Detailed Flora and Vegetation Survey Gabanintha Tenements
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ENVIRONMENTAL Detailed Flora and Vegetation Survey Gabanintha Tenements Prepared for Australian Vanadium 18 November 2019 Detailed Flora and Vegetation Survey Gabanintha Tenements Document Status Rev Authors Reviewer/s Date Approved for Issue No. Name Distributed To Date 1 D.Brearley, D.Brearley 07/11/17 D.Brearley B.Durrant 09/11/17 B.Menezies J.Waters 2 D.Brearley E.Molloy 16/10/19 D.Brearley E.Molloy 07/11/19 3 D.Brearley E.Molloy 15/11/19 D.Brearley E.Molloy 18/11/19 ACN 095 837 120 PO Box 227 YALLINGUP WA 6282 Telephone 0427339842 E-mail: [email protected] COPYRIGHT: The concepts and information contained in this document are the property of Onshore Environmental Consultants Pty Ltd. Use or copying of this document in whole or in part without the written permission of Onshore Environmental Consultants Pty Ltd constitutes an infringement of copyright. DISCLAIMER: This report has been undertaken solely for Australian Vanadium Ltd. No responsibility is accepted to any third party who may come into possession of this report in whatever manner and who may use or rely on the whole or any part of this report. If any such third party attempts to rely on any information contained in this report such party should obtain independent advice in relation to such information. i Detailed Flora and Vegetation Survey Gabanintha Tenements EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Australian Vanadium Ltd (AVL) commissioned Onshore Environmental Consultants Pty Ltd (Onshore Environmental) to undertake a two season detailed flora and vegetation survey covering the Gabanintha tenements E51/843, E51/1396 and E51/1534, herein referred to as the study area. The study area is situated approximately 45 km south- east of Meekatharra in the Murchison region of Western Australia. The first season field survey was completed between the 31st March and 6th April 2017 with the second season field survey completed from the 1st to 10th September 2017. A total number of 273 plant taxa from 40 families and 104 genera were recorded from the study area. Species representation was greatest among the Fabaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Poaceae and Scrophulariaceae families. The most speciose genus was Acacia (42 taxa), followed by Eremophila (22 taxa), Ptilotus (14 taxa), Maireana (12 taxa), Senna (12 taxa) and Eragrostis (10 taxa). None of the plant taxa recorded from the study area were gazetted as Threatened Flora pursuant to the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (BC Act), or listed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). Seven Priority flora taxa were recorded from the study area: Acacia speckii (Priority 4); Dodonaea amplisemina (Priority 4); Goodenia berringbinensis (Priority 4); Hibiscus krichauffianus (Priority 3); Nicotiana heterantha (Priority 1); Ptilotus lazaridis (Priority 3); and Ptilotus luteolus (Priority 3). Six plant taxa were considered to represent significant range extensions from the current known distributions: Abutilon malvifolium; Hibiscus verdcourtii; Lipocarpha microcephala; Marsilea costulifera; Nicotiana heterantha (also listed as Priority 1); and Sida trichopoda. A total of four introduced species were recorded from the study area: *Bidens bipinnata; *Citrullus colocynthis; *Lysimachia arvensis; and *Tribulus terrestris. None of these introduced taxa are listed as Declared Pests under the Biosecurity and Agriculture Management Act 2007 (BAM Act). A total of 28 vegetation associations classified as 17 broad floristic formations and occurring on eleven broad landforms were described and mapped from the study area. None of the vegetation associations were aligned with federal or state listed Threatened Ecological Communities (TECs) or state listed Priority Ecological Communities (PECs), and all were well represented regionally. ii Detailed Flora and Vegetation Survey Gabanintha Tenements Vegetation condition within the study area ranged from completely degraded to excellent, with the most common and widespread disturbance related to grazing by cattle. Other localised impacts resulted from historical mining activities in the northern sector of the study area, more recent mining exploration, and borrow pits for road construction. Vegetation condition across the largest proportion of the study area was rated as good and very good. iii Detailed Flora and Vegetation Survey Gabanintha Tenements TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................................... ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................................... iv 1.0 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Preamble ....................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Previous Surveys ........................................................................................................ 1 1.3 Biogeographic Regions ............................................................................................. 1 1.4 Existing Land Use ........................................................................................................ 1 1.5 Climate ............................................................................................................................ 3 1.6 Soils.................................................................................................................................. 3 1.7 Landforms ..................................................................................................................... 4 1.8 Geology ........................................................................................................................... 5 1.9 Flora and Vegetation ................................................................................................. 6 1.10 Land Systems ................................................................................................................ 6 2.0 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................... 10 2.1 Legislation and Guidance Statements ............................................................... 10 2.2 Desktop Assessment ................................................................................................ 10 2.2.1 Literature Review .............................................................................................................................. 10 2.2.2 Database Searches ............................................................................................................................. 10 2.2.3 Assessment of Likelihood of Occurrence in the Study Area ............................................ 11 2.3 Baseline Survey Methodology .............................................................................. 11 2.3.1 Timing and Personnel ...................................................................................................................... 11 2.3.2 Sampling of Study Sites ................................................................................................................... 11 2.3.3 Targeted Surveys for Conservation Significant Species.................................................... 13 2.3.4 Weed Survey and Mapping ............................................................................................................ 14 2.3.5 Floristic Analysis ................................................................................................................................ 14 2.3.6 Vegetation Association Mapping ................................................................................................. 14 2.3.7 Vegetation Association Coding ..................................................................................................... 15 2.3.8 Vouchering ............................................................................................................................................ 15 2.3.9 Field Survey Constraints ................................................................................................................. 16 2.3.10 Assessment of Conservation Significance ............................................................................... 17 3.0 RESULTS ................................................................................................................. 18 3.1 Desktop Review ......................................................................................................... 18 3.1.1 Previous Baseline Flora Surveys ................................................................................................. 18 3.1.2 Threatened Flora listed under the EPBC Act ......................................................................... 19 3.1.3 Threatened Flora listed under the IUCN Red List................................................................ 19 3.1.4 Threatened Flora listed under the BC Act ............................................................................... 19 3.1.5 Priority Flora recognised by the DBCA .................................................................................... 19 3.1.6 TECs listed under State and Federal Legislation .................................................................. 19 3.1.7 PECs recognised by DBCA .............................................................................................................. 21 3.2