Mount Gibson Level 2 Flora and Vegetation Survey (Limited regional) Prepared for Mount Gibso n Mining Limited 1 April 2016 Mount Gibson Level 2 Flora and Vegetation Survey DOCUMENT TRACKING Item Detail Project Name Mount Gibson Level 2 Flora and Vegetation Survey (Limited regional) Project Number 15PER-2632 Joel Collins Project Manager Suite 1 & 2, 49 Ord Street, West Perth 6005 (08) 9227 1070 Prepared by Sarah Dalgleish, Nicki Thompson, Joel Collins Reviewed by Joel Collins Approved by Mark Vile Status Final Version Number 5 Last saved on 1 April 2016 Cover photo Vegetation on Mount Gibson Range © Eco Logical Australia 2015 This report should be cited as ‘Eco Logical Australia 2016. Mount Gibson Level 2 Flora and Vegetation Survey. Prepared for Mount Gibson Mining Limited.’ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This document has been prepared by Eco Logical Australia Pty Ltd with support from Mount Gibson Mining 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 Mount Gibson Mining Limited. The scope of services was defined in consultation with Mount Gibson Mining 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. Template 29/9/2015 © ECO LOGICAL AUSTRALIA PTY LTD ii Mount Gibson Level 2 Flora and Vegetation Survey Contents Executive summary ............................................................................................................................... vii 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Project background ....................................................................................................................... 1 2 Background information ............................................................................................................ 2 2.1 Study Area .................................................................................................................................... 2 2.2 Bioregion ....................................................................................................................................... 2 2.3 Climate .......................................................................................................................................... 2 2.4 Landform, geology and soils......................................................................................................... 3 2.5 Vegetation..................................................................................................................................... 3 2.6 Priority Ecological Communities ................................................................................................... 3 3 Desktop assessment .................................................................................................................. 5 3.1 Literature review ........................................................................................................................... 5 3.2 Database searches ....................................................................................................................... 5 3.3 Conservation listed flora ............................................................................................................... 5 4 Methodology ............................................................................................................................... 7 4.1 Study team and timing of the survey ............................................................................................ 7 4.2 Flora and vegetation survey ......................................................................................................... 7 4.3 Specimen identification and nomenclature ................................................................................... 8 4.4 Statistical analysis ........................................................................................................................ 8 5 Results ....................................................................................................................................... 12 5.1 Flora of the Study Area ............................................................................................................... 12 5.2 Conservation significant flora ..................................................................................................... 12 5.3 Vegetation condition and communities ....................................................................................... 13 5.3.1 Floristic group comparison with ecologia (2015) ........................................................................ 13 5.3.2 Floristic groups of the Study Area .............................................................................................. 14 5.3.3 Floristic groups of the local area................................................................................................. 15 5.3.4 Additional mapping ..................................................................................................................... 16 5.3.5 Vegetation condition ................................................................................................................... 27 5.3.6 Annual/perennial species analysis comparison.......................................................................... 27 5.4 Species richness ........................................................................................................................ 30 5.5 Preliminary qualitative assessment of regional quadrats ........................................................... 32 5.6 Limitations ................................................................................................................................... 34 6 Summary and conclusions ...................................................................................................... 35 © ECO LOGICAL AUSTRALIA PTY LTD iii Mount Gibson Level 2 Flora and Vegetation Survey 6.1 The Study Area ........................................................................................................................... 35 6.2 The local analysis ....................................................................................................................... 35 6.3 Preliminary regional analysis ...................................................................................................... 36 References ............................................................................................................................................. 37 Appendix A Previous flora and vegetation survey summary ........................................................... 39 Appendix B Quadrat location summary .............................................................................................. 44 Appendix C Flora species list .............................................................................................................. 47 Appendix D Site by species matrix ..................................................................................................... 60 Appendix E Quadrat data ..................................................................................................................... 70 List of figures Figure 1: Regional context and location of the Study Area ........................................................................ 4 Figure 2: Vegetation and flora sampling site locations. Labelled sites were used in the current statistical analysis ..................................................................................................................................................... 10 Figure 3: Regional vegetation and flora sampling site locations. Labelled sites were used in the current statistical analysis ..................................................................................................................................... 11 Figure 4: Vegetation and Flora Sampling Site Locations and Species Richness per Quadrat (ELA) in the Study Area. ............................................................................................................................................... 17 Figure 5: Dendrogram showing floristic similarity among the quadrats in the Mt Gibson area ............... 18 Figure 6: NMDS analysis showing floristic similarity of the quadrats in relation to their spatial position in the landscape ........................................................................................................................................... 19 Figure 7: NMDS analysis showing the similarity of the quadrats in relation to floristic grouping ............. 19 Figure 8: Floristic groups mapping determined for each quadrat (current and previous surveys) within the Study Area using ecologia (2015) floristic groups ...................................................................................