Tronox Management Pty Ltd
Cooljarloo West Mineral Sands Mine
Flora and Vegetation Assessment
Woodman Environmental Consulting Pty Ltd
DOCUMENT REVISION HISTORY
Revision Description
Originator
Internal
Reviewer
Internal
Review
Date
Client
Reviewer
Client
Review
Date
A
Draft Report
BL
B
Draft Report
BL/CG
GW
13/09/2013
Tronox
2/10/2013
C
Reviewed Draft
Report
BL/CG
GW
22/11/2013
D.
Panickar
23/12/2013
0
Final Report
BL/CG
GW/CG
29/1/2014
Report Number:
Tronox12-37-01
DISCLAIMER
This document is prepared in accordance with and subject to an agreement between
Woodman Environmental Consulting Pty Ltd (“Woodman Environmental”) and the client for
whom it has been prepared (“Tronox Limited”) and is restricted to those issues that have been
raised by the Client in its engagement of Woodman Environmental and prepared using the
standard of skill and care ordinarily exercised by Environmental Scientists in the preparation
of such Documents.
Any organisation or person that relies on or uses this document for purposes or reasons other
than those agreed by Woodman Environmental and the Client without first obtaining the prior
written consent of Woodman Environmental, does so entirely at their own risk and Woodman
Environmental denies all liability in tort, contract or otherwise for any loss, damage or injury
of any kind whatsoever (whether in negligence or otherwise) that may be suffered as a
consequence of relying on this document for any purpose other than that agreed with the
Client.
Tronox Management Pty Ltd
Cooljarloo West Mineral Sands Mine
Flora and Vegetation Assessment
Woodman Environmental Consulting Pty Ltd
TOC 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................... I
1.
INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 3
1.1
P
ROJECT AND
L
EVEL OF
A
SSESSMENT
...................................................................................................... 3
1.2
T
HE
C
OOLJARLOO
W
EST
S
TUDY
A
REA
..................................................................................................... 3
1.3
S
TUDY
D
ESIGN
........................................................................................................................................ 4
1.4
A
IMS OF THE
S
TUDY
................................................................................................................................. 4
2.
BACKGROUND ........................................................................................................................................... 5
2.1
C
LIMATE
.................................................................................................................................................. 5
2.2
G
EOLOGY
,
S
OILS AND
L
ANDFORMS
......................................................................................................... 6
2.3
R
EGIONAL
V
EGETATION
......................................................................................................................... 7
2.3.1
Regional Vegetation Mapping by Beard (1979; 1990) ..........................................................................................................................7
2.3.2
IBRA Regions ........................................................................................................................................................................................8
2.3.3
Vegetation System Associations ..............................................................................................................................................................9
2.3.4
Ecological Communities ....................................................................................................................................................................... 10
2.4
R
EGIONAL
F
LORA
...................................................................................................................................11
2.4.1
Conservation Significant Flora ............................................................................................................................................................. 11
2.4.2
Introduced Flora .................................................................................................................................................................................. 13
2.5
L
OCAL
F
LORA AND
V
EGETATION
...........................................................................................................14
3.
METHODS ...................................................................................................................................................19
3.1
P
ERSONNEL AND
L
ICENSING
..................................................................................................................19
3.2
I
NITIAL
A
ERIAL
P
HOTOGRAPHY
I
NTERPRETATION
.................................................................................19
3.3
F
IELD
S
URVEY
M
ETHODS
........................................................................................................................20
3.3.1
Detailed Field Survey ........................................................................................................................................................................... 20
3.3.2
Quadrat Establishment ....................................................................................................................................................................... 20
3.4
P
LANT
C
OLLECTION AND
I
DENTIFICATION
............................................................................................21
3.5
S
TATISTICAL
A
NALYSIS
............................................................................................................................21
3.5.1
Data .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 21
3.5.2
Analysis ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 22
3.6
S
AMPLING
C
ONTROL
...............................................................................................................................23
3.7
V
EGETATION
M
APPING AND
D
ESCRIPTION
............................................................................................23
3.8
S
IGNIFICANCE OF
V
EGETATION
..............................................................................................................24
3.9
V
EGETATION
C
ONDITION
M
APPING
......................................................................................................25
3.10
S
URVEY FOR
C
ONSERVATION
S
IGNIFICANT AND
I
NTRODUCED
F
LORA
...................................................26
3.11
S
IGNIFICANCE OF
C
ONSERVATION
S
IGNIFICANT
F
LORA
P
OPULATIONS
..................................................26
3.12
L
IMITATIONS OF
S
URVEY
........................................................................................................................27
4.
RESULTS......................................................................................................................................................30
4.1
F
LORA OF THE
S
TUDY
A
REA
...................................................................................................................30
4.1.1
Conservation Significant Flora Taxa ................................................................................................................................................... 30
4.1.2
Range Extensions and Distribution Gaps ........................................................................................................................................... 37
4.1.3
Introduced Taxa .................................................................................................................................................................................. 38
4.1.4
Significance of Conservation Significant Flora Populations .................................................................................................................. 44
4.2
V
EGETATION OF THE
S
TUDY
A
REA
.........................................................................................................50
4.2.1
Vegetation Type Mapping ................................................................................................................................................................... 50
4.2.2
Other Areas Mapped ........................................................................................................................................................................... 56
4.2.3
Vegetation Condition Mapping............................................................................................................................................................ 56
4.2.4
Local Significance of Vegetation ........................................................................................................................................................... 57
4.2.5
Regional Significance of Vegetation ...................................................................................................................................................... 61
5
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS ......................................................................................................69
5.1
F
LORA OF THE
S
TUDY
A
REA
...................................................................................................................69
5.2
V
EGETATION OF THE
S
TUDY
A
REA
.........................................................................................................70
7.
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................................72
Tronox Management Pty Ltd
Cooljarloo West Mineral Sands Mine
Flora and Vegetation Assessment
Woodman Environmental Consulting Pty Ltd
TOC 2
FIGURES
Figure 1:
Cooljarloo West Project Layout and Study Area
Figure 2:
Mean Maximum and Minimum Temperatures (
o
Celsius) and Mean Rainfall (mm)
for Cooljarloo West (Tronox 2013a)
Figure 3:
Geology of the Cooljarloo West Study Area (Lowry et al. 1969)
Figure 4:
Cooljarloo West Pre-European Vegetation System Associations (Government of
Western Australia 2013)
Figure 5:
Cooljarloo West Study Area - IBRA Subregions
Figure 6:
Cooljarloo West Study Area - Location of Historical Flora and Vegetation
Surveys
Figure 7.1:
Cooljarloo West Conservation Significant Flora Locations – Threatened Flora
Figure 7.2:
Cooljarloo West Conservation Significant Flora Locations – Priority 1 Flora
Figure 7.3:
Cooljarloo West Conservation Significant Flora Locations – Priority 2 Flora
Figure 7.4:
Cooljarloo West Conservation Significant Flora Locations – Priority 3 Flora
Figure 7.5:
Cooljarloo West Conservation Significant Flora Locations – Priority 4 &
Conservation Significant Flora
Figure 8:
Cooljarloo West Study Area Overview of Vegetation Condition and Weed
Locations
Figure 9:
Cooljarloo West Vegetation Types Overview
TABLES
Table 1:
Extent of Vegetation Associations within the Study Area (Government of
Western Australia 2013)
Table 2:
Introduced Taxa Known to Occur Within or in the Vicinity of the Study Area
from DEC Records (DEC 2013b)
Table 3:
Summary of Significant Flora and Vegetation Surveys undertaken within
Cooljarloo West
Table 4:
Personnel and Licensing Information for Surveys Conducted in 2012
Table 5:
Vegetation Condition Scale for South West Botanical Province (Keighery 1994)
Table 6:
Descriptions of Local Conservation Significance Rankings of Vegetation Types in
the Study Area
Table 7:
Significance of Local Populations to the Overall/Regional Conservation of
Species
Table 8:
Limitations of the Flora and Vegetation Survey of the Study Area
Table 9:
Summary of Conservation Significant Taxa Known from within the Study Area
Table 10:
Conservation Significant Taxa Where Collections/Records Represent Range
Extensions to the Known Ranges of these Taxa, or Fill Distribution Gaps (DPaW
2013b)
Table 11:
Summary of Introduced Taxa Known from Within the Study Area
Table 12:
Significance of Local Conservation Significant Flora Populations to the Overall
Conservation Significance of Each Taxon
Tronox Management Pty Ltd
Cooljarloo West Mineral Sands Mine
Flora and Vegetation Assessment
Woodman Environmental Consulting Pty Ltd
TOC 3
Table 13:
Local Conservation Significance of Vegetation Types
Table 14:
Vegetation Types present within nature reserves in the Study Area
Table 15:
Possible Regional Distribution of Vegetation Types based on Historical Regional
Studies
APPENDICES
Appendix A: Definitions, Categories and Criteria for Threatened and Priority Ecological
Communities (DEC 2010)
Appendix B: Conservation Codes for Western Australia (DPaW 2013c)
Appendix C: Conservation Significant Flora Known to Occur Within or in the Vicinity of the
Study Area
Appendix D: Environmental Weed Strategy - Criteria for the Assessment and Rating of Weeds
in Terms of their Environmental Impact on Biodiversity (Department of
Conservation and Land Management 1999)
Appendix E: Vascular Plant Taxa Recorded in the Cooljarloo West Study Area (as depicted in
Figure 1)
Appendix F: Summary Data of Quadrats Used in the Statistical Analysis
Appendix G: Species Area Curves (PC-Ord)
Appendix H: GPS Locations of Conservation Significant Flora Recorded in the Cooljarloo
West Study Area
Appendix I: Descriptions of Conservation Significant Flora Recorded in the Cooljarloo West
Study Area (Priority Taxa Only)
Appendix J:
Common Taxa Where Collections/Records Represent Range Extensions to the
Known Ranges of these Taxa (DPaW 2013b)
Appendix K: GPS Locations of Introduced Flora Taxa Recorded in the Cooljarloo West Study
Area
Appendix L: Descriptions of Introduced Flora Taxa Recorded in the Cooljarloo West Study
Area (Ranked as High or Declared Weeds)
Appendix M: Vascular Plant Taxa Amalgamated and Omitted During Statistical Analysis
Appendix N: Quadrats Moved within the Analysis Output
Appendix O: Raw Data Recorded within Quadrats established within the Cooljarloo West
Study Area during 2012
Appendix P: Vascular Plant Taxa Recorded within each Vegetation Type within the Cooljarloo
West Study Area (Based on Analysis)
Appendix Q: Summary Dendrogram of Relationships Between Quadrats (Dendrogram Order
Prior to Manual Movement of Quadrats)
Appendix R: Two-way Table of Species and Quadrat Matrix (as per Dendrogram Prior to
Manual Movement of Quadrats)
Appendix S: Significant Indicator Taxa of the 20-Group Classification of Vegetation Types
Appendix T: Cooljarloo West Vegetation Type Mapping (Showing Boundaries Over Aerial
Imagery & Quadrat Locations)
Appendix U: Detailed Vegetation Type Information