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CHaPTeR 2 Vegetation of the study area
Forests Types in New South Wales: Research Note 17 (Forestry Commission of NSW 1989)
The New South Wales forest types study was based on a floristic classification of over-storey
species and describes a total of 184 native vegetation types as well as six non-native and three
non-vegetated units. The study has limitations for use in the present study as it was developed
primarily for timber production and focuses mainly on forest communities and less on shrublands
and non-woody communities. However, the forest types scheme has been widely used and forms
the basis for many of the communities identified through the New South Wales Comprehensive
Regional Assessment (see below). That scheme has been used in the current study to assist in the
interpretation of woody communities and the relationships between them.
New South Wales Comprehensive Regional assessment: Forest ecosystem
classification and mapping for Upper and Lower North east CRa regions (NPWS CRa
Unit 1999a)
A classification of forest ecosystems was carried out by the NPWS CRA Unit in 1999 as a part
of the Comprehensive Regional Assessment study. The study identified a total of 157 forest
ecosystems, 141 of which were eucalypt dominated. Many of these eucalypt-dominated
communities were identified by splitting or amalgamating forest types; 43 forest types were
included without modification (NPWS 1999a). As the methodology of the study relied heavily
on the data and classification of forest types, the forest ecosystem classification has limited
application for non-commercial forest types and non-woody ecosystems in general. However,
as with forest types, many subsequent, finer scale studies have used the forest ecosystems
classification as a basis for further division of vegetation communities; therefore, the current
study had to take forest ecosystems classification into account when analysing relationships
with communities identified through other studies.
a Compliation Map of Native Vegetation for New South Wales (Keith 2002)
The compilation map of native vegetation is developing a consistent vegetation classification
for New South Wales based on a compilation of numerous regional studies and is periodically
updated. It lists 16 vegetation formations, which are further divided into 99 classes. The work
is described in detail in Ocean shores to desert dunes: the native vegetation of New South Wales and
the ACT (Keith 2004). The vegetation classification is currently the most widely used state-wide
and, therefore, has been used as a broad-scale basis for the current vegetation classification
and mapping project. Where possible communities described in the current study have been
equated to formations and classes described in the compilation map, however, in some cases
this has not been possible and some suggested equivalencies are more precise than others.
New South Wales Vegetation Classification and assessment (Benson 2006)
New South Wales Vegetation Classification and Assessment (NSWVCA) is an ongoing project,
being carried out by staff at the Botanic Gardens Trust, which aims to develop a comprehensive
classification of native vegetation across the state as well as an assessment of the conservation
significance of vegetation communities. The project also aims to compile this state-wide
classification into a database to allow the information to be conveniently accessed and analysed
(Benson 2000). Work on this large project has been divided into four parts:
part 1 (largely completed): covers the New South Wales Western Plains
part 2 (currently in early stages of development): to cover the New South Wales Western
Slopes