Predicted Vegetation Cover in the Central Lachlan Region
Final Report Project AA1368.97 conducted
under the Bushcare program of the Natural Heritage Trust
This is the report on NHT project AA 1368.97, funded under
the Bushcare program of the National
Heritage Trust, a Federal Government initiative to New
South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service. The project
was let as a contract to CSIRO Wildlife & Ecology (now
CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems) by National Parks and Wildlife
as a contract project entitled Establishing Priorities
for Conservation and Revegetation by Predicting Pre-1750 Vegetation.
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The report has three component files, the main report,
vegetation cover maps and appendices. All three
files are in Adobe™
Acrobat PDF format.
They are also available on CD for A$15.00 (postage within
Australia) and can be ordered by printing out a report
order form (81Kb PDF file).
1. Objectives
Investigate correlations between soil type, aspect and rainfall
and woodland types across pilot areas of the central western
woodlands.
Develop a predictive model of the pre-European distributions
of these woodland types based upon the correlations established
above and on survey data.
Provide the basis for rapidly assessing the priority which
might be attached to any particular remnant, given the original
distribution of that type of woodland and the degree of threat
to the persistence of remnants of that type.
Provide the basis for rapidly assessing the priorities for
revegetation to connect or expand existing remnants.
2. Principal contributors
The project was undertaken by CSIRO Wildlife and Ecology
under contract from NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service
with funding under the Bushcare Program of the Natural Heritage
Trust. Significant input was provided by NSW Department of
Land and Water Conservation (DLWC) and NSW National Parks
and Wildlife Service.
3. Pilot area
selected as having suitable information available was central
Lachlan region which includes the towns of Cowra, Forbes,
Parkes and Condobolin.
4. Groups consulted
during the project included: NSW Department of Land and Water
Conservation, Farming for the Future, NSW National Parks and
Wildlife Service, Greening Australia, State Forests of NSW,
Lachlan Catchment Management Committee/Board, Local Landcare
co-ordinators, Community Solutions
5. Major outcomes/products
To achieve the objectives, the key outcomes were seen as
maps of the original and current distribution of vegetation
communities and tables recording the remaining areas of each
community together with estimates of their condition (Objectives
c and d). Consultation and communication were seen as crucial
to ensure the usefulness of the products. To produce these
products a predictive model of the distribution of the vegetation
communities based on environmental variables (eg. climate
and soils) was a necessary first step (Objectives a and b).
The final products were:
- Map of predicted distribution of current vegetation communities
without clearing in the central Lachlan region, an area
of 22,484km2. What the country would look like if it had
not been cleared.
- Map of current distribution of predicted vegetation communities
on uncleared land in the central Lachlan region (maps enclosed
with report). What the country looks like now after clearing.
- Estimates of percentage area remaining of vegetation communities.
- Partial estimates of "condition" of remaining
remnants by vegetation community - vegetation classification
of the central Lachlan region into 75 communities.
- Detailed maps and tables of species and community distributions
and associated environmental conditions (distributed as
CD-rom).
- Establishment of relational database and associated Geographic
Information System (GIS) to maximise use of the data.
- Report providing an account of explicit methods for vegetation
survey, data management, terrain analysis, vegetation classification,
statistical modelling of species distribution and predictive
maps of plant communities and species.
- Potential products include assessing the threat to existing
communities from dry land salinity.
6. Conservation conclusions
- Five vegetation alliances out of 21 have more than 30%
of their original area remaining.
- Nine vegetation alliances have less than 10% of their
original area remaining.
- On the simple partial estimate of condition that the ground
layer vegetation has to have at least 50% cover of native
species to be in good condition then communities on hills
with shallow rocky soils i.e. those dominated by Callitris
endlicheri (Black Cypress Pine) usually have 75% of their
remaining areas in "good" condition.
- Many other communities have less than 20% in "good"
condition.
- The consequences of this for communities such as E. albens/E.
melliodora (White Box/Yellow Box) is that less than 1% of
their original area is estimated to satisfy even this limited
definition of "good" condition.
1. Data collation and management (see Report Part 2)
Considerable effort was put into collecting and organising
existing information: · Existing species data for 1029
vegetation plots were collated from collaborating scientists.
· A relational database was established to manage the
vegetation and soil attribute data extracted from Soil Landscape
manuals. · A GIS was linked to the database and incorporated
climate maps and soil landscape mapping from DLWC ·
A digital terrain model was developed to estimate topographic
position, a key predictor of vegetation composition.
2. Vegetation survey (see Report Part 3)
Detailed field vegetation surveys were required to expand
the existing data and provide a representative sample for
the region. It included: · A detailed survey design
to stratify the survey region on the basis of climate and
soil landscapes to provide a representative sample of the
regional vegetation. · A vegetation survey which collected
data on species composition and vegetation condition for 1557
plots. · Exploratory data analysis which generated
geographical distribution maps for 212 species and demonstrated
the utility of vegetation data in soil landscape manuals.
3. Vegetation classification and mapping (see Report Part
4)
Statistical models and multivariate classification techniques
were used to generate maps predicting the distribution of
vegetation communities in the study area. The steps included:
· Multivariate pattern analysis classification of 2530
plots using 223 species of trees and shrubs into 21 alliances
and 75 communities. · Detailed maps of distribution
and descriptions of composition of the 75 communities. ·
Statistical modelling of 135 species provided evidence of
the environmental variables correlated with their distribution
and predictions (maps) of their individual distributions across
the entire central Lachlan region. · The predicted
distribution of 135 species for each of the 359,746 gridcells
of the GIS were used to allocate each gridcell to the vegetation
community classification creating the vegetation map of the
region.
4. Products (see Report Part 5)
With the use of the relational database and GIS, a number
of products were produced (listed under A.5 above) including
estimates of the condition of remaining remnants. This information
(214 figures, 237 maps and 384 tables) is presented in detail
as Appendices to the report and has been placed on CD-rom
for cost-effective distribution. The major products are the
maps of vegetation communities for the central Lachlan region.
The Report, Appendices and Maps are also available on-line
5. Evaluation (see Report Part 5)
The mapping was compared with existing NPWS Wheat- belt maps
using the GIS. There was good agreement for most vegetation
communities. The advantage of this project's mapping is the
prediction of the vegetation communities on cleared land.
On the basis of current estimates of the costs of vegetation
mapping, the mapping of nine 1:100,000 map sheets given the
number of products, appears highly cost-effective.
This report may be cited as: Austin, M.P., Cawsey, E.M.,
Baker, B.L., Yialeloglou, M.M., Grice, D.J. and Briggs, S.V.
(2000). 'Predicted Vegetation Cover in the Central Lachlan
Region.' Final Report of the Natural Heritage Trust Project
AA 1368.97. CSIRO Wildlife and Ecology, Canberra
Acknowledgements
NSW
National Parks and Wildlife Service made available vegetation
survey data. NSW
Department of Land and Water Conservation made available
soil landscape and other GIS layers. Manaaki
Whenua Landcare Research New Zealand made available the
software package GRASP for use and testing in this project.
Charles
Sturt University Bathurst made available vegetation survey
data. Numerous individuals and groups gave assistance and
data to make this project possible. Full acknowledgements
are given in Appendix 2.
Disclaimer
The information, maps, data and other products that comprise
this report should only be used within the limitations stipulated
within the report. CSIRO and NSW NPWS do not accept any risks
and responsibility for losses, damages, costs and other consequences
resulting directly or indirectly from using any information
or material in this report. CSIRO and NSW NPWS shall not be
responsible in any way whatsoever to any person who relies
in whole or in part on the contents of this report.
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