Floristic Monitoring Report 2014 Prepared for Ulan Coal Mines Limited 31 March 2015 2014 Annual Floristic Monitoring Report 2014 Floristic Monitoring Report PREPARED FOR Ulan Coal Mines Limited PROJECT NO 13MUDECO-0038 DATE March 15 © ECO LOGICAL AUSTRALIA P T Y L T D ii DOCUMENT TRACKING ITEM DETAIL Project Name Ulan Coal Mines Limited Floristic Monitoring Report 2014 Project Number 13MUDECO-0038 W:\Projects\Mudgee\13MUDECO\13MUDECO-0038 UCML Floristic Monitoring S 2013 to A File location 2015\2014 Spring\Report S14\Final Report Prepared by Rachel Murray, Sarah Dickson-Hoyle, Daniel Magdi Technical review Tammy Paartalu Approved by Dr Paul Frazier Status Final Version Number 2 Last saved on 31 March 2015 Acacia ausfeldii, Open Cut rehabilitation, ACQ3, BOBC6 taken by Sarah-Dickson Hoyle and Cover photo David Allworth, 2014. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This document has been prepared by Eco Logical Australia Pty Ltd with support from Ulan Coal Mines Limited. Disclaimer This document may only be used for the purpose for which it was commissioned and in accordance with the contract between Eco Logical Australia Pty Ltd and Ulan Coal Mines Limited. The scope of services was defined in consultation with Ulan Coal Mines Limited, by time and budgetary constraints imposed by the client, and the availability of reports and other data on the subject area. Changes to available information, legislation and schedules are made on an ongoing basis and readers should obtain up to date information. Eco Logical Australia Pty Ltd accepts no liability or responsibility whatsoever for or in respect of any use of or reliance upon this report and its supporting material by any third party. Information provided is not intended to be a substitute for site specific assessment or legal advice in relation to any matter. Unauthorised use of this report in any form is prohibited. © ECO LOGICAL AUSTRALIA P T Y L T D i Contents Contents .....................................................................................................................................................ii List of Figures............................................................................................................................................iv List of Tables ............................................................................................................................................. v Abbreviations.............................................................................................................................................vi 1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Project Area ............................................................................................................................. 2 1.2 Biodiversity Management Plan ................................................................................................ 3 1.2.1 Ecological Management Domain Objectives..................................................................... 3 1.2.2 Flora monitoring................................................................................................................. 5 2 Methodology ............................................................................................................................ 7 2.1 Floristic monitoring................................................................................................................... 7 2.1.1 Residual Vegetation Monitoring ........................................................................................ 8 2.1.2 Revegetation/Regeneration Area Vegetation Monitoring................................................ 11 2.1.3 Floristic-based Subsidence Monitoring ........................................................................... 14 2.2 Landscape Function Analysis................................................................................................ 16 2.2.1 Geographic Setting of the Site ........................................................................................ 17 2.2.2 Landscape Organisation.................................................................................................. 18 2.2.3 Soil Surface Assessment................................................................................................. 18 2.2.4 Vegetation Dynamics....................................................................................................... 19 2.3 Targeted Acacia ausfeldii surveys......................................................................................... 21 2.4 Pivot fence tree-line monitoring............................................................................................. 21 2.5 Weather conditions................................................................................................................ 24 3 Results................................................................................................................................... 26 3.1 Floristic surveys ..................................................................................................................... 26 3.1.1 EEC/CEEC communities ................................................................................................. 26 3.1.2 Non EEC/CEEC communities ......................................................................................... 27 3.1.3 Floristic-based Subsidence Monitoring ........................................................................... 47 3.2 Landscape function analysis ................................................................................................. 47 3.2.1 Vegetation dynamics ....................................................................................................... 51 3.3 Acacia ausfeldii Surveys........................................................................................................ 52 © ECO LOGICAL AUSTRALIA P T Y L T D ii 3.3.1 Highett Road Population.................................................................................................. 52 3.3.2 Highett & Marshall Road vegetation mapping................................................................. 54 3.3.3 Open Cut Translocation Area Population........................................................................ 56 3.4 Pivot fence tree-line monitoring............................................................................................. 58 4 Discussion & Recommendations........................................................................................... 62 4.1 Floristic monitoring................................................................................................................. 62 4.1.1 EEC/CEEC communities ................................................................................................. 62 4.1.2 Non EEC/CEEC communities ......................................................................................... 63 4.1.3 Floristic-based Subsidence Monitoring ........................................................................... 64 4.1.3.1 Sites at which Floristic Based Subsidence Monitoring concluded in 2014 ................. 64 4.1.4 Weeds.............................................................................................................................. 67 4.1.5 Future Monitoring ............................................................................................................ 68 4.2 Landscape function analysis and vegetation dynamics ........................................................ 68 4.2.1 Landscape function analysis ........................................................................................... 68 4.2.2 Vegetation Dynamics....................................................................................................... 69 4.2.3 Recommendations........................................................................................................... 69 4.3 Acacia ausfeldii...................................................................................................................... 69 4.3.1 Highett Road.................................................................................................................... 69 4.3.2 Acacia ausfeldii translocation .......................................................................................... 69 4.3.3 Literature Review............................................................................................................. 70 4.3.4 Open Cut Rehabilitation .................................................................................................. 70 4.4 Pivot fence tree-line monitoring............................................................................................. 70 5 References ............................................................................................................................ 72 Appendix A: Flora List ............................................................................................................................. 74 © ECO LOGICAL AUSTRALIA P T Y L T D iii List of Figures Figure 1.1: UCML Ecological Management Domains ...............................................................................6 Figure 2.1: Residual vegetation monitoring sites ....................................................................................10 Figure 2.2: Revegetation/Regeneration vegetation monitoring sites ......................................................13