Vegetation Survey and Mapping Hunter, Central and Lower North Coast Region of NSW A project completed under the Hunter and Central Coast Regional Environmental Management Strategy for the Hunter-Central Rivers Catchment Management Authority Vegetation Survey and Mapping Hunter, Central and Lower North Coast Region of NSW A project completed under the Hunter and Central Coast Regional Environmental Management Strategy for the Hunter-Central Rivers Catchment Management Authority Copyright © 2006 Hunter Central Coast Regional Environmental Management Strategy (Hunter Councils Inc. as legal agent). This document may be cited as: McCauley, A. (2006). Vegetation Survey and Mapping of the Hunter, Central and Lower North Coast Region of NSW. A report prepared for the Hunter-Central Rivers Catchment Management Authority by the HCCREMS team at the Environment Division of Hunter Councils Inc., NSW. ISBN 978-1-920859-17-6 A project completed under the Hunter Central Coast Regional Environmental Management Strategy (HCCREMS) on behalf of the Hunter-Central Rivers Catchment Management Authority. Address for Correspondence: Environment Division Hunter Councils Inc. PO Box 137 THORNTON NSW 2322 www.hccrems.com.au CONTENTS Foreword ................................................................................................................. i Chapter 1: Background and Context ................................................................. 1 1. Background .................................................................................... 1 2. The Study Area ............................................................................. 3 3. Conclusion ..................................................................................... 7 Chapter 2: Systematic Vegetation Surveys ...................................................... 11 1. Background ................................................................................. 11 2. Data Collation ............................................................................. 11 3. Survey Design ............................................................................. 13 4. Survey Results ............................................................................. 17 5. Discussion ................................................................................... 21 6. Conclusion .................................................................................. 23 Chapter 3: Rapid Vegetation Surveys ............................................................. 25 1. Introduction ................................................................................. 25 2. Survey Methods .......................................................................... 26 3. Preliminary Analysis ................................................................... 27 4. Results ......................................................................................... 30 5. Key Findings ............................................................................... 36 Chapter 4: Vegetation Mapping ....................................................................... 39 1. Introduction ................................................................................. 39 2. Materials and Methods ................................................................ 39 3. Results ......................................................................................... 43 4. Discussion ................................................................................... 44 5. Conclusion .................................................................................. 45 6. Recommendations ....................................................................... 45 Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendations ............................................... 51 1. Overview ..................................................................................... 51 2. Site Assessments ......................................................................... 52 3. Vegetation Mapping .................................................................... 53 4. Recommendations ....................................................................... 55 Appendices 1. Inventory of Vegetation Survey Datasets 2. Systematic Vegetation Survey Proforma 3. Vascular Plant Species List from Stage 1 Surveys 4. Summary Reports from Consulting Botanists 5. SPOT5 Image of the Study Area 6. Interpretive map units for individual SPOT5 scenes 7. Vegetation Structural Formation Classes of Specht 8. Summary results of rapid vegetation survey 9. Standardised vegetation descriptions for sites in the Central Coast 10. Dates of image capture and solar acquisition parameters for SPOT5 imagery 11. Field attributes for rapid survey 12. Land cover descriptions for sub-regional vegetation mapping 13. Vegetation descriptions for regional scale vegetation mapping 14. Composition of classes in the Catchment-scale land cover map 15. Metadata Statements ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THIS REPORT AGD66 Australian Geodedic Datum 1966 AMG Australian Map Grid CCP Crown Cover Percent CLID Crown Land Information Database CMA Catchment Management Authority CRAFTI Comprehensive Regional Assessment Aerial Photograph Interpretation DEC NSW Department of Environment and Conservation DEM Digital Elevation Model DP Deposited Plan DNR NSW Department of Natural Resources EBDB Eastern Bushlands Database EEC Endangered Ecological Community EPBC Act Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 GDA94 Geodedic Datum of Australia 1994 GIS Geographic Information System GPS Global Positioning System HCC Hunter, Central and Lower North Coast region of NSW HCCREMS Hunter Central Coast Regional Environmental Management Strategy HCRCMA Hunter-Central Rivers Catchment Management Authority IBRA Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation of Australia LGA Local Government Area LHCCREMS Lower Hunter Central Coast Regional Environmental Management Strategy M305 Murray Darling Basin Vegetation Mapping Program NDVI Normalised Difference Vegetation Index NIR Near Infra-Red NPWS NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service RAMSAR Convention on the protection of wetlands signed in Ramsar, Iran in 1971 RBCS Regional Biodiversity Conservation Strategy ROTAP Rare or Threatened Australian Plant (Briggs and Leigh, 1996) SPOT5 Satellite Pour l'Observation de la Terre number 5 TSC Act Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 (NSW) WSI Water Stress Index YETI Yet another vegetation survey database Foreword The main components of this project include systematic vegetation surveys, ground truth surveys, and vegetation mapping of the Hunter, Central and Lower North Coast Region of NSW. These project components form the basis of the individual chapters of this report and are prefaced by an introduction to the study. Key findings are presented in the final chapter, along with recommendations for future work. Chapter 1: Background This first chapter provides the background and context of the project and presents an overview of the study area, including: the study area boundary, location and extent, history, climate, natural regions, geology and soil, land use, and vegetation. Citations are also made for reference texts and other information sources that provide additional details on the human and physical geography of the region. Chapter 2: Systematic Vegetation Surveys The selection of site locations for completing systematic vegetation surveys was predicated by the compilation of baseline data to identify poorly sampled environments. This chapter describes the methods by which sites were selected, landholders consulted, and surveys undertaken, and presents the results of this work, including the plant species recorded, preliminary findings on the conservation significance of both plant species and vegetation communities that were surveyed, and contextual findings on vegetation condition. Chapter 3: Rapid Vegetation Surveys Rapid vegetation surveys were completed as the ground truth for vegetation mapping. These surveys included assessments of vegetation type, dominant species in each vegetation strata, growth forms, disturbance, and habitat. This chapter presents the methods used to complete the rapid surveys, and the results of a preliminary analysis of the survey data. Chapter 4: Vegetation Mapping This chapter describes the methods used to produce a seamless vegetation map covering the entire study area, including the use of SPOT5 satellite imagery, the integration of this data to produce a seamless mosaic, and the classification of this data to yield map classes for extant vegetation. The results are presented as figures in the text and are also available as spatial data layers and hard copy folded or flat maps. Chapter 5: Project Results As a concluding chapter to this study, the project objectives are again presented along with a brief description of how these objectives were met. Recommendations are made for expanding on this work in order to achieve the ultimate objective of catchment- wide vegetation community mapping for the Hunter, Central and Lower North Coast region of NSW. CHAPTER 1 Background to the Vegetation Survey and Mapping Project in the Hunter, Central and Lower North Coast Region of NSW Angela McCauley 1 This chapter outlines the background to the Hunter and Central and Lower North Coast Vegetation Survey and Mapping Project, including the development of a 10 year plan to establish baseline data in the region for assisting regional and local planning. The structure of this report is presented,