Summary - City of Gosnells

Vegetation 505. Vegetation5.1 Vegetation Desktop StudyRare and threatened vegetation and other Threatened Ecological Communities (TECs) that are listed as beingof National Conservation Significance under the EPBC Act are designated as one of the six categories(Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, Conservation Dependent, Extinct, Extinct in the Wild) asdefined by the Australian Government Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA,2008b). (See Appendix A for definitions of the EPBC Act categories relevant to this MKSEA survey.)The Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation also maintains a list of ThreatenedEcological Communities (TECs) that have been endorsed by the Western Australian Threatened Species andCommunities Scientific Committee and the Environment Minister of Western Australia, but some of theseare yet to be endorsed at the Federal level. These TECs are defined under the same criteria and are equivalentto the categories of Threatened Ecological Communities under the Federal EPBC Act. The WesternAustralian Department of Environment and Conservation also maintains a list of Threatened EcologicalCommunities (TECs) that have been endorsed by the Western Australian Threatened Species andCommunities Scientific Committee but are yet to be endorsed by the Environment Minister of WesternAustralia. These last TECs are designated as Priority Threatened Ecological Communities (PTECs).5.1.1 Vegetation of National Conservation SignificanceA search of the Threatened Ecological Communities Database of the Australian Government Department ofEnvironment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA, 2008b) for the local government areas of Gosnells,Kalamunda and Canning yielded records of two TECs listed under the EPBC Act (Table 5.1).Table 5.1: Vegetation of National and State Conservation Significance known from the vicinity of the MKSEASCPFCT3an/aName of TECEucalyptus calophylla – Kingiaaustralis woodlands on heavy soilsShrublands and woodlands onMuchea Limestone(Keighery and Keighery,1995)Occurrences in vicinity ofMKSEADundas Road, Forrestfield andBrixton St Reserve (BFS 387).Not supplied on EPBC databaseConservation status(WA) Atkins, 2008Critically EndangeredCR B) ii)EndangeredEN B) ii)Conservationstatus (Federal)EPBC ActEndangeredEndangeredFurther searches of the literature (including Trudgen and Keighery, 1995 and Government of WesternAustralian, 2000) and the TEC database of the Western Australian Department of Environment andConservation showed that no other occurrences of other nationally listed TECs had been recorded inCannington, Forrestfield, Kenwick, Maddington, Orange Grove, Queens Park, Southern River, Welshpool orWattle Grove.The two TECS listed under the EPBC Act in the vicinity of the MKSEA are discussed further below.1. Corymbia calophylla – Kingia australis woodlands on heavy soils of the Eastern Swan CoastalPlain (SCP FCT 3a)The series of Marri (Corymbia calophylla) - dominated plant communities (FCTs 3a, 3b and 3c) that occuron the alluvial soils between Waterloo (near Bunbury) and Bullsbrook are considered to have been the mostextensive vegetation types on the eastern side of the Swan Coastal Plain (Beard, 1979a). However, all formsof this vegetation unit have undergone extensive clearing and are now rare (Keighery and Trudgen, 1992;Gibson et al. 1994; DEP, 1996). The Corymbia calophylla - Kingia australis vegetation was found to besubject to the most prolonged waterlogging; whilst the other two units inhabited sites where there was betterdrainage. The Corymbia calophylla - Xanthorrhoea preissii unit was associated with the driest conditionsand in Gibson et al. (1994) had the lowest species-richness of the three eastern SCP Marri units (48.0 spp.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