SURVEY OF VEGETATION AND HABITAT IN KEY RIPARIAN ZONES: Murrumbidgee River, ACT Luke Johnston, Stephen Skinner, Lesley Ishiyama and Sarah Sharp Technical Report 22 January 2009 Conservation Planning and Research | Land Management and Planning Division | Territory and Municipal Services TECHNICAL REPORT 22 Survey of vegetation and habitat in key riparian zones: Murrumbidgee River, ACT Luke Johnston, Stephen Skinner, Lesley Ishiyama and Sarah Sharp Conservation, Planning and Research Land Management and Planning Division Department of Territory and Municipal Services GPO Box 158, CANBERRA ACT 2601 i Front cover: The Murrumbidgee River and environs near Tharwa Sandwash recreation area, Tharwa, ACT. All photographs: Luke Johnston. ISBN:978‐0‐9806848‐6‐5 © Department of Territory and Municipal Services, Canberra, 2009 Information contained in this publication may be copied or reproduced for study, research, information or educational purposes, subject to appropriate referencing of the source. This document should be cited as: Johnston, L., Skinner, S., Ishiyama, L. and Sharp, S. 2009. Survey of vegetation and habitat in key riparian zones: Murrumbidgee River, ACT. Technical Report 22. Dept of Territory and Municipal Services, Canberra. Published by Conservation Planning and Research, Land Management and Planning Division, Territory and Municipal Services. http://www.tams.act.gov.au | Telephone: Canberra Connect 132 281 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This document was prepared with funding provided by the Australian Government National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality. Additional financial and in‐kind support was provided to this project by the Australian Capital Territory Department of Territory and Municipal Services (TAMS). Many thanks are due to those who provided additional information and support including the ACT Government Parks, Conservation and Lands (PCL) staff at Namadgi National Park, Murrumbidgee River Corridor, and in the Research and Planning section. Kind thanks also go to those rural lessees adjoining the Murrumbidgee River in the ACT who facilitated access and provided additional perspectives to the management of the river environment. Plant identifications were undertaken by PCL staff with confirmations provided by Isobel Crawford at the Australian National Herbarium, Black Mountain. The following TAMS staff directly contributed to the planning, implementation, outputs and review of the project: Luke Johnston, Stephen Skinner, Lesley Ishiyama, Sarah Sharp, Lisa Evans, Felicity Grant, Kevin Frawley, Graeme Hirth, Sharon Lane, Matthew Beitzel and Diwani Velasquez. General Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views, opinions or policy of funding bodies or participating member agencies or organisations. iii Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................iii Table of Contents ................................................................................................................ iv List of Tables ....................................................................................................................... vi List of Figures ...................................................................................................................... vi List of Appendices .............................................................................................................. vii Executive Summary ............................................................................................................ ix PART 1 – BACKGROUND ...................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: The Murrumbidgee River Environment – Overview ......................................................... 3 Vegetation communities and distribution ...................................................................................... 3 Vegetation condition ....................................................................................................................... 4 Evidence for long‐term change ....................................................................................................... 4 PART 2: SURVEY .................................................................................................................. 9 Chapter 3: Methods ............................................................................................................................ 9 Background ...................................................................................................................................... 9 Mapping and survey techniques ..................................................................................................... 9 Remote Photographic Interpretation ............................................................................................ 10 Field Surveys .................................................................................................................................. 10 Plant Identifications ...................................................................................................................... 10 Polygon Assessments .................................................................................................................... 12 Habitat and fauna assessment ...................................................................................................... 12 Vegetation condition ranking ........................................................................................................ 12 Output maps .................................................................................................................................. 13 PART 3: SURVEY RESULTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................................... 18 Chapter 4: Murrumbidgee River Riparian Typology Sequence......................................................... 18 1. Angle Bend to Guises Creek: Ribbon Gum Tableland Riparian Woodland................................ 20 2. Gigerline Gorge: River Bottlebrush – Burgan Tableland Shrubland .......................................... 21 3. Diballs Creek to Point Hut Crossing: Ribbon Gum Tableland Riparian Woodland .................... 24 4. Point Hut to Tuggeranong Ck: She‐oak Tableland Riparian Woodland ..................................... 26 5. Red Rocks Gorge (Tuggeranong Ck to Kambah Pool): River Bottlebrush – Burgan Tableland Riparian Shrubland and She‐oak Tableland Riparian Woodland. .............................................. 28 6. Bullen Range: She‐oak Tableland Riparian Woodland .............................................................. 30 7. Cotter River Confluence to ACT Border: She‐oak Tableland Riparian Woodland ..................... 33 Chapter 5: Murrumbidgee River Vegetation Communities .............................................................. 35 1. Tableland Aquatic and Fringing Vegetation Complex ............................................................... 36 (i) Swamp Herbland: Sub‐Type Riccia–Nostoc Cryptogam Submerged Ephemeral Herbland .. 37 (ii) Swamp Herbland: Sub‐Type Floating and Floating‐leaved Herbland .................................. 39 iv (iii) Swamp Herbland: Sub‐type Vallisneria–Myriophyllum Submerged and Emergent Herbland ............................................................................................................................. 40 (iv) Isoëtes–Isolepis Dwarf Swamp Sedgeland .......................................................................... 41 (v) Schoenoplectus–Bolboschoenus Swamp Sedgeland ............................................................ 41 (vi) Swamp Grassland: Sub‐type Phragmites Grassland ........................................................... 42 (vii) Swamp Bushland: Sub‐type Typha Rushland ..................................................................... 42 (viii) Swamp Bushland: Sub‐type Juncus Rushland ................................................................... 43 (ix) Persicaria–Lythrum Swamp Herbland ................................................................................. 44 2. River Bottlebrush – Burgan Tableland Riparian Shrubland ....................................................... 47 3. Burgan Derived Tableland Shrubland ........................................................................................ 49 4. Ribbon Gum Tableland Riparian Woodland .............................................................................. 51 5. She‐oak Tableland Riparian Woodland ..................................................................................... 53 6. Broad‐leaved Peppermint – Apple Box Tableland Woodland ................................................... 56 7. Snowgum – Candlebark Tableland Woodland .......................................................................... 58 8. Black Cypress Pine Tableland Woodland .................................................................................. 60 9. Red Stringybark – Scribbly Gum Tableland Forest .................................................................... 63 10. Yellow Box – Blakely’s Red Gum Tableland Grassy Woodland ............................................... 65 Chapter 6: Fauna and Habitat in the Murrumbidgee River Valley ..................................................