequent report to the Australian Heritage Commission. The site records of counts of waterbirds presented in Appendix D supplement the results from the aerial transects, as do a number of wader roost counts and density estimates reported in the literature.
In Appendix C, each species is mapped separately and the distribution of records should be considered in relation to that of the extent and intensity of sampling for each season. An indication of this sampling effort can be gained from the last three maps in the Appendix which show records for all species combined for each season.
Very few Pied, Little Pied and Great Cormorants were counted but they did occur in two regions that have already been highlighted through the analyses of wetland distribution given in this report. That is, between Aurukun and the Holroyd River and in the vicinity of the mouth of the Mitchell River. Also, three hundred of the 582 Little Black Cormorants counted occurred in the dry season behind Cape Keer Weer. Only 9 Darter were recorded which is too few to have much meaning. In contrast, as many as 200 Australian Pelicans were counted along a single transed segment Most of the dry' season records were between Aurukun and the Holroyd, or south from the Mitchell River. Wet season records appeared to have been more evenly distributed Whitsfaced Herons were mostly counted between the Mitchell and Nassau Rivers in the wet season of 1990, whereas Pied Herons appear to have been more common in the following wet season. There were far fewer records of the Pacific Heron, and mostly near the Mitchell River in both wet seasons.
Black-necked Storks were mostly recorded as individuals in all seasons and, during the dry season, more often north of the Holroyd River. Very large numbers of egrets were recorded but never identified to species. They appear to have been fairly evenly distributed throughout the sampling area during the wet seasons but in scattered clumps during the dry. Royal Spoonbills were encountered only 8 times and of the 605 counted about half occurred as the one record just north of Cape Keer Weer. Only 11 Yellow-billed Spoonbill were recorded. Glossy Ibis were in quite low numbers and appear to have been fairly restricted to southern areas, with only one dry season record inland near the Edward River. In contrast, as many as 500 Australian White Ibis were recorded for the one segment of a transect. However, the most striking feature of data for the species is the relative lack of records between the Holroyd and Edward Rivers. There is a similar lack of records in this region for Magpie Geese which were recorded most frequently in April 1991, scattered inland between the Mitchell and Nassau Rivers. , - Ducks were not identified, but as a group seem to have been concentrated between Cape Keer Weer and the Holroyd River and f?om the Edward River south, particularly in the wet season of 1990. All the Purple Swarnphen were seen together, inland and south of the Kirke River in April 1990. The distribution of Brolga appears to change from more southern concentrations in the wet seasons to the coastal strip.north of the Holroyd River in the dry season, although there were a number of Qy season records farther south.
Records for unidentified small waders, unidentified curlew and Masked Lapwing also appear to concentrate on the coast in the vicinity of the Mitchell River or north of the Holroyd River. Sightings of terns were less confined to particular stretches of the coastline. 5.0 DISCUSSION
The project has established a basis of wetland definition and evaluation for Cape York Peninsula. More needs to be done to distil these results and link them with additional information from the literature, especially in relation to fauna. That is, more interpretation is needed but should be relatively straightforward and can now be undertaken in association with other of conservation planning for Cape York Peninsula
There remains a fundamental problem of very few quantitative data on wetland fauna, but a number of factors indicate that this is perhaps not a serious problem in terms of management of wetland fauna
Firstly, the accent here has been on wide scale wetland habitat rather than narrow inland sections of rivers and creeks. Birdlife is best suited to assessment of these large scale wetlands and there are more quantitative data for birdlife than for other vertebrate groups. To a large degree, upstream river management should be covered under policies in relation to terrestrial fauna corridors, freshwater aquatic fauna and water quality.
Secondly, wetlands are generally a more prominent feature of the west coast and the best bud data have been collected from parts of this coastline. Furthermore, the most significant wetland area on the east coast is the Princess Charlotte Bay and ~akefieldarea and some reasonable bird data are available for this area as well.
Thirdly, other wetland areas on the east coast are fairly small, discrete, and have clearly dehed features such as the perennial dune lakes, the mouth of the Lockhart River, and the extensive areas of mangroves at Newcastle Bay. Despite the paucity of fauna information for some of these areas, their size and relative structural simplicity should aid in speculating on their impo-ce to fauna and certainly assist in developing appropriate management strategies.
Fourthly, the project has served to clarify the range of types of wetland, their size and location, and their similarities in terms of general physical structure and vegetation. Therefore, despite the'lack of directly established links between wetland types and wetland fauna, there is a sufficient basis to identify and manage wetlands to preserve their role as fauna habitat. What we already know about bird use and importance of wetlands on Cape York Peninsula and elsewhere, forms a reasonable basis for speculating on the importance to fauna of wetland areas where there is limited or no fauna data. 6.0 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I thank Jack Kelly for his technical assistance, patience and good humour in the initial stages of this project that involved transfer of GIs data from early versions of the vegetation map. Phil Lethbridge was also most helpful in relation to data exchange and advice on fauna records.
7.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Alcorn, M., Alcorn, R., and Fleming, M. 1994. Wader movements in Australia Australasian Wader ~tudiebGroup, October 1994, Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union Report No. 94. Arthiigton A.H. & Hegerl E.J. 1988. The Distribution, Conservation Status and Management Problems of Queensland's Athalassic and Tidal Wetlands. In "The Conservation of Australian Wetlands" By A.J McComb & P.S. Lake (eds), World Wildlife Fund, Surrey Beatty & Sons. Blackman, J. G., Spain, A. V., and Whiteley, L. A. 1992. Provisional handbook for the classification and field assessment of Queensland wetlands and deep water habitats. DEH draft manuscript. Carruthers, R. K. 1966. Waders in the Gulf Country. Australian Bird Watcher 2:211-214. Cocks, K. D., Walker, P. A., and Parvey, C. A. 1988. Evolution of a continental scale geographical information system. International Journal of Geographical Information Systems, Vol. 1. Coles R.G., Lee Long W.J. & Squire L.C. 1985. Areas of seagrass bsds and prawn nursery grounds on the Queensland coast between Cape York and Cairns. Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Information Series Q185017. Connell Wagner 1989. Cape Yo* Peninsula Resource Analysis Executive Summary. Prepared for Premier's Department, Cairns. Draffan, R. D. W ., Garnett, S. T., and Malone, G. J. 1983. Birds of the Torres Strait; an annotated and biogeographical analysis. Emu 83: 207-234. Draffen, R. D. W., Garnett, S. T., and Malone, G. 1983. Birds of the Torres Strait. Emu 83: 207- 34. Finlayson, C. M., Wilson, B. and Cowie, I. 1991. Management of freshwater monsoonal wetlands: conservation threats and issues. Paper presented to, Workshop on Wetland Conservation and Management, Newcastle, 11-15 Feb. 1991. Galloway, R. W., Story, R., Cooper, R., and Yapp, G. A. 1984. Coastal lands of Australia. CSIRO Division of Water and Land Resources, Natural Resources Series No. 1. Garnett, S. 1989. Wading Bird Abundance and Distribution - Southeastem coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria. RAOU Report No. 58. Report to the Queensland National Parks and Wildlife Service. Garnett, S. T. 1983. Report on the fifth aerial survey of migrating wading birds between Weipa and Miliigimbi, 9-13 February 1983. Stilt 4: 15-17. ,# ,# Garnett, S. T. 1986. Seasonal changes in the wader population in the south-east of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Stilt 8: 9- 13. Garnett, S. T. 1987. Aerial surveys of waders (Aves: Charadriiformes) along the coast of north- eastern Australia Australian Wildlife Research 14: 521-528. Garnett, S. T., and Carmthers, I. B. 1982. Report on the second aerial survey of waders in north- eastern Australia, February 1982. Stilt 3: 18-20. Garnett, S. T., and Minton, C. D. T. 1985. Notes on the movements and distribution of the Little Curlew Numenius minutus in northern Australia Australian Bird Watcher 11: 69-73. Garnett, S., and Taplin, A. 1990. Wading bud abundance and distribution during the wet season - south-western coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria A report to the Conservation Commission of the Northern Territory for the Territory Branch of the Australian Heritage Commission, June 1990. Garnett, S.T.G., and R. Bredl. 1985. Birds in the vicinity of Edward River settlement. Part I. Introduction, methods, study area, list of non-passerines. Sunbird 15: 6-23. Guard, R. and Garnett, S. T. 1982. Report on the first aerial survey of waders in north-eastern Australia, December 1981. Stilt 3: 1617. Kikkawa, J. 1976. The birds of Cape York Peninsula. Distributional patterns. Parts 1 and 2. Sunbird 7:25-106. Kusler, J. 1992. Wetlands delineation: an issue of science or politics?. Environment 34: 7-11,29- 37. Lane, B. 1988. Wader expeditions to Northern Australia in 1986. Royal Australasian Omiologists Union Report No. 42. Lavarack, P. S., and Stanton, J. P. 1977. Vegetation of the Jardine River Catchment and Adjacent Coastal Areas. Proceedis of the Royal Society of Queensland 88: 3948: McFarland, D. 1993. Fauna of the Cape York Peninsula Biogeographic Region. Report to Qld Dept of Environment and Heritage. Nix, H. A., and Kalma, J. D. 1972. Climate as a dominant control in the biogeography of northern Australia and New Guinea p. 61-91. In Walker, D. ed. Bridge and Barrier: the Natural and Cultural History of Torres Strait. Dept. of Biograph. and Geomorp. Publ. BGD, Australian National Univ., Canberra. Paijmans, K., Galloway, R. W., Faith, D. P., Fleming, P. M., Haantjens, H. A., Heylingers, P. C., Kalma, J. D., and Loffler, E. 1985. Aspects of Australian Wetlands. CSIRO Division of Water and Land Resources Technical Paper no. 44. P~eK- 1983. The Coastal Dune Formations of Northern Cape Yo* Peninsula, Qld. Proc.R.Soc.Qd 94: 33-39. Schodde, R., Mason, I. J., and Gill, H. B. . The avifauna of the Australian mangroves - a brief review of composition, structure and origin. pp. 141-150. In Clough, B. (ed) Mangrove Ecosystems in Australia, Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville. Stanton J.P. & Morgan M.G.1977. The rapid selection and appraisal of key and endangered sites: The Queensland Case Study. Project "RAKES". Report No. P.R.4, School of Natural Resources, University of New England. . Stanton, J. P. 1975. A preliminary assessment of wetlands in Queensland. CSIRO, Div. Land Use Research, Technical Memorandum 75/10. CSIRO, Canberra. Pp.52. Starks, J., and Lane, B. 1987. The northward migration of waders from Australia, February to April, 1985. Stilt 10: 20-27. Taplin, A. 1990. Little tern Sterna albifions surveys of Cape York Peninsula, Gulf of Carpentaria and eastern Coastal Queensland unpubl report to the Dept of Conservation, Forest and Lands, Victoria. Taplin, A. 1991. Distribution and abundance of selected waterbird species in the Gulf Plains and Western Cape York during 1990. Final Report to Qumsland National Parks and Wildlife Service, June 1991. Taplin, A. 1991. 'Review of bird migration in eastern Queensland. report to Queensland National Parks and Wildlife Service, May 1991 on behalf of Queensland Ornithological Society Inc. Taplin, A. 1993. A regional approach to migrant bird conservation issues: an example using waterbird surveys on western Cape York Peninsula. p. 83-92, In Catterall, C. P., Driscoll, P. V., Hulsman, K., Muir, D., and Taplin, A. eds. Birds and their Habitats: Status and Conservation in Queensland. Queensland Ornithological Society Inc., P.O. Box 97, St Lucia, Qld 4067. Usback, 's., and James, R. 1993. A directory of important wetlands in Australia ANCA. Watkins, D. 1993. A national plan for shorebird conservation in Australia. Australasian Wader Studies Group, Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union and World Wide Fund for Nature. RAOU Report No. 90. Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland 1990. A conservation strategy for Cape York Peninsula: draft for discussion. WPSQ, Brisbane. Wood, N. H., and Cocks, K. D. 1990. Coastal data sets in the Australian resources information system. Working Document 90/10, AMNRS Program, Division of Wildlife and Ecology, CSIRO, Canberra Wood, N. H., and Cocks, K. D. 1990. Distribution of wetlands in Australia - current status of dataset and maps. Working document 9012, Decision Support Systems Program, Division of Wildlife and Ecology, CSIRO, Canberra Wood, N. H., and Cocks, K. D. 1992. Estimated areas of Wetlands in Australia Working document 92/9, AMNRS Program, Division of Wildlife and Ecology, CSIRO, Canberra. A~pendix_A Ve~etation considered for use in ma~pingwetlands. The table is derived from Lists and working notes supplied by V. J. Neldner (NROI Vegetation Mapping). The preliminary map units and photopatterns listed below were considered in dt:tennining wetland distribution and boundaries. The map units are for the top 1:250 000 map sheets for Cape York Peninsula and Cape Melville (7 sheets in all) and the photopatterns are for heremaining 7 sheets which at the time of collating the information were in an early stage of development. Matching map units with photopatterns and dealing with incomplete and unchecked data presented many difficulties and must be sbowkdged by a cautious approach to interpreting the results. Map units given below refer to those used in "Cape York map units", V. I. Neldm 21112B2 fist B) and the photopatterns refer to those in "Photopatterns of Cape York " pe&sula", V. J. Neldner*band written 1989? fist C) while the final vegetation mapping units are those used in the NRO 1 report md GIs data. The final VMUs are given only for those units or photopatterns that were used in the analyses.
fie final resolution of these data resulted in use of six broad categories of wetland types (see column 1) but all polygons are listed here. to column headings: Type - categoristion into different wetland areas as presented in the analysis given in the text of the report: MAN - mangroves, SAL - open saline areas, SED - sedgelands, PER - perennial waterbodies, EPH- ephemeral waterbodies, DRA - swampy forested areas. The same column is used to show the final VMU or vegetation mapping unit as per the NROl report and GIS data (values in italics). PhPn or MaU - map unit as per list B or photopattern as per list C. Map units all have values more than 200, photopatterns less than 200 sub - pbokopattern subunit as per list C exi - other photapattern with this one as per Iist B Equiv - pbabIe equivalent map mit or photopattern per lists B or C Gp -groups as per notes received &om J. V. Neldner August 1993 (Groups as follows: W - sedgelandsflakeslmangroves, G - pslands, v - MeIaleuca ~iridifloraassociation, M - Other Melaleuca spp. associations) Label -as per list C or Description - as per list B Na~tes: # - this photopattern not extracted for use under NR09 but listed in a group by Neldner (see above). * - this map unit not extracted for use under NR09 9 ,t & i@i -Label or Descrivtion t I I E i i 1 MAN I I i I [ 34 5 a,b,c f 5C [ 207, 319 i W Near channels, sea margins, Mangrove CF - Rhizophora zone i $ ,d i I i i I 34 i 207 1 Is/ I Rhiirophora stylosa +- Bruguiera spp (Outer mangroves) closedl I I t i I forest 160 i 319 1 r 5C Aegicera corniculata. ExcaerPa agdmha +- hmnitzera sp.i I i i ! i with emergent Avicemia madna (tidal rivers - inland) Closed- 1 I I i:1 iscrub - I ;:I J 34A 6 i a,b j 245 i W I Behiod (landward hm5) Mangrove LCF - Brugiera & Cedops I I 1I I zone I 133 i 245 ; 6' Ceriops tagal +- Avicennia spp (landward mangrove zone) Low j i { ) closed forest I PER 1 276. 277 1 W I Perennial lake or lagoon with water i Perennial lakes with sedgelands on the margins (lakes in f f dunefields) Lakes and lagoom 37j j' Permanent lakes and lagoons hquently with &ging: , woodlands (lakefield N.P.)Lakes and lagmas EPH
1 194 1 7 { A 9, (8) { 268, 272 1 W f Littoral salt marsh & mud flat, sparse herbland i. 194 272 i Z 7;) Bare. sahpaos with areas of Haloscareia spp. sparse forblandf t , i ' andlor ~&chloaimberbis tussock psland Sparse herbland ' 1 268, 3 13, ! W Saline between mudflat and land, Sedgeland - Eleocharis, i i 9,m . C i not 8b i I 275 1:I ,Fimbristylis I i 18.5; 268 " i 1 9, (7,8) Sporobolus virginicus (western coastal plains) Closed tussock i i I i i [ grassland 1 j 190 1 275 j iI 8 1 Eleocharis dulcis closed sedgeland (marine plains) Open f , C i 5 / I sedgeland, . SED Ll~[Bbonlyi f f W 1 Sedgeland - Eleoch2tris, Fimbtistylis? inland of other 8 cate~.? ! (199 1 36 \ i G j Gmxq/Se&ey areas in depression in colluvial sand I I 5 8 183 41 j a j *307? G j Gmslandslsedgelands - drah~edepression, alluvial plains 180; 43 i i f G i Gmsland/sedgelandin drainage area of passland 191 j 15 I A 96 i 274 W Sedgeland, Leptocarpus - swamp centres 5 15,96 Restio temphyllus subsp. meiostachyus (to closed sedgeland) 4- Leptocarpus spathaceus, Gahnia sieberana (mainage swamps, I i dunefields) (Separate swamps on sandstone 274R61 or reverse I { coding??) Upnsedgeland . 191A i . 96 AJ3 1 95,15,98B 1 261, 274, i W Wetland flats on sandplains, Flattery, sedgelands - Gahnia I i 279 I sieberana DRA 1129; 117 1 { ! 248 1 W Deptessions in roiling plains. WeipaCape Weymouth. I t I i I M i Possibly MeI. viridiflora low shrubland or M. clarksonii j 129 / 248 1 117 i Semi-deciduous microphyll species +- emergent Melaleuca spp. f 1 1 (sinkholes; Mission River road) Low closed forest I ! 214 1 W i Swamp Woodland or mesophyll palm forest - drainage lines $ 1 13 +- 1 f Lophostemon suaveolens, Xanthostemon crenulatus, iI j. Melaleuca leucadendra (alluvial and swampy areas) Open forest I I W i CF 8-12m. Swamp forest complex near McIlwraith Range 1 i flat, Dillenia data, M. leucadendron, M. quinquenervia, i ! i f Corallia brachiata, Buchansonia I NOT USED FINAL ANALYSIS
I Melaleuca cajuptii, M. viridiflora, Pandanu, Banksia dentata (edges of springfed swamps) Closed-scrub j MeIaleuca arcana Low open forest
ILophmtemom suavelens +- Astnomyrt~~symphocarpa I I M. cajuptii (Sinkholes and swamps) Open forest 59 Scalds. M.foliolosa / E. microtheca ! : ...... Mosaic, dark pattern - fire I Shrubby depressions, roIliup downs, mixed shrubs 1 Grassland between 55 & le 4 Grassland + E. papuana, beach ridges Grassland on rocky islands. I
C
M. viridiflora Woodland, E. clarksoniana +- Erythrophleum +- E. tetrodonta pasy woodland i Grassland cenfrallakefield Valley grassland, lizard island, Themeda-Arundinella-vdey, 1 Sorghum plumosumdunes f Rolling downs, undulating plains, Wooded tropical sassland. f
emergents Flat rollina downs areas. Few trees. large demessions. LOW- : LOF. ~ixedM. crassiara M. clarkso&andjor M. skgna +- f M. viridiflora - no records i if plateau -Vdisclim&. Imperata cylindrica, Soreburn sw. ! Eaiachne, Aristida, Eragrostis (Sefton Basins) Closed tussock grassland Themeda arguens, Dichanthium sericeum, Capillepidium/ parviforum, Sorehum laxiflorum Closed tussock assl land I Coastal and alluvial, west. Including 9B coastalplains Rutland ! Oryza rufipogon +/- Eleocharis +/- Panicum h-achyrhachis j Closed tussock psland i Coastal scrub. Lavarach & Stanton (1977) 2b? i Eucalyptus clarksoniana/E. novopinensis- shrubby woodland1 (coasa wet areas) Woodland I 97D near McIlwraith Range, Old established dunes, open heath, Cane Flatterv i Melaleuca arcana, Thrytomene oligandra, Asteromyrtus 1 lysicephala +- emergents +- Baeckea htescens (swamp 1 sandplains) - not 261A or 261B (see sheets) Open heath i Swamp areas, Prince of Wales Island, LW-LOF, Melaleuca spp ' E. tetradonta, E. tessellaris +- Lophostemon suavelens - layered, OF equv to Ridley 3b - 1 E. polycarpa +- E. brassiana +- Banksia dentata - drainage 1 basins Eucalyptus clarksonianalE novoguinensis +- Parinari nmda +- I Livistona muellerii +- Lophostemon suaveolens (Adjacent { rivers. near sinkholes)-. Lophostemon -suaveolens doht4 w&d I Closed scrub Melaleuca, Banksia - swamp edge - no records! i ! I Dark pattern, Kennedy R. flats, Pd (metamorphics) I Eucalyotus tetrodonta +- E. clarksoniana +- shrubby; .A - s understorey (low floodout) Woodland .I Coolibah, Nauclea, Barringtonia, M. leucadendra Stream i channels i Mixed shrubby W, G. pteridophylla, M.foliosa. Hakea peduncuIzda 1 Thryptomene oligmdta, MeIaleuca spp. +- Acacia spp.- - +- : &$llea pteridiflk {dmbRedepressi&s) Woodland t i Eucalyptus Ieptophleba+/- E. tessellaris +I- E confertiflora! 1 i @ive&e levees) Open forest .I I I Deciduous vine thicket on watercourses ?- i Deciduous microphyll species +I- eme~entLagerstroemiai m- - i archerkana (Riverine areas on heavy clays closed forest 1 / Riverine vine forest, 21H=Tracey lc ! Riverine evermeen notowhvll (maim streams) Closed forest i i Drainape lines, rolling downs, poss E. leptophleba, E. alba i r Drainaee demssiws in TOsKTi (raised areas) i r'
60
Appendix B Summary values for CSLRO coastal data set.
The smis for all parameters of the data set recorded for the coastline of Cape York Peninsula Collation of the data into ten minute grid cells was done using a subjective assessment of cell boundaries (see Table 2 of the report for more details).
t
a PAR4MrnR i Total i Max. i I
horizon "pioncalca~~~s structured earths with smooth-ped B red earths - acid 2 2 GN3.11) j I1
ioncalcar~~9 stmchlred earths with smooth-ped B horizon red earths - acid \ 1 4; 2 with A2 horizon (GN3.14) i + I t Non calcareous structured earths with smd-pedB horizon yellow earths - acid 1 44 17 I 5 GN3.71) ! i i ioncalcareous structured earths with smooth-ped B h&on yellow earths - acid 105 1 37 j 5 -with A2 horizon (GN3.74) I I i organic soils (0) I 8 I 8f 1 Wecdcmus sands (WI. 10) f 441 385 26 196 ! 74 Bleached sands with colour B horizons (UC2.20) 266 5 37 3 25 Pale sands without colour B horizons (UC4.10) 80; 46; 7 Pale sands colour B horizons (UC4.20) 1 90f 60; 5 Loose brownish sands (UC5.10) 1 21 I 13 1 2 40 Plastic clays yellow brown saline (UF6.62) { 363 64; 17 Shallow bleached loam (UM2.10) { 74! 20! 11 Unlisted loam (UM3.64) I lo! lOi 1 Pale loams wi& smooth-ped B horizon (Uh44.40) { 242 1 78 j 7 Friable loam with smooth-ped B hor. yellow-brown B hor. (UM6.34) i 79 1 32 1 4 Water(W) i 1135 ! 232 30 I i Amendix C - Aerial transect counts.
Mapped results from aerial transect counts of wetland birds in coastal. regions, south of Aurukun. Data were gathered as part of more extensive surveys conducted by the wetlands group of the Qld Dept of Environment and Heritage (refer to G. Blackman). The order of presentation for the taxa is as follows (CAVS code in brackets except for unidentified species):
Little Pied Cormorant ...... o'oloo) Yellow-billed Spoonbill ...... (U0182) Pied Cormorant ...... (Goo991 Australian White Ibis ...... (G0179) Great Cormorant ...... (Aoog6) Magpie Goose ...... 199) LWe Black Cormorant ...... (coo971 Unidentified Duck ...... (#7775) Unidentified Cormorant ...... (#777 1) Purple Swamphen...... (h.loos8) Darter ...... , A (K0101) Sarus Crane ...... (UO898) Australian Pelican ...... (U0106) Brolga ...... (C0177) White-faced Heron ...... (YO1 88) Unidentified Crane ...... (#7776) Pied Heron ...... (U0190) Pied Oystacatcher ...... (U0130) Pacific Heron ...... (KO1 89) Black-winged Stilt ...... m0146) Great-billed Heron ...... (A01 84) Masked Lapwing ...... (C0 133) Unidentified Heron ...... (#7773) Unidentified Curlew ...... (#7778) Unidentified Egret ...... (#7772) Unidentified Wader ...... (#0777) Black-necked Stork ...... (W0183) Silver Gull ...... (C0125) Glossy Ibis ...... (E0178) Unidentified Tern ...... (#7779) Royal Spoonbill ...... (S0181) All birds for all transects ...... Straw-necked Ibis ...... (Q0180) All birds for April 1990 transects ...... All birds for August 1990 transects ...... All birds for April 1991 transects
Open squares are for sampling in April 1990, filled squares are for August 1990 and grey squares are for April 1991. The maximum value noted for each taxa is the highest count from a single segment along one of the transects (see text for more details). Liile Black Cormorant % Phalacrocorax suldrostrls (C0097) (Total 582 birds, Max. 300 birds, 16 records) Appendix C
cormorant (#7771) % (~~t~l91 birds, Max. 80 birds, 3 records)
Australian Pelican Pelecanus %? ~on~p~cl~latus(U0108) CTflal 708 bids. Max. 200 bids, 40 records) Pied Heron Ardea picata Pacific Heron Ardea pecilica C3 N0190) (Tdrl 1911 birds. Max. (KO1891 (Total 67 birds. Max.
Great-billed Heron Ardea unidentified heron (#7773) ';S sumatrane (A0184) (Total 3 b (Total 746 birds. MK 418 birds, Max. 1 birds, 3 records) Appendix C
unidentified egret (lt7772) 8lock.nKLod Stork ueinUme C3 (Total 15477 birds, Max. 2500 Ephl~~orhymhus (W0183) (Tad 120 birds. Mu. birds, 662 remrds) 8 birda, 82 remrds)
* Glossy Ibis Plegadis tdcinellus (€0178) (Toral 133 birds, Max. Cg Straw-necked lbls Threskiornls Y ellow-billed Spoonbill spinlcollis (00180) (Total 1454 b Platalea navipes (U0182) birds, Max. 300 birds, 76 (TotPl 11 birds, Max. 10 birds, 2 A records) rswrds)
Australian White Ibis C3 Magpie Goose Ansoranas P3 Threskiornls molucca (00179) - semipalmata (20199) (Total (Total 3375 birds, Max 602 8102 buds. Max. 2072 birds. 39 birds, 150 rmrds) records) Appendix C
* unidentified duck (#7775) metal 7246 birds, Max. 1400
sarm Crane Gms antigone ES (v0898) (Total 28 birds. Max. 3 birds. 13 records) unidentified crane (#7776) Pied Oystercatcher Haematopus (Total 597 birds. Max. 162 P3 Iongirostris (u0130) (Total 5 birds, Mu. 4 birds. 2 records)
@ * Black-winged Stilt Himantops " Masked Lapwing Vaneflus miles himantopus (M0146) (Total C3 ('20133) (Total 259 birds. Max. 1008 birds, Max. 480 birds, 39 50 birds, 31 records) records) Appendix C
unidentilied curlew (#7778) unidentiiied wader (110777) (Total 27 birds, Max. 20 birds. 6 b (Total 4388 birds, Max. 2005
Silver Gull Larus unidentified tern (87779) Q none*o//anaiae (mlzl uotd cS (Total 1260 birds. Max. 500 All Aerial Transects (Total rZ) * Aerial Transects April 1990 49969 blrds. Max. 2600 birds. (Total 18518 birds, Mu. 1400
Aerial Transects AuguH 1990 Aerial Transecls April 1991 b floral 7000 birds. Max. 2006 (Total 26451 birds. Max. 2500 Au~endixB = Wetland site bird counts.
Mapped results from site counts of wetland birds in coastal regions. south of Aurukun. Data were supplied by A . Taplin but were not verified by the author before submission to CYPLUS . The order of presentation for the taxa is as follows (CAVS code given):
Australasian Grebe...... C0061 Australian White Ibis ...... GO179 Little Pied Cormorant ...... YO100 Wandering Whistling-Duck ..... A0204 Little Black Cormorant ...... C0097 Plumed Whistling-Duck ...... C0205 Darter ...... KO101 Green Pygmy.Goose ...... SO201 White-faced Heron ...... YO188 Pacific Black Duck...... YO208 Pacific Heron ...... KO1 89 Radjah Shelduck ...... E0206 < . Pied Heron...... U0190 Grey Teal ...... W02 11 Cattle Egret ...... SO977 Magpie Goose ...... Z0199 Little Egret ...... CO 185 Purple Swarnphen ...... MOO58 Intermediate Egret...... E0186 Sarus Crane...... U0898 Great Egret...... GO1 87 Brolga ...... C0177 Black-necked Stork ...... W0183 Gull-billed Tern ...... ZU111 Royal Spoonbill...... SO1 81 White-winged Tern ...... C0109 Glossy Ibis ...... EO178 Whiskered Tern ...... M0110 Straw-necked Ibis...... Q0180 All birds all sites
Open squares are for sampling in April 1990. fdled squares are for August 1990. The maximum value noted for each species is the highest count from a single site (see text for more details). Little Pied Cormorant %? - Phalaaocorax melanoleucor
Lime Black Cormorant Darter Anhinga mslanogasler Phalacrccorax suloirostris - ~o~~~)(Totat 1, bids. Max. 4 (CO097) (Total 83 birds, Mac birds, 8 rewrds) 60 birds. 4 records)
8 I Appendix D
White-faced Heron Egrma % Pacific Haron Ardea pacifica novaehollendiae (YO188) (Total (K0189) (Total 29 birds, Ma. 21 birds, Max. 20 birds, 2 20 birds. 6 records) racurds)
- Cattle Egrat Ardea ibis (S09TI) Pied Hemn Ardea picata rg (Total 48 birds, Max. 40 birds, 1 114 birds. 7 records) Intermediate Egret Ardea P3 intermedia (E0186) (Total 282 birds. Max. 100 birds. 14 records)
Qreat Egr& Ardea dba (Q0187) T Blaclrnsasd Stork b (Total 269 birds. Mar 200 cS Ephippk-hymhus Ofiatium (WOt83) (TOM 27 bkds, Mrrrr. 8 bhds. 12 moords) Appendix D * ~lossyIbis Plegadis taldnellus ROY~ISpoonbill ptatalea regin %? (~0178)(Total 227 birds, Max. QI (~0181)(Total 396 birds. Max. 150 birds, 7 recards) 200 birds. 5 records)
CS - ~mrdianWhne Ibis - w~y~~mlredIM mreskimis mkiomk mo'w (001fs) CS ~p)niwllii(001801 VMd 7' vaml 96 birds. Ma*. 30 b*. birds, Max. 25 birds, 6 mds) 11 rsarr&) Wandering Whistling-Duck Plumed Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna arcuata (A02041 b Dsndrocygna efloni (C0205) (Total 61.3 birds. Max. 200 (Total 35 birds, Max. 35 birds, 1 birds, 6 records) records)
Green Pygmy-Goose Nettap- Paoifii Elad: Duck Anas C3 supercilios. (YOzo.3) (Total 578 birds, Max. 85 birds, 6 records) bids, Ma. 210 birds, 9 ruwrds) Appendix D
Radjah Shelduck Tadorna radjah
40 birds, 10 records)
Magpie Goose Amerana %7 semipalrnata (Z0199) (Total 12100 birds, Max. 4500 birds, 11 rceotda) Saws Crane Grus antigone Bmlga Gws tubicunda (C0177) Q2 (Total 1554 bids, Max. 1250 31 birds, 14 records) birds. 20 rewrda)
Gull-billed Tern Sterna nilotica White-winged Tern Chlidooias ES 0111) (Total 58 birds, Max. birds, Max. 20 bib, 1 records) Appendix D
Whiskered Tern Chlidonias Total 20912 birds, Max. 4500 rS hybridus (M0110) (Total 929 % birds, 225 records Apuendix E - Distribution of different groups of wetland birds.
Ten minute grid cells are ranked using the recorded number of species within different groups of wetland birds. The "wetland" species are listed in Table 3 and are groups considered here are chosen primarily on a taxonomic basis (order of family). Records are all from a combination of NR03 and NR09.
In each graph, the cells have been ranked on a scale of between 0 to 10 against the cell with the maximum number of species, and shaded accordingly. The higher the
ranking the darker the shading. 17 141.0 1425 144.0 145.5 Pelecaniformes (max 6 species) - Latitude and longitude are given on the cormorants, darter and pelican axes.
17 141.0 1425 144.0 145.5 Ciconiiformes (max 19 species) - egrets, Anseriformes (max 9 species) - teal, ducks, herons, bitterns, stork, spoonbills and ibis swan, pygmie geese and Magpie Goose :-. Lf I ?. ?. *-. ., .., . . I...-: ......
i: .+ . .-.: i
.. = 1,. I I I 17 141.0 1425 144.0 145.5 141.0 1425 144.0 145.5 Gruiformes (max 4) - coot, moorhen, Charadriiformes (except Laridae (max swamphen, crakes and brolga 27 species) - jacana, waders
17 141.0 la5 144.0 145.5 141.0 142.5 144.0 145.5 Laridae (max 9 species) - terns and gull. Selection of Passeriformes (see Table 2 - max 11 species) 8 5 Polygons with combined categories => 70% cover
Appendix F I Summary ma~pin~of wetland categories. 86 Polygons with "mangrove" (MAN) category => 70% cover 87 Polygons with "perennial waterbodies" (PER) catergory => 70°/0 8 8 Polygons with "ephemeral waterbodiesn (EPH) category => 70°/o 8 9 Polygons with "open saline areas" (SAL) category => 70% 90 Polygons with "sedgelands" (SED) category => 70% 9 1 Polygons with "swampy forested areas" (DRA) category => 70% A~~endixG Wetland mapping for 1:250 Cleo mqsheets.
The 14 maps here represent scaled down versions of each of thk 1:250 000 map sheets that cover the study qea. Polygons with a proportional cover of more than 30% of a combined value for all of the 6 wetland categories defined in Table 1 have been mapped. Polygons with 30% to 60% proportional cover of "wetland" have been mapped with thin borders and polygons with 70% and above have thick borders. An extra map is given for the intersection of the top 4 map sheets.
Polygons with 10% or 20% cover of wetland are not mapped but were included in compilation of data for Figures 1 and 3. There may be some minor discrepancies between this Appendix and those Figures.
This Appendix can be used for closer examination of distribution of wetlands and boundaries and can be matched up visually with other map coverages. Although the latitudes and longitudes are not given each page gives an area-covering 1.5 degrees longitude and 1 degree latitude. The grid lines are every 15 minutes of both latitude and longitude.