Summary - City of Gosnells

Flora 39It is anticipated that some of the taxa in the category of ‘taxonomic variants’ in Wattle Grove-Kenwick-Maddington, when fully described in the above manner, may prove to have a very restricted distributionand may be eligible for Priority Flora or DRF/Threatened Flora status.These taxa are indicated by the label ‘t’ in Appendix A.4.2 Flora Field SurveyThe native flora of the remnant vegetation of the MKSEA was found to be very species-rich. A total of 435taxa (330 taxa of native vascular flora and 105 taxa of naturalised alien flora) (Appendix B) were recorded inreconnaissance transects, in 32 sampling sites (quadrats and relevés), and opportunistically within theMKSEA footprint. Most sampling sites were visited at least three times between 2007and 2009 (includingwinter, spring and early summer); therefore, it is considered that a high proportion of the existing MKSEAflora was recorded.Three Threatened Flora Taxa (listed under the Federal EPBC Act as having national conservationsignificance), four Declared Rare Flora taxa and eight listed Priority Species (listed under the WesternAustralian State Wildlife Act and Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation,respectively) were recorded in the MKSEA in the current survey.Approximately a third of the native flora recorded in the MKSEA in the current survey was considered tobe of regional conservation significance according the criteria of EPA (2004b) and Government ofWestern Australian (2000).In the current survey, the MKSEA was found to include a number of dune and wetland habitats that did notoccur in BFS 387 or BFS 53. However, the native vegetation of the MKSEA was fragmented amongst manysmall remnants, whereas most of the vegetation of the BFS 387 was mainly concentrated in a single polygon(although one dissected by a number of roads).The family composition of the native flora of the MKSEA was similar to that recorded in the Greater BrixtonStreet Wetlands (Table 4.1) although the MKSEA had a greater proportion of perennial taxa in the familiesMyrtaceae and Papilionaceae than BFS 387 did. Naturalised alien taxa (weeds) formed a larger percentage ofthe total flora in the MKSEA than in the total flora of the Greater Brixton Street Wetlands (Table 4.2). Thepercentage of native annuals in the total native flora of the MKSEA was low compared to the total for BFS387 but in excess of that found in some surveys of areas in BFS 387. The total number of native flora taxaand rare species and the percentage of native annuals recorded in the MKSEA in the current survey wasconsiderably in excess of that found in the same area by Cardno BSD (2005) (Tables 4.1 and 4.2).There was a mean of 42 taxa recorded per 10 m x 10 m quadrat in the MKSEA (range 9-67 taxa). The mostspecies-rich community types and habitats in the MKSEA (all of which are recognised by authorities ateither State or Federal level as Threatened Ecological Communities) were:1. Banksia woodlands on well-drained Bassendean Sands over the Guildford Formation (mean speciesrichnessof 62 taxa per 100 m 2 ); and2. Shrublands on seasonally-waterlogged shallow muddy sand of the Guildford Formation (mean speciesrichnessof 51 taxa per 100 m 2 ).The previously known flora of the Greater Brixton Street Wetlands (BFS 387), as compiled by Keighery andKeighery (2000) from numerous sources included at least 555 native taxa. More recent surveys (Keigheryand Tauss, 2008; Tauss, 2009) added an additional seven taxa to the tally for BFS 387. The current surveyfound 32 native taxa within the MKSEA (including at least three Priority Flora species) that have not beenrecorded previously in BFS 387 or BFS 53. One of the Declared Rare Flora Species found in the MKSEA inthe current survey (Eremophila glabra subsp. chlorella) is probably no longer extant in BFS 387.Tauss, C. and Weston, A.S. (2010). The flora, vegetation and wetlands of the Maddington-Kenwick Strategic Employment Area.A survey of the rural lands in the vicinity of the Greater Brixton Street Wetlands. Report to the City of Gosnells, W.A. Version 18.04.10