Table 3 Conservation significant taxa incorrectly noted for the survey area.
Taxon
Conservation
code
Coordinate
Location description
Banksia squarrosa
subsp. argillacea
T
33° 39′ S 115° 33′ E
(GDA94); 33° 39′
50.0″ S 115° 31′
0.0″ E (GDA94)
Westralian Sands land, corner Tompsett Road
and Wonnerup-Tutunup Roads, Whicher Range.
Collection from 1988; Wonnerup-Tutunup Road
Grevillea elongata T
33° 39′ S 115° 28′ E
(GDA94)
Abba River, Busselton District. Collection from
1950.
Schoenus
pennisetis
P1
33° 38′ 42.0″ S 115°
27′ 40.0″ E (GDA94)
5 km from Ruabon, on Wonnerup road.
Collected in 1987.
Hakea oldfieldii
P3
33° 39′ S 115° 30′ E
(GDA94)
Ruabon, Busselton District. Collection from
1953.
Eucalyptus rudis
subsp. cratyantha
P4
33° 39′ S 115° 27′ E
(GDA94)
6.4 km along Wonnerup road from Wonnerup S
road, E of Busselton. Collected in 1987.
Three botanical reports (Ekologica 2012; and Onshore Environmental Consultants 2013 and 2009)
supplied by Cristal Mining, were reviewed during the desktop assessment. Only one conservation
significant taxon was recorded in these reports, namely Chamelaucium sp. C Coastal Plain (R.D.
Royce 4872) recorded by Onshore Environmental Consultants (2013).
4.1.2
Vegetation
Vegetation complex mapping of the Swan Coastal Plain was originally undertaken at a scale of 1:
250,000 (Heddle et al 1980). Of the identified 29 vegetation complexes; five vegetation complexes
have been mapped across the survey area (Mattiske and Havel 1998) and each of these units is
described with the more recent assessment of reservation and pre-European status (Havel and
Mattiske 2002):
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Wonnerup North Mineral Sands Project – Flora and Vegetation Assessment, October 2013
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AB (Abba) – located on the flats and low rises of the Abba Plains (hence its name), south of Bunbury,
which have been largely cleared for agriculture. This vegetation complex is dominated by woodland
and open forest of marri ( Corymbia calophylla). There are very limited options for improving
conservation through repurchase or covenants on private property and some options for catchment
management strategies.
Reservation: 0%
Pre-European area remaining: 2%
AF (Abba) – located on the terraces and valley floors of the low undulating Abba Plains, south of
Bunbury, which have been largely cleared for agriculture. This vegetation complex is dominated by
woodland of marri ( Corymbia calophylla) – peppermint ( Agonis flexuosa) and a tall shrubland of
Myrtaceae – Proteaceae species. There are virtually no options for improving conservation, as few
areas (8 hectares) remain uncleared.
Reservation: 0%
Pre-European area remaining: 0% (8 hectares of 1,901 hectares remain)
Ad (Abba) – located on the mild slopes of the low undulating Abba Plains, south of Bunbury, which
have been largely cleared for agriculture. This vegetation complex is dominated by woodland of
marri ( Corymbia calophylla) – peppermint ( Agonis flexuosa) – sheoak ( Allocasuarina fraseriana) –
Christmas tree ( Nuytsia floribunda). There are limited options for improving conservation through
repurchase or covenants on private property and some options for catchment management
strategies.
Reservation: 0%
Pre-European area remaining: 14%
Aw (Abba) – located on the broad depressions of the low undulating Abba Plains, south of Bunbury,
which have been largely cleared for agriculture. This vegetation complex is dominated by tall
shrubland of Melaleuca viminea and woodland of flooded gum and paperbark ( Eucalyptus rudis –
Melaleuca rhaphiophylla) with the occasional marri ( Corymbia calophylla). There are limited options
for improving conservation, as few areas (140 hectares) remain uncleared.
Reservation: 0%
Pre-European area remaining: 2% (140 hectares of 9,111 hectares remain)
Lw (Ludlow) – located on the fringes of the Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) area, near Ludlow. The
vegetation complex is dominated by an open woodland of paperbark ( Melaleuca rhaphiophylla) and
sedgelands of Cyperaceae and Restionaceae species on broad depressions. The Ludlow complex has
been cleared and modified by agricultural activities. Consequently, only limited opportunities exist
to protect some of the values on private land and through catchment management strategies.
Reservation: Lw - 0%
Pre-European area remaining: Lw - 0%
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4.1.2.1
Threatened and Priority Ecological Communities
Records of threatened and/or priority ecological communities (TEC/PECs) within a 10 km radius of
the survey area (Appendix D), include (DPaW 2013 b and c):
•
Busselton Yate Community - described as Eucalyptus cornuta, Agonis flexuosa and
Eucalyptus decipiens forest on deep yellow-brown siliceous sands over limestone. Not
present in survey area vicinity. State-listed as Priority (P) 1 PEC; not EPBC Act listed.
•
Swan Coastal Plain (SCP) 1b – Southern Eucalyptus ( Corymbia) calophylla woodlands on
heavy soils of the southern Swan Coastal Plain; State-listed as TEC Vulnerable (B); not listed
under EPBC Act.
SCP10a – Shrublands on dry clay flats; State-listed as TEC Endangered (B ii) at state level;
EPBC Act-listed as Critically Endangered.
•
SCP10b – Shrublands on southern Swan Coastal Plain Ironstones (Busselton area); State-
listed as TEC Critically endangered (B) ii); EPBC Act-listed as Endangered.
•
SCP21b – Southern Banksia attenuata woodlands - this community is restricted to sand
sheets at the base of the Whicher Scarp, the sand sheets on elevated ridges or the sand
plain south of Bunbury. Structurally, this community type is normally Banksia attenuata or
Eucalyptus marginata – B. attenuata woodlands. Common taxa include Acacia extensa,
Jacksonia sp. Busselton, Laxmannia sessiliflora, Lysinema ciliatum and Johnsonia acaulis;
listed as P3 (i) PEC at state level; not EPBC Act listed.
Only TEC 1b and 10a, and PEC 21b are within the vicinity of the survey area and their locations are
presented in Figure 3.
Hakea oldfieldii
Grevillea elongata
Schoenus pennisetis
Eucalyptus rudis subsp. cratyantha
Banksia squarrosa subsp. argillacea
Chamelaucium sp. Yoongarillup (G.J. Keighery 3635)
SCP1b
SCP10a
SCP21b
Aw
AB
AB
Ad
AF
AB
LW
Aw
Lw
Lw
Aw
AB
AB
Aw
Aw
AB
AB
Ad
AB
AB
Ad
Ad
Aw
Ad
AB
AB
Ad
Aw
AB
Aw
Ad
AB
Ad
356000
358000
360000
62
74
00
0
62
76
00
0
0
250
500
750
1,000
Metres
Figure 4: Vegetation complexes, ESA, TECs/PECs and conservation significant flora recorded for the survey area (DEC 2013 a & b)
Author: V. Clarke
Date: 07-11-2013
Datum: GDA 1994
Projection: MGA Zone 50
Drawn: H. Thornton
21097-13-GDR-1RevA_131107_Fig4
Cristal Mining Pty Ltd
Wonnerup North Mineral Sands Project Flora and Vegetation Assessment
Legend
Project Boundary
Environmentally Sensitive Areas
DPaW Managed Lands
Conservation Significant Communities
Conservation Significant Flora
Priority 1
Priority 2
Priority 3
Priority 4
Threatened
Vegetation Complex (Mattiske Havel 1998)
AB
AF
Ad
Aw
LW
Lw
Tuart Forest National Park
Ludlow State Forest
Ruabon Townsite
Nature Reserve
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4.2
Field Survey
4.2.1
Flora
Two hundred and one vascular flora species representing 130 genera and 49 plant families were
recorded during the spring survey (compared to 70 taxa recorded during winter). The majority of the
flora was able to be fully determined, excluding a few collections which were in early flower
(particularly Thelymitra species; or summer flowering species such as Verticordia). The Vertcordias
were later re-sampled during December 2013 and January 2014 so that full identifications could be
made.
A comprehensive species list is presented in Appendix E. The Myrtaceae plant family (paperbarks,
eucalypts, etc) was the most species rich with 25 taxa represented, closely followed by the pea
family (Fabaceae) at 24, Orchidaceae (orchids) at 16 taxa and Cyperaceae (cypers/sedges) at 14 taxa.
A list of all vascular flora species recorded at each quadrat (site data) is presented in Appendix F. A
site by species matrix is presented in Appendix G.
4.2.1.1
Conservation significant flora
One threatened flora, Chamelaucium sp. C Coastal Plain (R.D. Royce 4872), was collected from
Wonnerup South Road adjacent to the Abba River crossing in the location where it was previously
recorded by Onshore Environmental Consultants (2013). A specimen was taken, along with a
population census and has been submitted to DPaW and to the WA Herbarium; the relevant
information and Threatened Flora Report Form is provided in Appendix H. This taxon is also listed as
vulnerable under the Commonwealth EPBC Act.
Four priority flora were recorded. These were recorded within the Ruabon Road verges and the
remnant on the Ruabon Road farmland; the locations are provided in Figure 4 and in Table 4. Copies
of the report forms to DPaW are provided in Appendix H. The specimens will be submitted to the
WA Herbarium as a condition of the flora collecting licence issued by DPaW.
Table 4 Priority flora recorded within the survey area.
Taxon
Conservation
code
Count
Location
Isopogon formosus subsp.
dasylepis
P3
3 plants
Ruabon Road north side; within Quadrat
17 and within vicinity.
Jacksonia gracillima
P3
1 plant
Ruabon Road south side; Quadrat 15.
Verticordia attenuata
P3
2 plants
Ruabon Road north side; within vicinity of
Quadrat 17.
Tripterococcus paniculatus
P4
~4 plants Private property on Ruabon Road within
quadrats 12 and 13.
In addition, the WA Herbarium has asked for one collection which was not able to be fully
determined, to be lodged; Lepyrodia aff. riparia. This collection had affinity with the species L.
riparia but its seeds did not match the collection. This genus is often poorly collected and the
material will be useful to the Herbarium when a revision of the genus is undertaken.
4.2.2
Vegetation
The vegetation recorded in the survey area was generally consistent with the vegetation complexes
mapped previously by Mattiske and Havel (1998). However, the boundaries and complexes were
rectified to reflect what was present at each of the remnants assessed during the field survey. The
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original vegetation complex mapping, overlaid with the current survey boundaries and identified
units are presented in Figure 4. Full site vegetation descriptions with photographs are provided in
Appendix F.
The vegetation complexes previously mapped (at a scale of 1: 50,000) are compared against the
results of this survey (at a scale of 1: 5,000) in Table 5.
4.2.2.1
Conservation significant vegetation
The areas of native vegetation remaining within the farmland areas of the survey area, although
mapped as Abba complex in previous mapping, are generally parkland cleared/completely degraded.
They have little or no conservation value as representatives of Abba vegetation complexes.
The areas of relatively intact vegetation along Ruabon and Wonnerup South Roads are
representative of Abba vegetation complexes which are poorly reserved and with little extent
remaining. All areas of native vegetation remaining on the Busselton Plain represent regionally
significant natural areas meeting the ‘representation of ecological communities’ criteria (EPA 2006).
The eighteen quadrats installed in the survey area were analysed against the Swan Coastal Plain
dataset (Gibson et al 1994), provided by DPaW’s Species and Communities Branch. All the quadrats
were analysed against the full Swan Coastal Plain dataset initially. This resulted in quadrat WN17
(wetland) being distinct from all other quadrats sampled by Astron. The quadrats along Ruabon
Road (WN12,13,14,15,16) clustered as similar and the remaining quadrats (all of which were in
degraded condition and very species poor)(WN1,2, 3,4,5,6,7, 8, 9,10,11,18) clustered together.
A subset of Floristic Community Types (FCTs) found in the vicinity of the survey area (Gibson et al
1994) were then analysed as a subset (FCT 1b, 7, 10 a, 10b, 21b) to compare comparison of similarity
against the quadrats sampled by Astron. The wetland quadrat (WN17) on the north side of Ruabon
Road was similar to FCTs 10a and 10b due to the presence of a suite of small annual sedges and
ephemeral species. The woodland quadrats from Ruabon Road (WN12, 13, 14, 15, and 16) were
most similar to FCT 21b and 1b, due to the presence of jarrah, marri and banksia overstorey and a
diversity of woodland understorey species. The remainder of the quadrats sampled by Astron, which
clustered together as being similar (which all consisted of degraded vegetation) did not align very
well with FCTs of the local area, which is not surprising given the lack of native species in the
quadrats sampled by Astron.
Appendix I1 and I2 contain the results of the floristic analyses.
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Table 5: Vegetation complex comparison for the survey area.
Vegetation complex Mattiske and Havel (1998)
Mattiske and
Havel (1998)*
vegetation
complexes
Astron (2013)
rectified
extent
(hectare)
over survey
area
Area in
excellent
condition*
Area in
very good
condition*
Area in
good
condition
Area in
degraded
condition*
Area in
completely
degraded
condition*
AB (Abba) – located on the flats and low rises of the Abba
Plains, dominated by woodland and open forest of marri
(Corymbia calophylla).
363.32
17.73
0
0
0.820
9.52
7.39
Degraded
Intact
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Vegetation complex Mattiske and Havel (1998)
Mattiske and
Havel (1998)*
vegetation
complexes
Astron (2013)
rectified
extent
(hectare)
over survey
area
Area in
excellent
condition*
Area in
very good
condition*
Area in
good
condition
Area in
degraded
condition*
Area in
completely
degraded
condition*
AF (Abba) – located on the terraces and valley floors of the
low undulating Abba Plains, dominated by woodland of marri
(Corymbia calophylla) – peppermint (Agonis flexuosa) and a
tall shrubland of Myrtaceae – Proteaceae species.
63.45
2.37
0
0
0
0
2.37
Degraded;
no intact
example
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Vegetation complex Mattiske and Havel (1998)
Mattiske and
Havel (1998)*
vegetation
complexes
Astron (2013)
rectified
extent
(hectare)
over survey
area
Area in
excellent
condition*
Area in
very good
condition*
Area in
good
condition
Area in
degraded
condition*
Area in
completely
degraded
condition*
Ad (Abba) – located on the mild slopes of the low undulating
Abba Plains, dominated by woodland of marri (Corymbia
calophylla) – peppermint (Agonis flexuosa) – sheoak
(Allocasuarina fraseriana) – Christmas tree (Nuytsia
floribunda).
74.69
26.21
4.32
1.89
2.90
1.61
15.49
Intact
Degraded
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Vegetation complex Mattiske and Havel (1998)
Mattiske and
Havel (1998)*
vegetation
complexes
Astron (2013)
rectified
extent
(hectare)
over survey
area
Area in
excellent
condition*
Area in
very good
condition*
Area in
good
condition
Area in
degraded
condition*
Area in
completely
degraded
condition*
Aw (Abba) – located on the broad depressions of the low
undulating Abba Plains, dominated by tall shrubland of
Melaleuca viminea and woodland of flooded gum and
paperbark ( Eucalyptus rudis – Melaleuca rhaphiophylla) with
the occasional marri ( Corymbia calophylla).
88.29
34.05
1.95
0.08
0.22
30.72
1.08
Degraded
Intact
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Vegetation complex Mattiske and Havel (1998)
Mattiske and
Havel (1998)*
vegetation
complexes
Astron (2013)
rectified
extent
(hectare)
over survey
area
Area in
excellent
condition*
Area in
very good
condition*
Area in
good
condition
Area in
degraded
condition*
Area in
completely
degraded
condition*
Lw (Ludlow) – located on the fringes of the RFA area, near
Ludlow. The complex is dominated by an open woodland of
paperbark (Melaleuca rhaphiophylla) and sedgelands of
Cyperaceae and Restionaceae species on broad depressions.
1.13
1.91
0
0.71
0.04
0
1.16
*Area in ha; areas within a range of condition (eg. Good to Very Good) were assigned to the higher mapped value.
Degraded
Intact
Chamelaucium sp.
C Coastal Plain
AF
AF
Verticordia attenuata
Jacksonia gracillima
Tripterococcus
paniculatus
Tripterococcus
paniculatus
Isopogon formosus subsp. Dasylepis
WN18
WN14
WN16
WN17
WN15
WN13
Aw
Aw
Ad
Ad
AB
AB
AB
AB
Pt
Pt
Pt
Pt
Pt
Pt
Pt
Pt
AF
AF
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