Browse LNG Precinct ©WOODSIDE Browse Liquefied Natural Gas Precinct Strategic Assessment Report (Draft for Public Review) December 2010 Appendix C-18 A Vegetation and Flora Survey of James Price Point: Wet Season 2009 A Vegetation and Flora Survey of James Price Point: Wet Season 2009 Prepared for Department of State Development December 2009 A Vegetation and Flora Survey of James Price Point: Wet Season 2009 © Biota Environmental Sciences Pty Ltd 2009 ABN 49 092 687 119 Level 1, 228 Carr Place Leederville Western Australia 6007 Ph: (08) 9328 1900 Fax: (08) 9328 6138 Project No.: 503 Prepared by: P. Chukowry, M. Maier Checked by: G. Humphreys Approved for Issue: M. Maier This document has been prepared to the requirements of the client identified on the cover page and no representation is made to any third party. It may be cited for the purposes of scientific research or other fair use, but it may not be reproduced or distributed to any third party by any physical or electronic means without the express permission of the client for whom it was prepared or Biota Environmental Sciences Pty Ltd. This report has been designed for double-sided printing. Hard copies supplied by Biota are printed on recycled paper. Cube:Current:503 (Kimberley Hub Wet Season):Doc:Flora:503 flora v7_2.doc 3 A Vegetation and Flora Survey of James Price Point: Wet Season 2009 4 Cube:Current:503 (Kimberley Hub Wet Season):Doc:Flora:503 flora v7_2.doc Biota A Vegetation and Flora Survey of James Price Point: Wet Season 2009 A Vegetation and Flora Survey of James Price Point: Wet Season 2009 Contents 1.0 Summary 9 1.1 Study Background 9 1.2 Study Methodology and Survey Timing 9 1.3 Limitations 10 1.4 Vegetation of James Price Point 10 1.5 Flora of James Price Point 11 1.6 Conclusions 12 2.0 Introduction 13 2.1 Background to the Study 13 2.2 Location of the James Price Point Study Area 13 2.3 Approach to the Study 13 3.0 Review of Existing Information 17 3.1 Methodology for Review 17 3.2 Regional Context of the Study Area 18 4.0 Study Methodology 27 4.1 Study Team and Timing of Field Survey 27 4.2 Vegetation Survey Methodology 27 4.3 Flora Survey Methodology 28 4.4 Vegetation Conservation Significance Assessment 29 4.5 Flora Identification and Data Entry 30 4.6 Data Analysis 31 4.7 Limitations of the Study 31 5.0 Vegetation of James Price Point 33 5.1 Overview of Vegetation 33 5.2 Description of Vegetation Types 33 5.3 Factors Affecting Vegetation Condition 38 5.4 Floristic Analysis 40 5.5 Conservation Significance of the Vegetation at James Price Point 42 6.0 Flora of James Price Point 55 6.1 Overview of Flora Recorded 55 6.2 Species of Conservation Significance 57 6.3 Summary of Flora Conservation Significance 63 6.4 Introduced Flora 63 7.0 Conclusions 67 8.0 References 69 Cube:Current:503 (Kimberley Hub Wet Season):Doc:Flora:503 flora v7_2.doc 5 A Vegetation and Flora Survey of James Price Point: Wet Season 2009 Appendix 1 Framework for Listing the Conservation Status of Communities and Species in Western Australia Appendix 2 Vegetation Structural Classification and Condition Ranking Scale Appendix 3 Vegetation of the James Price Point Study Area Appendix 4 Raw Data from 2009 Sampling Sites within the James Price Point Study Area Appendix 5 Vegetation Conservation Significance Assessment for the James Price Point Study Area Appendix 6 List of Flora Recorded from the James Price Point Study Area Appendix 7 Locations of Weeds Recorded from the James Price Point Study Area Tables Table 3.1: Land Systems within the James Price Point study area. 22 Table 4.1: Explanation of features and codes used in the vegetation conservation assessment. 30 Table 5.1: Summary of vegetation units described within the James Price Point study area. 46 Table 6.1: Numbers of native species, genera and families and weeds recorded by the different surveys of the James Price Point study area. 55 Table 6.2: Number of native taxa, genera and families for four study areas in the Dampierland subregion. 55 Table 6.3: Average species richness per sampling site (quadrats and relevés) for each of the major vegetation units. 56 Table 6.4: Plant families with the highest native species richness at James Price Point. 57 Table 6.5: Plant genera with the highest native species richness at James Price Point. 57 Table 6.6: Summary of Priority flora recorded from James Price Point. 58 Table 6.7: Record of Gomphrena pusilla at James Price Point. 58 Table 6.8: Records of Eriachne semiciliata at James Price Point. 59 Table 6.9: Records of Polymeria distigma at James Price Point. 59 Table 6.10: Records of Pittosporum moluccanum at James Price Point. 60 Table 6.11: Introduced flora recorded from the James Price Point study area. 65 Figures Figure 2.1: Location of the James Price Point wet season survey area. 15 Figure 3.1: Extent of Land Systems occurring within the James Price Point study area and surrounds. 21 6 Cube:Current:503 (Kimberley Hub Wet Season):Doc:Flora:503 flora v7_2.doc A Vegetation and Flora Survey of James Price Point: Wet Season 2009 Figure 4.1: Monthly rainfall for Broome for the 11 month period preceding the field surveys in March 2009, compared with long-term (since 1939) average monthly rainfall (data from WA Bureau of Meteorology for Broome Airport recording station). 27 Figure 5.1: MDS plot of the wet-season flora quadrats, with sites in related vegetation types indicated in red. 40 Figure 5.2: MDS plot of wet-season and dry-season data from James Price Point (Biota, this study; ENV Australia 2008b), along with dry- season data from Perpendicular Head-North Head, Packer Island and Gourdon Bay (ENV Australia 2008b), and overview of grouping of James Price Point sites into broad vegetation types. 42 Figure 6.1: Species accumulation graph for all sites sampled at James Price Point (dry-season sampling based on ENV Australia (2008b); wet-season sampling based on this study). 56 Plates Plate 5.1: Eroding pindan cliffs topped by coastal heath, south of Flat Rock, looking north (map 1, sheet 4). 48 Plate 5.2: Coastal heath dominated by prostrate Acacia tumida var. kulparn and stunted Gubinge (Terminalia ferdinandiana) on eroded pindan cliffs, looking south from Flat Rock (map 1, sheet 4). 48 Plate 5.3: View south towards Sarubin block, showing dune blow-out area with sparse cover of Fimbristylis sericea at left (map 3, sheet 16). 48 Plate 5.4: Dune blow-out dominated by creeping Fimbristylis sericea near Murtjal Creek, north of Quondong Point (map 4, sheet 20). 48 Plate 5.5: Coastal sand dune dominated by Crotalaria cunninghamii, Spinifex longifolius and Ipomoea pes-caprae abutting evergreen monsoon vine thicket, south of Sarubin block (map 4, sheet 20). 48 Plate 5.6: Coastal sand dunes south of Quondong Point (adjacent to Quadrat JP04) dominated by Crotalaria cunninghamii, Spinifex longifolius and Ipomoea pes-caprae creeping onto the beach (map 4, sheet 24). 48 Plate 5.7: View looking south from Quondong Point, showing Buffel Grass (*Cenchrus ciliaris) forming a monotypic stand between beach dunes dominated by Crotalaria cunninghamii (right) and patches of deciduous vine thicket (left) (map 4, sheet 21). 49 Plate 5.8: View looking north towards Quondong Point, showing Buffel Grass (*Cenchrus ciliaris) dominating on either side of the Manari Road outside patches of deciduous vine thicket and coastal sand dunes dominated by Crotalaria cunninghamii (left) (map 1, sheet 6). 49 Plate 5.9: Evergreen monsoon vine thicket on coastal dunes north from Sarubin Block (map 2, sheet 13). 49 Plate 5.10: Evergreen vine thicket dominated by Mimusops elengi, Diospyros humilis and Celtis philippensis, north of Quondong Point (map 3, sheet 16). 49 Plate 5.11: Deciduous monsoon vine thicket (foreground) merging into evergreen vine thicket on and directly behind the coastal dunes (right) (map 4, sheet 20). 49 Plate 5.12: Mixed deciduous and evergreen monsoon vine thicket bisected by Manari Road, between Quondong and James Price Point (map 3, sheet 13). 49 Cube:Current:503 (Kimberley Hub Wet Season):Doc:Flora:503 flora v7_2.doc 7 A Vegetation and Flora Survey of James Price Point: Wet Season 2009 Plate 5.13: Mixed vine thicket community south from James Price Point, showing emergent Ghost Gums (Corymbia bella) and dense Acacia colei (map 3, sheet 13). 50 Plate 5.14: Corymbia bella emergent in mixed deciduous monsoon vine thicket (map 2, sheet 10). 50 Plate 5.15: Patch of Lophostemon grandiflorus at Murtjal Creek, south of the Sarubin Block (map 4, sheet 20). 50 Plate 5.16: Patches of Lophostemon grandiflorus with monsoon vine thicket species at Moorak Windmill, north of Kundandu Creek (map 3, sheet 13). 50 Plate 5.17: Screwpine (Pandanus spiralis var. convexus) behind sand dunes in the drainage basin at Murtjal Creek (map 4, sheet 20). 50 Plate 5.18: Dense mixed shrubland thicket co-dominated by Acacia eriopoda and A. monticola with eucalypts almost absent; east (left) and north (right) of James Price Point (map 2, sheet 10). 51 Plate 5.19: Dense unburnt shrubland dominated by Acacia eriopoda near Manari Road, north from Quondong Point (map 3, sheet 16). 51 Plate 5.20: Coastal pindan dominated by Acacia eriopoda and Corymbia dampieri near Quondong Point (map 4, sheet 24). 51 Plate 5.21: Isolated patches of Eucalyptus miniata occur in pindan east from Quondong Point (map 1, sheet 2).