VEGETATION MANAGEMENT PLAN for Bidjigal Reserve - Land

Vegetation Management Plan - Bidjigal ReserveSeveral endangered ecological communities occur in close proximity of Bidjigal Reserve – Blue GumHigh Forest and Turpentine Ironbark Forest, and the Reserve itself provides habitat for at least two(2) endangered flora species – Epacris purpurascens var. purpurascens and Hibbertia superans –listed under the NSW TSC Act. Other threatened species are known to occur in the Locality, and it ispossible that some of these also occur in the Reserve, but due to the difficult terrain and accessproblems such occurrences may have gone unrecorded.See Table 4.2 for the results of the analysis of survey plot data.Table 4.2: Results of Analysis of Survey Plot Data (data source DECC 2008 & UBM 2008)SURVEY SITETOTALNATIVES TOTAL DIAGNOSTIC SPECIES FOR EACH COMMUNITY TYPERECORDEDHSGF SRS SHTW CSRW CSSTF STIFBHSC41 68 35 2 50 33 19 19BHSC42 50 24 3 29 15 16 21BHSC43 57 20 1 32 12 25 27BHSC44 54 32 3 40 25 18 22BHSC57 49 33 4 28 24 7 14BHSC58 54 31 4 25 17 12 19BHSC60 37 21 5 10 9 8 19BR01 51 21 2 34 36 10 7BR02 38 18 1 24 13 13 17Indicative Community Descriptions (as per Tozer et al. 2006)Sandstone Riparian Scrub (SRS)This vegetation community is a scrub or low forest form with clumped shrubs and a clumpedgroundcover dominated by sedges and ferns. SRS is generally found on disturbed sites around theedges of the Sydney Basin, occurring along the streams draining Hawkesbury and NarrabeenSandstone. Within its current distribution, it is restricted to shallow sand and gravel alluvium overrocks found on the bed and banks of streams subjected to occasional high-velocity floods. Severalexamples are represented within conservation reserves, although these are susceptible to pollutedrun-off waters and weed invasion from urban areas higher in the catchments. Typical floristicspecies may include: Tristaniopsis laurina (Water Gum), Ceratopetalum apetalum (Coachwood),Lomatia myricoides, Tristania neriifolia (Water Gum), Lomandra longifolia (Spiny Mat-rush), andEntolasia stricta (Wiry Panic Grass).Hinterland Sandstone Gully Forest (HSGF)Hinterland Sandstone Gully Forest is an open eucalypt forest form with an abundant sclerophyllshrub stratum and a groundcover dominated by sedges. Within its distribution, HSGF occurs on thelower slopes of dry sandstone gullies. It grades into Sandstone Riparian Scrub immediately adjacentto creeklines, and is replaced by Coastal Sandstone Ridgetop Woodland on upper slopes and inUBM Ecological Consultants Pty Ltd 47