Wambo Coal AEMR 2010-2011 - Peabody Energy

Sections• A relatively high number of weed species;• Some areas of gully and stream erosion;• The presence of rabbits at some sites; and• The presence of some riparian microhabitat features.North Wambo Creek Transect 4 was in poor condition scoring only five. Transect 4 lackedboth canopy and understorey layers and was essentially a grassland containing manyweed species. However, while scoring only five, Transect 4 had one hundred percentground cover and lacked any areas of erosion and most disturbance factors (rabbits werepresent).The majority of sections along North Wambo Creek were in moderate condition. Threesections were in good condition and one was in excellent condition. North Wambo Creektransect moderate condition scores were typically characterised by:• A mature canopy of moderate species diversity and density;• Some weed species in the understorey;• A complete ground cover of grasses, although containing some weed species;• The presence of rabbits at some sites;• Some areas of gully and stream erosion; and• The presence of some riparian microhabitat features.In comparison to the moderate condition sites the good and excellent sections along NorthWambo Creek typically showed:• An reduced presence of weed species in the canopy, understorey and ground coverlayers; and• A higher presence of riparian microhabitat features.4.2.3 Stoney CreekTransectsSectionsStoney Creek comprised excellent transect and section scores where sites were withinremnant forest vegetation, and good and moderate scores for sites adjacent to or lackingremnant forest vegetation.Stoney Creek transect scores ranged from excellent in the upper reaches of the creek lineto good and moderate along the lower more disturbed parts of the creek line. Thepresence of a more significant canopy layer, a general lack of weed species and theabsence of feral animals were the key differences between the excellent scoring transectsand all others along Stoney Creek. While the condition score varied, all transects alongStoney Creek lacked areas of erosion.Stoney Creek sections scores also ranged from excellent in the upper reaches of thecreek line to good and moderate along the lower more disturbed parts of the creek line.2010 Annual Ecological Monitoring Report, Draft Report, January 2011 Page 29