cunninghamia - a journal of plant ecology for eastern ... · 186 cunninghamia 15: 2015 mackey,...

Cunninghamia: a journal of plant ecology for eastern Australia © 2015 Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trustwww.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/science/Scientific_publications/cunninghamia

CunninghamiaA journal of plant ecology for eastern Australia

ISSN 0727- 9620 (print) • ISSN 2200 - 405X (Online)

Date of Publication: XX December 2015

Classifying and mapping the Australian Alps’ Native Vegetation

Brendan Mackey1, Peter Jacobs2 and Sonia Hugh3

1Griffith Climate Change Response Program, Griffith University [email protected] 2 People in Nature [email protected]

3The Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University [email protected]

Abstract: Strategic and systematic planning for bioregional landscapes that cross jurisdictions is often hampered by different approaches to collecting, classifying and mapping information on the native vegetation cover in terms of major community types. The network of Australian Alps National Parks is one such multi-jurisdictional bioregional landscape consisting of 11 protected areas spanning 1.6 million hectares across Victoria, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. Although the Alps network has a co-operative management program and the parks are listed as National Heritage, there is no common vegetation classification system or map at a scale suitable for management. As part of developing a strategic framework to assist biodiversity conservation for the whole of the Alps Network, a common vegetation classification and map was produced. The new classification utilised existing State vegetation classes and mapping to produce a common system by matching 71 NSW/ACT vegetation groups with 72 Victorian ecological vegetation classes, thereby resulting in 17 common vegetation classes with affinities with other studies described. The 17 vegetation classes also group into five broad vegetation character classes. Expert knowledge was used to match vegetation groups and classes. The resulting classification and map are available as a GIS data layer and as part of a decision support data-pack. This approach provides a low cost method for developing a common vegetation system across multi-jurisdictional landscapes, without replacing State-based systems, and in a format that can be readily updated in light of new field surveys and remotely sensed data. The new classification and map are available for download from an online data repository. This new vegetation information can be applied to help promote a whole-of-landscape approach to planning and management of the Alps Network.

Cunninghamia (2015) 15: 185-199 doi:10.7751/cunninghamia.2015.15.010

186 Cunninghamia 15: 2015 Mackey, Jacobs & Hugh, Australian Alps’ Native Vegetation

Introduction

Information on the composition, structure and distribution of major vegetation types is fundamental for the systematic conservation planning and management of protected areas. Providing data sets with a common coverage, however, can be problematic for protected area networks that span large, multi-jurisdictional landscapes. While encompassing the same bioregions and ecosystem types, different vegetation classification and mapping systems often arise independently over time.

The Australian Alps National Parks Network (hereafter, the Alps Network) comprises 11 protected areas spanning 1.6 million ha across the states of Victoria, New South Wales (NSW) and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) (Table 1, Figure 1). Currently, each State and territory government agency manages the park areas within its jurisdiction. Interagency cooperation is promoted through the Australian Alps Co-operative Management Program (Australian Alps Liaison 2012). There is, however, no whole-of-Alps management plan or common database of biodiversity information. Vegetation classifications and lists of threatened and endangered species are recorded separately using State and Commonwealth based systems with different standards and criteria.

NSW/ACT and Victoria have independently developed vegetation classification and mapping systems. The different methods have resulted in major mismatches which are most apparent at state and territorial borders. The National Vegetation Information System (Department of the Environment and Heritage 2003) has generated continental coverage of native vegetation which spans the Alps Network but the classification and scale of mapping are coarse, omitting a number of vegetation types that are characteristic of the bioregion and providing insufficient

detail for park planning and management purposes. There remains the need for an appropriately scaled common vegetation classification and map for the Alps Network that can complement remotely sensed data on land cover change including weed impacts (Deehan et al. 2007) and updated information about the flora of this complex bioregion (Doherty et al. 2015).

We present here a new classification and map of the Alps Network native vegetation types based on existing data interpreted by expert knowledge, along with a brief description of the source data and discussion on some of the major issues that needed to be resolved and potential applications.

Methods

The definitive approach to developing a new common vegetation system for a large cross-jurisdiction landscape such as the Alps Network would be to undertake a full re-assessment and analysis of the current native vegetation through quantitative on-ground surveys, using these survey plot data to generate a new statistically-based vegetation classification, and then using some form of remote sensing to map the vegetation classes. In the meantime, an alternative, practical approach is to gather available mapped vegetation data from jurisdictions and integrate the different vegetation types into a common classification that can be applied seamlessly across borders, while retaining the original classification units that can be referred to as needed. In addition, descriptive information from other pertinent vegetation surveys can be identified and used to help identify affinities across the vegetation classification systems.

Table 1 National Parks within the Australian Alps National Parks Network.

Jurisdiction National Park Area (ha)

Victoria Alpine National Park 660,550

Snowy River National Park 98,100

Avon Wilderness 39,650

Mount Buffalo National Park 31,000

Baw Baw National Park 13,300

New South Wales Kosciuszko National Park 690,425

Brindabella National Park 18,472

Scabby Range Nature Reserve 4,982

Bimberi Nature Reserve 10,886

Australian Capital Territory Namadgi National Park 105,900

Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve 5,450

Total area 1,600,000

Cunninghamia 15: 2015 Mackey, Jacobs & Hugh, Australian Alps’ Native Vegetation 187

Alpine Bogs and Fens and Alpine Heathlands Tall Wet Forests

Alpine Grasslands and Herbfields Moist Montane Forest

Sub alpine Woodlands and Open forests Rainshadow Woodlands and Open Forests

Fig. 1. Examples of major Alps-wide vegetation classes.


Fig. 2. Location of the Australian Alps National Parks Network.


Fig. 3. Major vegetation types recognized by the new vegetation classification of the Alps Network.


While several studies describe the Alps Network vegetation to various degrees, the only two spatial datasets that were suitable for this study were those of Gellie (2005) for NSW and ACT and the Department of Sustainability and Environment (2015) for Victoria. The first step was to identify the distinctive and recognisable vegetation types that characterise the Australian Alps Network landscapes. The second step was to align and match the vegetation units of the NSW/ACT and Victorian classification systems. For Victoria, these are called Ecological Vegetation Classes and for NSW/ACT, Vegetation Groups.

To provide additional and updated information on vegetation types within each common class, vegetation community descriptions were also drawn from Armstrong et al. (2013) for NSW/ACT, along with those of McDougall & Walsh (2006) for treeless areas. A vegetation type of special concern is the Alpine Peatlands and Bog community, which is a nationally listed community (DEWHA 2009). This community type is incompletely mapped by both Gellie (2006) and by DSE’s EVCs. Consequently, an additional Alpine Peatlands and Bogs layer was produced by combining more accurate Peatland mapping (Office of Environment and Heritage 2012; Arthur Rylah Institute 2008). In synthesising and integrating the available information about vegetation types, we drew upon our own knowledge of the region’s ecology along with advice gained from consultations with three vegetation experts as detailed in the Acknowledgements section below.

The vegetation map was developed based on the new vegetation classification using a combination of the two base maps provided by Gellie (2005) and Office of Environment and Heritage (2012) for NSW/ACT and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (2014) for Victoria, along with the afore mentioned updated Alpine Peatlands and Bogs layer. The combined Alpine Vegetation map was created using ArcGIS desktop (ESRI 2014) and R software (R Core Team 2015). The new map was then clipped to the Australian Alps national park boundaries. All polygons classified as ‘Alpine Bog and Fens’ were merged into neighbouring polygons with the largest area or the longest shared border using the eliminate tool in the Generalization Toolbox of the Data Management Tools (ESRI 2014). The Alpine Peatlands and Bogs layer was then over-laid as the Alpine Bog and Fens classification.

Results

The aligned and matched EVCs and VGs, along with the new common Alps vegetation classes are described in Table 2. By way of summary, the classification matching exercise grouped 71 NSW/ACT vegetation groups (Gellie 2005) with 72 Victorian ecological vegetation classes (DSE 2015) to produce 17 common vegetation classes (see Figures 2 and

3). These 17 vegetation classes were then further grouped into five broad vegetation character classes (A-E below):

A. Lower to mid elevation forests and woodlands1: (1) Temperate Rainforest; (2) Moist Foothill Forests: (3) Dry Foothill Forests; (4) Rainshadow Woodlands and Open Forests;

B. Montane grasslands, forests and woodlands: (5) Tablelands Grassland: (6) Moist Montane Forest: (7) Tall Wet Forests; (8) Montane Woodlands and Open Forests;

C. Open Rocky outcrops: (9) Rocky outcrops;

D. Sub-alpine woodlands, open forest and treeless: (10) Sub alpine Woodlands and Open forests; (11) Sub alpine treeless grasslands and herb fields; (12) Montane & sub-alpine Wet Heathland and Sedgeland; (13) Montane & sub-Alpine Dry Heathland and Shrubland; and

E. Alpine treeless: (14) Alpine Bogs and Fens; (15) Alpine Heathland; (16) Feldmark & Snowpatch Herbfield; (17) Alpine Grasslands & Herbfields.

The vegetation information summarised in Table 2 and a detailed digital version of the vegetation map (Figure 3) are available to download from the Terra Nova Climate Change Information Climate Change Adaptation Information Portal at <https://terranova.org.au/repository/australian-alps-network-vegetation-classification>

A version of the new vegetation map is also available as part of a MCAS-S data pack that can be downloaded from <http://www.nerplandscapes.edu.au/data-packs - Alps Icons & Threats Data Pack>. The Multi-Criteria Analysis Shell for Spatial Decision Support (MCAS-S) (Lesslie et al. 2008) is a decision support tool designed specifically for non-GIS experts to easily visualise and analyse spatial data when addressing natural resource management and planning problems.

Discussion

The development of the new vegetation classification and map was primarily limited by the availability of spatial vegetation data. These available spatial data were developed a decade ago and while there have been more recent vegetation and floristic studies in the bioregion the mapped data have not been updated to reflect recent findings and land cover changes. As noted in the methods section, where available, some more recent vegetation survey and descriptive work was incorporated into the new classification, however this information was not geographically comprehensive. At the time of our analyses, NSW was in the process of updating its state-wide biometric data, which could only be partly used, and is also incomplete in terms of coverage.

1 Lower to mid elevation refers to areas that extend from the lowest to the median elevation areas of the Australian Alps ( i.e.100m up to around 1000m ASL), (see Table 2).

Cunninghamia 15: 2015 Mackey, Jacobs & Hugh, Australian Alps’ Native Vegetation 191Ta

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er S

now

y D

ry S

hrub

-Tu

ssoc

k G

rass

For

est

77


Tabl

elan

d D

ry H

eath

Shr

ub-

Her

b-G

rass

Woo

dlan

d38

Foot

hill

Box

Iron

bark

For

est

24

Sout

h C

oast

and

Bya

dbo

Aca

cia

Scru

bs35

Bla

ckth

orn

Scru

b27

Tabl

elan

d M

oist

Her

b-G

rass

land

152

Tabl

elan

ds

Gra

ssla

nd

Tabl

elan

ds G

rass

land

is

dom

inat

ed

by T

hem

eda

aust

ralis

&

Poa

sieb

eria

na. I

t occ

upie

s a

smal

l are

a in

the

alps

, occ

urrin

g in

sub

-alp

ine

valle

ys in

Nam

adgi

Nat

iona

l Par

k an

d is

kno

wn

to o

ccur

also

in V

icto

ria’s

ea

ster

n hi

gh c

ount

ry b

ut is

not

map

ped.

Mon

tane

gra

ssla

nds,

fore

sts a

nd

woo

dlan

dsTa

blel

and

Tuss

ock

Gra

ssla

nd

-Sed

gela

nd14

8

Tabl

elan

d an

d Es

carp

men

t Wet

La

yere

d Sh

rub

Fore

st58

Shru

bby

Dam

p Fo

rest

316

Moi

st M

onta

ne

Fore

st

Moi

st M

onta

ne F

ores

t is a

Tal

l mix

ed sp

ecie

s for

est,

com

mon

ly o

ccur

ring

in h

ighe

r moi

st si

tuat

ions

rang

ing

from

100

0 m

to 1

500m

ASL

, but

low

er

in R

ipar

ian

fore

st ar

eas,

parti

cula

rly in

the s

outh

. It i

s gen

eral

ly p

ositi

oned

ab

ove

the

foot

hill

fore

sts

and

mix

ing

at th

at e

leva

tion

with

the

Tall

Wet

Fo

rest

s an

d M

onta

ne W

oodl

ands

and

Ope

n Fo

rest

s. Fo

rest

are

gen

eral

ly

dom

inat

ed b

y Eu

caly

ptus

dal

rym

plea

na &

E. f

astig

ata,

with

occ

urre

nces

of

E. r

ober

tson

ii, E

. div

es, E

. cyp

ello

carp

a, E

. cha

pman

iana

, E. v

imin

alis

, E.

rubi

da &

E. o

bliq

ua. E

. pau

ciflo

ra m

ay m

ix in

at h

ighe

r el

evat

ions

. Ac

acia

dea

lbat

a, A

.mel

anxy

lon,

Dav

iesi

a ili

cifo

lia, E

xoca

rpus

stri

ctus

&

Pers

ooni

a ch

amae

pity

s may

occ

ur in

the

unde

rsto

rey.

Mon

tane

gra

ssla

nds,

fore

sts a

nd

woo

dlan

ds

Mon

tane

Rip

aria

n M

oist

Shr

ub-

Gra

ss-H

erb

Fore

st83

Rip

aria

n Fo

rest

/Cre

eklin

e G

rass

y W

oodl

and

Mos

aic

293

Mon

tane

Rip

aria

n M

oist

Shr

ub/

Sedg

e/G

rass

Fore

st85

Rip

aria

n Fo

rest

/Sw

ampy

R

ipar

ian

Woo

dlan

d/R

ipar

ian

Shru

blan

d/R

iver

ine

Esca

rpm

ent S

crub

Mos

aic

84

AC

T M

onta

ne D

ry S

hrub

For

est

105

Rip

aria

n Fo

rest

18

Cen

tral T

able

land

-AC

T M

onta

ne

Dry

Shr

ub F

ores

t10

7M

onta

ne H

erb-

rich

Woo

dlan

d31

9

Wes

tern

Esc

arpm

ent S

hrub

-G

rass

For

est

88

East

ern

Tabl

elan

ds A

caci

a-H

erb-

Gra

ss F

ores

t89

Wes

tern

Esc

arpm

ent M

oist

Sh

rub-

Her

b-G

rass

For

est

87M

onta

ne D

amp

Fore

st38

Tall

Wet

For

ests

Tall

Wet

For

ests

are

the

talle

st f

ores

ts in

the

Aus

tralia

n A

lps

typi

cally

do

min

ated

by

Euca

lypt

us d

eleg

aten

sis.

E. d

eleg

aten

sis

fore

sts

occu

r th

roug

hout

the

alps

hig

h on

the

uppe

r sl

opes

bet

wee

n 90

0 an

d 14

50 m

A

SL, m

ixin

g w

ith E

. dal

rym

plea

na &

E. p

auci

flora

at h

ighe

r ele

vatio

ns.

The

unde

rsto

rey

is c

omm

only

shr

ubby

with

spe

cies

suc

h as

Aca

cia

obliq

uine

rvia

, D

avie

sia

ulic

ifolia

& D

.latif

olia

, w

ith a

gro

und

laye

r ge

nera

lly in

clud

ing

herb

s, tre

e fe

rns

and

gras

ses.

E. d

eleg

aten

sis i

s ve

ry

fire

sens

itive

and

an

oblig

ate

seed

er. M

any

stan

ds h

ave

been

bur

nt in

the

last

20

year

s, w

ith la

rge

sing

le a

ge s

tand

s no

w in

a s

crub

by r

egro

wth

st

age

and

vuln

erab

le to

furth

er fi

res u

ntil

they

mat

ure.

E. r

egna

ns fo

rest

s ar

e le

ss c

omm

on in

the A

ustra

lian

alps

, occ

urrin

g on

dee

p so

ils in

moi

st

gulli

es m

ainl

y on

the

sout

hern

fall

betw

een

300

m a

nd 1

100m

ASL

.

Wes

tern

Sub

-alp

ine

Moi

st S

hrub

Fo

rest

86

Dam

p Fo

rest

29

Wet

For

est

30

Tabl

elan

d D

amp

Fore

st35

Mon

tane

Wet

For

est

39

Shru

bby

Wet

For

est

201

194 Cunninghamia 15: 2015 Mackey, Jacobs & Hugh, Australian Alps’ Native VegetationTa

blel

and

Aca

cia

Moi

st H

erb

Fore

st95

Mon

tane

W

oodl

ands

and

O

pen

Fore

sts

Mon

tane

Woo

dlan

ds a

nd O

pen

Fore

sts,

incl

udin

g w

oodl

ands

in ri

paria

n ar

eas,

occu

r w

idel

y be

twee

n 80

0m a

nd 1

600m

ASL

on

drie

r ex

pose

d sl

opes

. Gen

eral

ly lo

wer

and

mor

e op

en th

an th

e m

oist

tall

mon

tane

fore

st

at s

imila

r ele

vatio

n, it

is c

hara

ctar

ised

by

the

asso

ciat

ion

of E

ucal

yptu

s pa

ucifl

ora

with

E. d

alry

mpl

eana

, E. r

ubid

a &

E. d

ives

with

E. s

tellu

lata

&

E. c

amph

ora

in w

ette

r and

ripa

rian

area

s.

Und

erst

ory

may

inc

lude

Aca

cia

deal

bata

, A.

obliq

uine

rvia

, C

assi

nia

acul

eate

, Hak

ea m

icro

carp

a, E

pacr

is b

revi

flora

, Bae

ckea

util

is, D

avie

sia

ulic

ifolia

, D.la

tifol

ia, D

. mim

osoi

des,

Exoc

arpu

s str

ictu

s & g

rass

es, P

oa

sieb

eria

na &

The

med

a au

stra

lis.

Wes

tern

Mon

tane

Wet

Hea

th-

Her

b G

rass

Woo

dlan

d12

4

Wes

tern

Mon

tane

Moi

st S

hrub

Fo

rest

98

Mon

tane

Rip

aria

n W

oodl

and

40

Tree

d M

onta

ne R

ipar

ian

Woo

dlan

d40

-61

Brin

dabe

lla M

onta

ne D

ry F

ern-

Gra

ss F

ores

t10

2M

onta

ne D

ry W

oodl

and

36

Tabl

elan

d Tu

ssoc

k G

rass

/Her

b Fo

rest

96

Mon

tane

Aca

cia-

Dry

Shr

ub-

Her

b-G

rass

For

est

97

Tabl

elan

ds A

caci

a G

rass

/Her

b/D

ry F

ores

t10

1

Cen

tral T

able

land

s Shr

ub-G

rass

D

ry F

ores

t76

AC

T M

onta

ne D

ry S

hrub

-Gra

ss

Fore

st10

0M

onta

ne G

rass

y W

oodl

and

37

Roc

k O

utcr

ops

190

Alp

ine

Cra

g C

ompl

ex10

00

Roc

ky O

utcr

ops

Roc

ky O

utcr

ops

are

open

rock

y ar

eas

incl

udin

g sc

ree

slop

es, w

ith li

ttle

or sp

arse

veg

etat

ion,

occ

urrin

g at

a ra

nge

of e

leva

tions

.

Ope

n R

ocky

out

crop

s

R

ocky

Out

crop

Shr

ubla

nd/

Roc

ky O

utcr

op H

erbl

and

Mos

aic

73

Roc

ky O

utcr

op S

hrub

land

28

Tabl

elan

d D

ry H

erb-

Gra

ss

Woo

dlan

d14

6Su

b-al

pine

dam

p he

athy

W

oodl

and

978

Sub

alpi

ne

Woo

dlan

ds

and

Low

Ope

n Fo

rest

s

Snow

Gum

Woo

dlan

ds an

d lo

w o

pen

fore

sts a

re th

e hig

hest

tree

d ar

eas i

n th

e Aus

tralia

n A

lps a

nd w

ides

prea

d, o

ccur

ring

gene

rally

bet

wee

n 12

00m

an

d up

to 2

000m

ASL

. The

y ar

e do

min

ated

by

Euca

lypt

us p

auci

flora

or

E.

niph

ophi

la;

smal

l ro

cky

expo

sed

area

s ar

e do

min

ated

by

othe

r eu

caly

pts,

incl

udin

g E.

deb

euze

ville

i, E.

kyb

eane

nsis

, E.

gla

uces

cens

, E.

for

rest

erae

& E

. m

itche

llian

a. T

he u

nder

stor

y ra

nges

fro

m g

rass

y to

scr

ubby

. Sp

ecie

s m

ay i

nclu

de A

caci

a ob

liqui

nerv

ia,

Oxy

lobi

um

ellip

ticum

, O

.alp

estre

, Bo

ssia

ea

folio

sa,

Kun

zea

mue

lleri

, O

lear

ia

phlo

gopa

ppa,

Tas

man

nia

xero

phil,

Leu

copo

gon

hook

eri

& S

tella

ria

pung

ens

with

sev

eral

gra

sses

inc

ludi

ng P

oa s

iebe

rian

a P.

hie

mat

a &

P.

faw

cetti

ae.

Sub-

alpi

ne

woo

dlan

ds, o

pen

fore

st a

nd tr

eele

ss

Mon

tane

Dry

Shr

ub-H

erb-

Gra

ss

Fore

st99

Scab

by R

ange

Dry

Shr

ub

Woo

dlan

d37

Sub-

alpi

ne D

ry S

hrub

-Her

b-G

rass

Woo

dlan

d12

7

Sub-

alpi

ne D

ry S

hrub

-Her

b W

oodl

and

128


Sub-

alpi

ne S

hrub

-Gra

ss

Woo

dlan

d13

0Su

b-al

pine

Woo

dlan

d43

Sub-

alpi

ne w

et h

eath

y w

oodl

and

977

Tabl

elan

ds M

oist

Sed

ge-H

erb-

Gra

ssla

nd14

7

Sub

alpi

ne

tree

less

gr

assl

ands

and

he

rb fi

elds

The

Sub

alpi

ne tr

eele

ss g

rass

land

s an

d he

rb f

ield

s co

mm

only

occ

ur o

n th

e tre

eles

s hig

h pl

ains

and

fros

t hol

low

s of t

he su

b al

pine

are

a ge

nera

lly

betw

een

1200

m a

nd 1

500

m A

SL w

here

sno

w p

ersi

sts

for l

ong

perio

ds

over

poo

rly d

rain

ed s

oils

. G

rass

es d

omin

ate

with

Poa

sie

beri

ana

P. la

billa

rdie

ri, P

. cos

tinia

na &

P. f

awce

ttiae

occ

urrin

g. A

div

erse

rang

e of

oth

er s

peci

es o

ccur

inc

ludi

ng s

hrub

s su

ch a

s G

revi

llia

aust

ralis

, Ba

ecke

a gu

nnia

na &

Hov

ea m

onta

na, t

he h

erbs

Scl

eran

thus

bifl

orus

, Pl

anta

go a

ntar

ctic

a, R

anun

culu

s gr

antic

ola

& C

rasp

edia

spp

., an

d th

e se

dge

Car

ex g

audi

chau

dian

a.

Sub-

alpi

ne

woo

dlan

ds, o

pen

fore

st a

nd tr

eele

ss

Sub-

alpi

ne G

rass

land

131

suba

lpin

e gr

assl

ands

206

Sub-

alpi

ne D

ry H

erb-

Gra

ssla

nd13

2

Sub-

alpi

ne T

reel

ess M

osai

c:

Early

map

ping

uni

t. Su

bjec

t to

rece

nt m

appi

ng, m

ay n

ow

incl

ude:

156

, 171

, 202

, 206

, 41

, 42,

170

, 210

, 239

, 288

, 91

3,90

5, 1

001,

100

2, 1

003,

10

04, 1

011,

1012

,101

3, 1

014

44

Mon

tane

Wet

Hea

th-H

erb

Gra

ssla

nd12

5Su

b-al

pine

Wet

Hea

thla

nd/

Sub-

alpi

ne G

rass

land

M

osai

c31

7

Mon

tane

&

sub-

Alp

ine

Wet

H

eath

land

and

Se

dgel

and

The

Mon

tane

& s

ub-A

lpin

e W

et H

eath

land

and

Sed

gela

nd o

ccur

in

treel

ess

area

s ge

nera

lly b

etw

een

1000

m a

nd 1

200m

ASL

, whe

re s

oils

ar

e pe

rman

ently

wet

, of

ten

alon

g so

aks

and

drai

nage

lin

es.

Sedg

es

com

mon

ly in

clud

e se

dges

Car

ex g

audi

chau

dian

a, J

uncu

s br

evib

ract

eus

& J

.falc

atus

, sh

rubs

may

inc

lude

Epa

cris

bre

viflo

ra,

Lept

ospe

rmum

m

yrtif

oliu

m,

Baec

kea

utili

s, &

Hak

ea m

icro

carp

a, w

ith t

he h

erbs

, N

eopa

xia

aust

rala

sica

& s

ever

al R

anun

culu

s sp

p. a

nd g

rass

Poa

la

billa

rdie

ri. T

his

Wet

Hea

thla

nd d

oes

not i

nclu

de th

e Sp

hagn

um s

pp.

peat

form

ing

Alp

ine

Bog

s and

Fen

s, w

hich

are

list

ed b

elow

.

Mon

tane

Wet

Sed

ge la

nd12

6M

onta

ne S

wam

p31

8

Mon

tane

Rip

aria

n th

icke

t41

Mon

tane

Wet

Hea

thla

nd18

4

Sub

Alp

ine

Dam

p H

eath

land

204

Mon

tane

/Sub

-alp

ine

wet

hea

th/

bog

123

Sub-

alpi

ne R

ipar

ian

Shru

blan

d20

8

Mon

tane

- Su

b-A

lpin

e D

ry

Roc

ky S

hrub

land

36M

onta

ne R

ocky

Shr

ubla

nd19

2M

onta

ne &

su

b-A

lpin

e D

ry

Hea

thla

nd a

nd

Shru

blan

d

Mon

tane

& s

ub-A

lpin

e D

ry H

eath

land

and

Shr

ubla

nd o

ccur

s ge

nera

lly

betw

een

1100

m an

d 15

00m

ASL

in a

hars

h en

viro

nmen

t ofte

n on

expo

sed

rock

y ar

eas

on p

oor

soils

am

ongs

t stu

nted

Sno

w G

ums.

Shru

b sp

ecie

s m

ay in

clud

e Bo

ssia

ea ri

pari

a, B

.folio

sa, H

akea

mic

roca

rpa,

Oxy

lobi

um

ellip

ticum

As

tero

lasi

a tr

ymal

ioid

es,

Lept

ospe

rnum

m

icro

myr

tus,

Podo

lobi

um a

lpes

tre, K

unze

a m

uelle

ri &

K. e

rico

ides

, with

gra

sses

Poa

fa

wce

ttiae

, P. t

ener

a &

oth

er P

oa sp

p.

Sub-

alpi

ne S

hrub

land

42

Sub-

alpi

ne D

ry S

hrub

land

1003

196 Cunninghamia 15: 2015 Mackey, Jacobs & Hugh, Australian Alps’ Native Vegetation“A

lpin

e B

ogs”

Lay

er (A

ustra

lian

Alp

s com

posi

te b

ogs d

atas

et)

from

OEH

Tec

hnic

al R

epor

t: Pe

at-f

orm

ing

bogs

and

fens

of

the

Snow

y M

ount

ains

of N

SW

“Alp

ine

Bog

s” L

ayer

(A

ustra

lian

Alp

s com

posi

te

bogs

dat

aset

). In

Vic

co

ntai

ns 2

88, 2

10, 1

011,

17

1, 2

11 a

nd o

ther

pe

atla

nds.

Alp

ine

Bog

s and

Fe

ns

Alp

ine

Spha

gnum

Bog

s an

d as

soci

ated

Fen

s oc

cur

in w

ater

logg

ed a

nd

perm

anen

tly w

et t

reel

ess

area

s, su

ch a

s al

ong

stre

ams,

drai

nage

lin

es,

valle

y ed

ges

and

valle

y flo

ors

gene

rally

bet

wee

n 12

00m

to

1800

m m

A

SL.

They

diff

er f

rom

Wet

Hea

thla

nd a

nd S

edge

land

in

that

the

y co

ntai

n Sp

hagn

um s

pp.

(whi

ch i

s ty

pica

lly u

nder

lain

by

peat

), th

e m

ost c

omm

on o

f w

hich

is S

phag

num

cri

stat

um, a

long

with

a d

iver

sity

of

sed

ges,

herb

s an

d sh

rubs

. Sp

ecie

s co

mm

only

inc

lude

Em

podi

sma

min

us,

Epac

ris

glac

ialis

, E.

pal

udos

a, B

aeck

ea g

unni

ana,

B.

utili

s, Pr

atia

sur

repe

ns &

Ric

hea

cont

inen

tis.

Fens

adj

oin

the

bog

and

are

devo

id o

f w

oody

veg

etat

ion,

com

mon

ly d

omin

ated

by

sedg

es s

uch

as

Car

ex g

audi

chau

dian

a. T

he A

lpin

e Sp

hagn

um B

ogs

and

asso

ciat

ed

Fens

veg

etat

ion

com

mun

ity is

list

ed a

s end

ange

red

unde

r the

EPB

C A

ct.

(Dep

artm

ent o

f the

Env

ironm

ent,

Wat

er, H

erita

ge a

nd th

e Arts

. 200

9).

Alp

ine

Tree

less

Alp

ine

Tree

less

Sub-

alpi

ne W

et H

erb-

Gra

ssla

nd-

Bog

133

Sub-

alpi

ne W

et H

eath

land

210

Alp

ine

Fen

171

Alp

ine

Valle

y Pe

atla

nd

Rai

sed

Bog

288-

61

Alp

ine

Valle

y Pe

atla

nd

Valle

y B

og28

8-62

Alp

ine

peat

y H

eath

land

1011

Sub-

alpi

ne W

et H

eath

land

/A

lpin

e Va

lley

Peat

land

M

osai

c21

1

Alp

ine

Roc

ky L

ow O

pen

Hea

thla

nd20

7

Alp

ine

Hea

thla

nd

Alp

ine

Hea

thla

nd i

s a

low

ope

n he

athl

and

occu

rrin

g ty

pica

lly a

t hi

gh

elev

atio

ns fr

om 1

400m

to o

ver 2

000m

ASL

. It i

s fou

nd h

igh

on sl

opes

and

rock

y ex

pose

d ar

eas

on s

hallo

w s

oils

. Shr

ubs

may

incl

ude

Podo

carp

us

law

renc

ii,

Pros

tant

hera

cu

neat

a,

Gre

villi

a au

stra

lis,

Leuc

opog

on

spp.

Hov

ea m

onta

na &

Oxy

lobi

um e

llipt

icum

with

int

er s

hrub

spa

ces

cont

aini

ng th

e he

rbs

Cra

sped

ia s

pp. &

Cel

mis

ia s

pp. a

nd g

rass

es P

oa

faw

cetti

ae &

P. h

iem

ata.

Alp

ine

Con

ifero

us sh

rubl

and

156

Alp

ine

Gra

ssy

Hea

thla

nd10

04

Alp

ine

Dw

arf H

eath

land

170

Alp

ine

Roc

ky O

utcr

op

Hea

thla

nd10

13

Alp

ine

Roc

ky O

utcr

op

Hea

thla

nd/A

lpin

e D

war

f H

eath

land

Mos

aic

1105

Alp

ine

Gra

ssy

Hea

thla

nd/

Alp

ine

Gra

ssla

nd M

osai

c10

05


Snow

Pat

ch h

erbl

and

202

Feld

mar

k &

Sn

owpa

tch

Her

bfie

lds

Feld

mar

k &

Sno

wpa

tch

Her

bfie

lds

are

bare

low

ope

n al

pine

her

bfie

lds

on b

arel

y de

velo

ped

soils

at v

ery

high

ele

vatio

ns, f

rom

160

0m to

abo

ve

2000

m A

SL. F

eldm

ark

herb

field

s oc

cur

on e

xpos

ed w

inds

wep

t rid

ges

and

sum

mits

and

com

mon

ly i

nclu

de E

pacr

is p

etro

phila

, E.

gun

nii,

Col

oban

thus

pul

vina

tus,

Ewar

tia n

ubig

ena,

Chi

onoh

ebe

dens

ifolia

&

Ranu

ncul

us a

crop

hilu

s. Sn

owpa

tch

herb

field

s oc

cur

on th

e ou

twas

h of

ac

cum

ulat

ions

of

late

tha

win

g sn

ow w

hich

may

per

sist

int

o su

mm

er,

trunc

atin

g th

e gr

owin

g se

ason

. Sn

owpa

tch

spec

ies

com

mon

ly i

nclu

de

Cop

rosm

a ni

phop

hila

, C

olob

anth

us n

ivic

ola,

Neo

paxi

a au

stra

lasi

ca,

Ore

obol

us p

umili

o &

var

ious

Ran

uncu

lus

spp.

Gra

sses

suc

h as

Poa

fa

wce

ttiae

& A

gros

tis m

uelle

rian

a m

ay o

ccur

in b

oth.

Alp

ine

Tree

less

Snow

patc

h A

lpin

e Fe

ldm

ark

205

Snow

patc

h G

rass

land

1012

Alp

ine

Cre

eklin

e he

rbla

nd23

9

Expo

sed

Feld

mar

k20

4

Late

-lyi

ng S

now

patc

h H

erbl

and

1014

Alp

ine

Tall

Her

bfie

ld12

9

Alp

ine

Gra

ssla

nds &

H

erbf

ield

s

Alp

ine

Gra

ssla

nds

& H

erbf

ield

s oc

cur f

rom

150

0m to

the

high

est p

eaks

ab

ove

2000

m A

SL w

here

sno

w c

over

is

mor

e pr

olon

ged.

The

y ra

nge

from

ext

ensi

ve t

hick

gra

ssy

swar

ds o

n th

e hi

gh t

reel

ess

plai

ns t

o th

e gr

assy

her

bfie

lds

of t

he h

igh

peak

s an

d rid

ges.

Shru

bs m

ay i

nclu

de

Gre

ville

a au

stra

lis, P

imel

ia a

xiflo

ra, P

. alp

ina,

Pen

tach

ondr

a pu

mila

, O

lear

ia P

hlog

opap

pa,

Epac

ris

glac

ialis

, Ac

ena

spp.

& O

reob

olus

pu

mili

o. O

f the

her

bs, C

elm

isia

spp.

, Cra

sped

ia sp

p., A

ciph

ylla

gla

cial

is,

Plan

tago

mue

lleri

& C

alth

a in

trolo

ba m

ay b

e pr

esen

t. G

rass

es in

clud

e Po

a fa

wce

ttiae

P. c

onst

inia

na, P

. sax

icol

a &

Ryt

idos

perm

a ni

vico

lum

al

ong

with

the

sedg

e C

arex

gau

dich

audi

ana.

Shor

t Alp

ine

Her

bfie

ld20

6A

lpin

e Sh

ort h

erbl

and

905

Alp

ine

Gra

ssla

nd10

01

Alp

ine

Dam

p G

rass

land

1002

Alp

ine

Pond

Her

blan

d91

3


The mapped vegetation classes varied in the accuracy of their mapping, and of particular concern were the treeless areas (K. McDougall, personal communication, 2014; A. Tolsma, personal communication, 2014) for which the more recent Alpine Peatlands and Bogs mapping allowed a significant improvement. Despite the limitations and inconsistencies of data, the new vegetation classification and map is considered by the authors and experts who were consulted to be of sufficient accuracy for broad scale park planning and management purposes. Furthermore, being a digital, GIS-based information product, the new vegetation classification and map is readily refined and updated in response to new information from multiple sources including field survey data and remotely sensed data.

We therefore encourage the Australian Alps Co-operative management program to further refine this new vegetation information system by updating mapping of selected areas and incorporating contemporary ecological studies. The priority for further work should be based on the most sensitive and complex vegetation types and in particular the Sub-alpine and Alpine Treeless Areas, the Moist Montane Forests and their relationship with Montane Woodlands and Open forest, and Tall Wet Forests and their relationship with Cool Temperate Rainforest.

Providing information about the composition and structure of major vegetation classes in a common form across the multi-jurisdictional landscape provides fundamental information for protected area managers and practitioners working within the Australian Alps Network co-operative management framework. Mapped common vegetation classes can function as spatial planning units that serve a range of purposes including: locating representative monitoring plots; extrapolating management prescriptions; identification of nature-based tourist activities; establishing baselines for tracking ecosystem-level responses to climate change and fire regimes; and as inputs to models of wildlife habitat and species distributions.

Conclusion

In geographically extensive multi-jurisdictional protected area landscapes, a common vegetation mapping system is an essential information layer for systematic conservation planning and management. As we have shown here, this can be developed at a low cost utilising existing mapped data and integrating existing vegetation classifications by aligning and matching classes across the jurisdictions into a common system. This approach retains the connections to wider National and State or Territory corporate systems while generating a classification that recognised here both the common and distinctive vegetation character of the diverse landscapes that comprise the Alps Network.

Acknowledgements

The following people provided valuable expert advice and assistance with the project: Dr Keith McDougall, (Botanist,

Office of Environment and Heritage NSW), Dr Arn Tolsma, (Program Leader, Disturbance Ecology, Arthur Rylah Institute) and David Cheal (former Principal Scientist, Arthur Rylah Institute). This research is an output from the Landscapes and Policy Research Hub which was funded from the Australian Government’s National Environmental Research Programme.

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Lesslie, RG, Hill, MJ, Hill, P, Cresswell, HP & Dawson, S. (2008) The Application of a Simple Spatial Multi-Criteria Analysis Shell to Natural Resource Management Decision Making, in Landscape Analysis and Visualisation: Spatial Models for Natural Resource Management and Planning, (Eds. Pettit, C, Cartwright, W, Bishop, I, Lowell, K, Pullar, D & Duncan, D), Springer, Berlin, pp 73–96.

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Manuscript accepted 4 November 2015

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