Attachment 1 to Item 53 - Roadside Vegetation Management Plan

H AW K E S B U R Y C IT Y C O U N C IL R O AD S ID E V E G E T AT IO N M AN AG E M E N T P L AN
4.3 ROADSIDE SURVEYS
Roadside surveys were conducted over 6 days between the 25 th and 27 th August 2009, and 1 st and 3 rd
September 2009, by Eco Logical Australia’s ecologists, Lucas Geelen and Dr. Enhua Lee. Roadside
surveys were conducted via drive-by survey from a 4-wheel drive travelling at 20-30 km/h along roads
with light traffic, and up to 60 km/h along roads with heavy traffic, although the speed at which surveys
were conducted varied depending on the complexity of vegetation assemblages (composition and
number of vegetation communities) occurring adjacent to roads and management issues observed.
Field survey was undertaken to confirm results from the desktop review (mainly verification of
vegetation communities), and gather data pertaining to the roadside environments surveyed within low,
medium and high conservation priority roads. Data recorded included:
• the width of the roadside environment;
• road surface (sealed or unsealed);
• dominant flora species in the canopy, mid-storey and ground-storey layers of roadside
vegetation;
• weeds and threatened flora species present within roadside vegetation;
• habitat elements available (hollow-bearing trees, stags leaf litter, rocks/caves, water
bodies) within roadside environments; and
• management issues along roads surveyed (e.g. erosion issues and use of roadside
environments for recreational activities).
Low, medium and high conservation roads were surveyed in road segments, as many roads surveyed
varied in respect to vegetation communities present, road surface, width of roadside environments,
fauna habitat elements present, condition, or management issues along their length. New road
segments were begun when a difference was observed in one of the variables recorded. For each road
segment, start and end odometer readings and GPS positions were recorded along with the other data
collected.
Data were entered directly into an electronic spreadsheet (Microsoft Excel 2007). To ensure survey
consistency, all driving was conducted by Enhua Lee, with data entry conducted by Lucas Geelen.
Both surveyors identified dominant flora species, habitat elements and management issues along
roads.
All roads identified by the prioritisation matrix as high conservation priority roads were surveyed
(approximately 238 km). However, due to the size of the study area and time constraints, just over a
third of the roads identified as medium conservation priority roads (covering approximately 95 km) were
surveyed, with only 2 % of roads identified as low conservation priority roads (covering approximately
30 km) surveyed.
4.4 MAPPING
The outputs of the prioritisation analysis and roadside surveys were translated into mapping products.
All roads that were and were not surveyed are identified in the attached maps. Using the combination
of information from the prioritisation matrix and roadside surveys, these maps were produced to
illustrate areas of high, medium and poor conservation value. Information has also been extracted on
high priority management actions, particularly weed infestations.
The council area has been split into a series of maps which illustrate the results from the roadside
survey in a spatial format, using several map books, depending on the survey results being mapped.
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