Reconnaissance Flora and Vegetation Assessment Part Lots 3060, 4869 and 29259 Great Southern Highway, Saint Ronans Project No: EP19-091(01) Prepared for Alkina Holdings Pty Ltd February 2020 Prepared for Alkina Holdings Pty Ltd Doc No.: EP19-091(01)--003C RAW| Version: C Reconnaissance Flora and Vegetation Assessment Part Lots 3060, 4869 and 29259 Great Southern Highway, Saint Ronans Document Control Doc name: Reconnaissance Flora and Vegetation Assessment Part Lots 3060, 4869 and 29259 Great Southern Highway, Saint Ronans Doc no.: EP19-091(01)--003C RAW Version Date Author Reviewer October 2019 Rachel Weber RAW Tom Atkinson TAA 1 Report prepared for client review October 2019 Rachel Weber RAW Tom Atkinson TAA A Minor updates following client review January 2020 Rachel Weber RAW Ashley Bird ALB B Minor updates due to changes to site boundary February 2020 Rachel Weber RAW Ashley Bird ALB C Minor updates following client review © 2020 Emerge Associates All Rights Reserved. Copyright in the whole and every part of this document belongs to Emerge Associates and may not be used, sold, transferred, copied or reproduced in whole or in part in any manner or form or in or on any media to any person without the prior written consent of Emerge Associates. Project number: EP19-091(01)|February 2020 Page i Prepared for Alkina Holdings Pty Ltd Doc No.: EP19-091(01)--003C RAW| Version: C Reconnaissance Flora and Vegetation Assessment Part Lots 3060, 4869 and 29259 Great Southern Highway, Saint Ronans Executive Summary Alkina Holdings Pty Ltd engaged Emerge Associates (Emerge) to undertake a reconnaissance flora and vegetation survey within part of Lots 3060, 4869 and 29259 Great Southern Highway and a portion of Great Southern Highway classified as ‘road’ in Saint Ronans (referred to herein as ‘the site’). The site is approximately 163.46 hectares (ha) in size. A botanist and an ecologist from Emerge Associates visited the site on 23 and 25 September 2019 and 4 January 2020 and undertook a reconnaissance flora and vegetation survey. During the survey an assessment was made on the type, condition and values of vegetation across the site. Outcomes of the survey include the following: • Non-native vegetation is present across 158.23 ha (97%) of the site, primarily in the southern portion. • Remnant native vegetation is present across 5.23 ha (3%) of the site, primarily in the northern portion. • A total of 162 native and 30 non-native (weed) species were recorded in the site. • No threatened flora species were recorded within the site. • Two priority flora species, Drosera albonotata (P2) and Hemigenia ?platyphylla (P4), were recorded in the northern portion of the site. • Some other threatened and priority flora species were not recorded during the survey but have potential to occur in native vegetation within the northern portion of the site. The remainder of the site is not considered to provide habitat for threatened or priority flora species and therefore none are considered likely to occur across the majority of the site. • The native vegetation within the site was classified into six plant communities that are present in ‘excellent’, ‘very good’, ‘very good – good’, good’ and ‘degraded’ condition. • No TECs or PECs occur within the site. • Native vegetation within the site, particularly large trees, has potential to provide habitat for threatened species of black cockatoo. Project number: EP19-091(01)|February 2020 Page ii Prepared for Alkina Holdings Pty Ltd Doc No.: EP19-091(01)--003C RAW| Version: C Reconnaissance Flora and Vegetation Assessment Part Lots 3060, 4869 and 29259 Great Southern Highway, Saint Ronans This page has been left blank intentionally. Project number: EP19-091(01)|February 2020 Page iii Prepared for Alkina Holdings Pty Ltd Doc No.: EP19-091(01)--003C RAW| Version: C Reconnaissance Flora and Vegetation Assessment Part Lots 3060, 4869 and 29259 Great Southern Highway, Saint Ronans Table of Contents 1 Introduction ...........................................................................................................................................1 1.1 Project background ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Purpose and scope of work ............................................................................................................... 1 2 Environmental Context ..........................................................................................................................2 2.1 Climate .............................................................................................................................................. 2 2.2 Geomorphology and soils ................................................................................................................. 2 2.3 Topography ....................................................................................................................................... 3 2.4 Hydrology .......................................................................................................................................... 3 2.5 Regional vegetation .......................................................................................................................... 4 2.6 Historic land use ................................................................................................................................ 4 2.7 Significant flora and vegetation ........................................................................................................ 5 2.7.1 Threatened and priority flora ............................................................................................ 5 2.7.2 Threatened and priority ecological communities ............................................................. 5 2.7.3 Local and regional significance .......................................................................................... 6 2.7.4 Weeds ............................................................................................................................... 6 2.8 Environmentally sensitive areas ....................................................................................................... 6 2.9 DBCA managed or legislated lands ................................................................................................... 6 2.10 Ecological linkages ............................................................................................................................ 7 2.11 Previous surveys ............................................................................................................................... 7 3 Methods ................................................................................................................................................8 3.1 Desktop assessment ......................................................................................................................... 8 3.1.1 Database searches ............................................................................................................ 8 3.1.2 Likelihood of occurrence ................................................................................................... 8 3.2 Field survey ....................................................................................................................................... 8 3.2.1 Flora and vegetation ......................................................................................................... 8 3.3 Mapping and data analysis ............................................................................................................. 10 3.3.1 Plant community identification and description ............................................................. 10 3.3.2 Threatened and priority ecological communities ........................................................... 10 3.3.3 Species accumulation curve ............................................................................................ 10 3.4 Survey limitations ........................................................................................................................... 10 4 Results ................................................................................................................................................. 12 4.1 General site conditions ................................................................................................................... 12 4.2 Flora ................................................................................................................................................ 12 4.2.1 Desktop assessment ........................................................................................................ 12 4.2.2 Species inventory ............................................................................................................ 15 4.2.3 Threatened and priority flora .......................................................................................... 15 4.2.4 Locally and regionally significant flora ............................................................................ 16 4.2.5 Declared pests ................................................................................................................. 16 4.3 Vegetation ....................................................................................................................................... 16 4.3.1 Desktop assessment .......................................................................................................