Snowy River
Indicator: Ecological Communities
Results for this indicator are also available for [an error occurred while processing this directive]
Please note: Text or data highlighted in this colour represent an update to this indicator for the period 2008/09.
What the results tell us for Snowy River
Thirty-two vegetation communities have been recorded within Snowy River Shire, ten of which are considered to be of conservation significance. The Shire may also contain occurrences of five ecological communities listed as critically endangered or endangered nationally or within New South Wales (NSW). Five wetlands of national importance, covering 22 separate wetland areas, are also located within the Shire.
It was not possible to assess accurately changes to the extent and condition of native vegetation in the Shire during the current reporting period. No information was available on vegetation cleared, or vegetation affected by wild fires during the current reporting period
No information was available on whether reservation targets vegetation were met for communities considered to be poorly represented within the broader region's reserve system in the previous reporting period. No information was available on additions to the reserve system within Snowy River Shire that may have contributed towards meeting these targets.
No information was available on Voluntary Conservation Agreements or wildlife refuges during the current reporting period. No information was available on activities carried out during the reporting period that enhanced the conservation of ecological communities in the council area.
The Monaro Grasslands Conservation Management Network and council carried out a range of activities during the current reporting period to help protect grassland ecological communities in the Shire.
Vegetation communities in the Shire
Thirty-two vegetation communities (or ecosystems) have been recorded within Snowy River Shire (see Table 1). These communities were classified as part of the Southern Comprehensive Regional Assessment (CRA) program in south-eastern NSW over 1999 (see About the data) and provide the best coverage and most consistent description of vegetation in the Shire. These vegetation classifications are still current, however Eden CRA classifications were incorporated (almost unchanged) into the new SCIVI classification system (Tozer et.al 2006), and completely overlap the Eden CRA region. SCIVI has superseded the Southern CRA region, however does not fully encompass the Canberra region, overlapping much of the Southern CRA region, but not extending as far west. SCIVI does not include western vegetation classification types therefore was not applicable to this report.
Eight of the forest vegetation communities that occur within the Shire were considered vulnerable in 1999 (see Table 1), i.e. they were approaching 70% clearance of their pre-1750 extent. In the context of the Southern CRA region, an additional two communities were still considered poorly represented within the region's reserve system in 2004. No information is available to determine the number of communities still poorly represented within those regions' reserve systems in 2008.
| Forest vegetation communities | CRA Number | Area (ha)# |
Vulnerable* | Poorly Reserved* | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 2000 | 1997 | ||||
| ACT/Monaro Dry Grassland | S157 | 2 | + | + | + | + |
| Alpine Wet Herbfield and Sub-alpine Wet Herb/Grassland/Bog | S129133 | 22,540 | ||||
| Central Tableland/ACT Montane Dry Shrub Forest | S107 | 7,710 | ||||
| Central Tablelands Shrub/Grass Dry Forest | S76 | 30,530 | + | + | + | + |
| Cooma Dry Grass Forest | S180 | 530 | + | + | + | |
| Eastern Tableland Dry Shrub/Grass Forest | S73 | 21,180 | + | + | + | + |
| Lower Snowy Dry Shrub/Tussock Grass Forest | S77 | 38,540 | ||||
| Lower Snowy Rain Shadow Woodland/Shrubland | S41 | 20 | ||||
| Lower Snowy White Box Dry Shrub/Herb Woodland | S78 | 15,490 | ||||
| Monaro Dry Grassland | S158 | 120 | + | + | + | + |
| Montane / Sub-Alpine Dry Rocky Shrubland | S36 | 740 | ||||
| Montane Acacia/Dry Shrub/Herb/Grass Forest | S97 | 40,410 | ||||
| Montane Dry Shrub/Herb/Grass Forest | S99 | 30 | ||||
| North-Western Montane Dry Shrub/Herb/Grass Forest | S101 | 1,840 | ||||
| Rock | S190 | 110 | ||||
| South Coast and Byadbo Acacia Scrubs | S35 | 190 | ||||
| South East Tablelands Dry Shrub/Tussock Grass Forest | S115 | 2,150 | + | + | + | |
| South Eastern Tablelands Dry Shrub/Grass/Herb Forest | S74 | 6,530 | + | + | + | + |
| Sub-alpine Dry Shrub/Herb Woodland | S128 | 28,010 | ||||
| Sub-alpine Herbfield | S131 | 18,320 | ||||
| Sub-alpine Shrub/Grass Woodland | S130 | 28,940 | ||||
| Tableland Acacia Moist Herb Forest | S95 | 18,050 | ||||
| Tableland and Escarpment Wet Layered Shrub Forest | S58 | 1,900 | ||||
| Tableland Tussock Grassland /Sedgeland/ Woodland | S148 | 310 | + | + | + | + |
| Tablelands and Slopes Dry Herb/Grass Woodland | S161 | 2 | + | + | + | + |
| Tablelands Dry Shrub/Grass Forest | S110 | 4 | + | + | ||
| Tablelands Moist Sedge/Herb/Grassland | S147 | 10 | + | + | + | + |
| Tablelands Shrub/Tussock Grass Forest | S75 | 3,160 | ||||
| Western Escarpment Moist Shrub/Herb/Grass Forest | S87 | 13,810 | ||||
| Western Montane Acacia Fern/Herb Forest | S82 | 5,420 | ||||
| Western Montane Dry Fern/Grass Forest | S103 | 3,190 | ||||
| Western Montane Moist Shrub Forest | S98 | 28,620 | ||||
| Western Tablelands Dry Herb/Grass Forest | S108 | 220 | ||||
* Determinations (preliminary and final) under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 made by the NSW Scientific Committee; # Listed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 by the Commonwealth Minister for Environment and Heritage
Source: DEC 2004a, b; DEH 2005a.
Endangered ecological communities
Snowy River Shire may contain five threatened ecological communities listed as critically endangered or endangered within NSW or nationally (Note: threatened ecological community lists are generated based on Bioregions). Two are listed under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995, three are listed under the Commonwealth's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Three communities had their final determinations made during the current reporting period (DECC 2008b; DEHWA 2008c).
| Name of ecological community | Status | Date of determination* | Recovery Plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montane peatlands and swamps of the New England Tableland, NSW North Coast, Sydney Basin, South East Corner, South Eastern Highlands and Australian Alps bioregions | Endangered in NSW* | Final: 17 December 2004 |
No |
| Natural temperate grasslands of the Southern Tablelands of NSW and the ACT | Endangered nationally# | Prior to 16 July 2000 | In Preparation |
| White Box Yellow Box Blakely's Red Gum woodland | Endangered in NSW* | Final: 15 March 2002 | No |
| White Box-Yellow Box-Blakely's Red Gum Grassy Woodland and Derived Native Grassland | Critically Endangered nationally# | Final: 17 May 2006 | In Preparation |
| Upland Wetlands of the New England Tablelands and the Monaro Plateau | Endangered nationally# | Final: 17 Nov 2005 | No |
* Determinations (preliminary and final) under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 made by the NSW Scientific Committee
Source: DECC 2004a–c, 2008a–h
Other significant communities or habitats
Five nationally significant wetlands listed in the Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia (DEWHA 2008a) either occur within or intersect the Shire. They are:
- Blue Lake—reserved; surrounding land is National Park
- Kosciuszko Alpine Fens, Bogs and Lakes (those occurring in the Shire include Hedley Tarn and Club Lake)—reserved; surrounding land is National Park
- Rennex Gap—reserved; surrounding land is National Park
- Snowgum Flat—reserved; surrounding land is National Park
- Monaro Lakes (those occurring in the Shire include Jillamatong, Island, Buckleys, Coolamatong, Carrolls, Salt, Kiah, Bullenbaloong, Hugundara, Wishing, Cootralantra, Killmacoola, Arable, Tinkers, Long, Rocky, and O'Neills lakes)—not reserved (mostly freehold land, some lakes on travelling stock reserves); surrounding land tenure is freehold or State Forest.
Blue Lake is within 10 km of Ramsar site (i.e. internationally important wetlands), while Fivebough and Tuckerbil swamps occur in within the same catchment as Ramsar site.
Vegetation extent and condition
Pressures on vegetation extent
Loss of native vegetation continues to be one of the greatest threats to Australia’s biodiversity. The clearing of native vegetation is a threatening process operating on both ecosystems and species (DEHWA 2006). Even if all clearing were to cease now, the decline in vegetation condition is likely to continue for many years, because of the lag effects of vegetation fragmentation and growing pressure from climate change (DECC 2006). The main responses are the Native Vegetation Act 2003 (and supporting Regulations) and improved compliance monitoring. The new legislative regime is expected to provide a means to address this issue.
Clearing was the main pressure on the extent of native vegetation in Snowy River Shire during the previous reporting period. Increased fragmentation and clearing have both have been identified as particular threats to the five endangered ecological communities with occurrences in the Shire. No information is available on the extent of native vegetation clearing in Snowy River Shire during the current reporting period. It appears that the trend in the overall rate of clearing is difficult to accurately assess (see About the data).
During 2000–2004, two forest communities were impacted by regrowth, one of which was rated vulnerable and one poorly reserved in July 2000. During 1997–2000, two forest communities were impacted by clearing, one of which was rated vulnerable and one poorly reserved at the beginning of that period. No information was available on mapped vegetation change relating to the extent of native vegetation in the Shire in the current reporting period.
A total of 28.3 hectares of vegetation was approved for clearing within the Murrumbidgee Catchment region, which encompasses Snowy River Shire, under the NSW Native Vegetation Act 2003 during the reporting period. No information was available on clearing applications approved, including clearing areas, within the council area during the reporting period.
Pressures on vegetation condition
Wildfire is likely to have been a major broadscale pressure impacting the condition of native vegetation in parts of Snowy River Shire during the current reporting period. About 551 hectares of land were affected by control burns in the period 2004–08. Three separate wildfires occurred within the Shire during the current reporting period, however no information is available on areas burnt by these wildfires.
No information is available on the number of forest communities affected by very low severity fires (generally fuel reduction burns) or by fires of unknown severity (generally wildfires).
Other factors such as drought and weed invasion (including the spread of St John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum) and the noxious pasture grasses Serrated Tussock (Nassella trichotoma) and African Lovegrass (Eragrostis curvula) represent other pressures impacting the condition of native vegetation in parts of Snowy River Shire during the current reporting period.
General threats to the condition of the five endangered ecological communities with occurrences in the Shire include (DECC 2008a; DEWHA 2008b):
- land degradation and fragmentation of remnants
- grazing and trampling by stock
- weed invasion
- erosion and sedimentation
- soil disturbance caused by feral animals
- harvesting of firewood and collection of on-ground woody debris
- high frequency or high intensity fires
- climate change.
Peat mining, and changes to water tables and surface flows caused by drainage works or altered flows in catchments, are also considered threats to the endangered montane peatlands and swamps Upland Wetlands of the New England Tablelands and the Monaro Plateau (DECC 2008c; DEWHA 2008b).
Conservation and management
Law and policy
Some national and state laws require recovery plans or action plans to be prepared for endangered ecological communities, and for the presence of such communities to be taken into account during decision-making on developments applications. These laws also aim to minimise the effects of threatening processes on endangered ecological communities or prevent communities from becoming endangered. Laws such as the Native Vegetation Act 2003 (enacted during the previous reporting period and replaced the Native Vegetation Conservation Act 1997), also aim to minimise the effects of threatening processes and to protect, conserve and improve the condition of existing native vegetation, particularly at a local and regional level.
Snowy River Shire is located within the Murrumbidgee and Southern Rivers Catchment Management Authority (CMA) areas established under the NSW Catchment Management Authorities Act 2003. Each CMA is required to work in partnership with Local Government as well as other stakeholders, and must develop and administer a regional vegetation management plan. These plans and the catchment blueprints prepared by the catchment management boards which preceded the CMAs, also support the conservation of native ecosystems. The Murrumbidgee Catchment Blueprint (Murrumbidgee Catchment Management Board 2003) and South East Catchment Blueprint (South East Catchment Management Board 2002), both completed during the current reporting period, include a range of management actions to restore, maintain or conserve biodiversity values in each catchment area.
Local government legislation, regulations and planning documents such as local environmental plans (LEPs) may also provide some protection for ecological communities, or limit or prohibit certain activities that may lead to the further decline of endangered ecological communities.
Conservation reserves
Nine national parks, nature reserves and state conservation areas either fall within or intersect Snowy River Shire, and cover approximately 222,800 hectares (37% of the Shire).
Eight new conservation reserves totalling about 3,270 hectares were gazetted in the Shire during the previous reporting period, compared with no new reserves in the current period. Additions totalling about 10,660 hectares were made to one reserve in the previous period compared with no additions to reserves in the current period. These additions to the reserve network during the current reporting period were outcomes of the Southern Regional Forest Agreement.
No forest communities which were considered poorly represented within the regional reserve system in 2000 met regional reservation targets by June 2004 due to the above additions to the reserve system. Another three forest communities which were included in the additions to the regional reserve system within the current reporting period were classed as vulnerable.
No information was available on forest communities considered poorly represented within the regional reserve system in 2004 meeting regional reservation targets during the current reporting period. No information was available on forest communities still classed as vulnerable changing their status within the current reporting period.
Kosciuszko National Park has a new plan of management in place; the plan was adopted in June 2006. A draft fire management plan was also were prepared for this park during the current reporting period.
Other conservation management
One privately owned property in Snowy River Shire had a Voluntary Conservation Agreement (VCA) in place, while another two were designated wildlife refuges during the previous reporting period. The VCA covers 113 hectares and the two wildlife refuges 927 hectares. No information was available on the vegetation communities occurring within the VCA and wildlife refuges, or whether a plan of management or scheme of operation had been developed and/or implemented for them. No information was available on these conservation initiatives during the current reporting period.
| SRCMA | MCMA | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 2 | 2 | |
| 2008 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| 2009 | 5 | 5 | |
| Total | 3 | 9 | 12 |
SRCMA – Southern Rivers Catchment Management Authority
MCMA – Murrumbidgee Catchment Management Authority
Source: Snowy River Shire Council
Table 3 was added to include data for 2008-09.
Management of grasslands
The Monaro Grasslands Conservation Management Network, established in 2002–2003, extends over part of Snowy River Shire. The network aims to promote grassland conservation in the Monaro region (including endangered natural temperate grasslands) across a range of land tenures, such as private, state and local government managed lands. The network has been funded through the NSW Environmental Trust and the Snowy Monaro Biodiversity Conservation Strategy of the Southern Rivers Catchment Management Authority. Funds for specific projects were obtained from a range of other sources.
A project to map the Monaro region's native grasslands was undertaken during 2003 as a collaborative effort between the then South East Catchment Management Board and the NSW NPWS. The mapping was also to show areas occupied by open grassy woodland, introduced pastures, crops and weeds (Anon 2003).
Snowy River Shire Council received funding from the WWF (formerly known as the World Wildlife Fund) in 1993 to help conserve a network of 11 grassland sites in council-managed cemeteries and roadside reserves within the Shire. This project continued through the current reporting period, with management practices including minimising soil disturbance, spot spraying of weeds (replacing broadacre spraying), revegetation with native species and the development of mowing regimes to enhance seeding of native plants.
Council also initiated a Grassy Ecosystem project that was completed in autumn 2003. As part of the project, council held training days for roadside weed contractors and staff that covered identification of significant grasslands in roadside vegetation and council reserves, and provided information on minimising the spread of noxious weeds.
Ten Landcare groups operated in Snowy River Shire. For information on the range of activities occurring there and in the Murrumbidgee and Southern Rivers catchments, see the Landcare NSW website.
Community groups, council and/or other organisations may have undertaken various projects during the reporting period that enhanced the protection of ecological communities in the Shire. No information was available on these projects.
No information was available on revegetation projects, native vegetation preserved or fencing of remnant vegetation during the current reporting period.
About the data
Forest vegetation communities referred to in this report were derived from the Eden and Southern Comprehensive Regional Assessment (CRA) forest ecosystem mapping. This mapping was undertaken in 1998 and 1999 respectively. All calculations are based on the extant and pre-1750 forest ecosystem layers. The extant forest ecosystem layers reflect the extent of these vegetation communities at the time of mapping.
Under the CRA mapping, a Vulnerable vegetation community was defined as one whose areal extent at the time of mapping was approaching 70% loss of its pre-European extent. A vegetation community was defined as Poorly Reserved when less than 15% of its pre-European extent was located in formal conservation reserves across the CRA region. Further information on the 70% clearing threshold and the 15% reservation threshold is provided in JANIS (1997).
The CRA mapping was used for this report because it provided the most current data which covered the entire extent of the majority of local government areas in the Australian Capital Region. However the mapping data have the following limitations:
- some mapped CRA ecosystem types may be inconsistent with vegetation on the ground because the CRA vegetation types were modelled and limited ground truthing was undertaken in some areas
- the vegetation classifications were focused primarily on forest vegetation types and may poorly reflect non-forest communities
- the vegetation classifications used to describe forest ecosystems were not a widely used system
- the vegetation classification systems used in the Eden and Southern CRAs differ and there may be some duplication of forest types at the borders of these two study areas.
No data were available regarding extant vegetation at 30 June 2008, and hence it was not possible to determine changes in the extent of forest communities within the council area during the current reporting period. Overall vegetation condition assessment across the landscape is very difficult to achieve because remote sensing below the canopy level is still not possible (given current technology and cost requirement in achieving statistically significant results from survey) and the complexities of obtaining permission to enter private land for survey staff.
Mapping of the amount of vegetation cleared was not available at a scale suitable for application within LGA’s boundaries, and reflects significant limitations in accurately assessing this indicator. Broadscale analyses under-estimate the overall rate of clearing because current techniques only operate under large map scales. Effectively this means that it only records removal of woody vegetation that is at least two metres tall with a canopy cover of 15% or more, excluding changes in sparse open woodlands and grasslands, which are extensive and among the most affected vegetation types in NSW.
Fine-scale remote-sensing studies allow a more accurate appraisal of clearing rates in woodlands, open woodlands and shrublands, however coverage is limited to particular regions of NSW. Authors using these methods in the NSW State of the Environment Report 2006 indicate that clearing rates are substantially greater (8–10 times higher) than the estimates obtained from the coarse-scale analyses referred to above. However, being regional, they provide an incomplete view of statewide clearing. The availability of accurate vegetation clearing data is of critical importance for future reporting purposes, due to the threat that this pressure represents to biodiversity.
Data on vegetation approved for clearing within Catchment Management Association regions under the NSW Native Vegetation Act 2003 was accessed through the DECC website under the Public register of approved clearing PVPs and development applications. Geographic analysis would reveal locations within LGA boundaries, however this was unavailable during the reporting period. The data collection system was changed in 2006 with the introduction of the new Regulations. These estimates exclude the area of vegetation cleared illegally and clearing carried out legally under statutory exemptions (in 2005, 40% of all clearing was estimated to be illegal in NSW (Audit Office 2006)).
Threats to each endangered ecological community was provided by DECC, under the NSW Scientific Committee - final determination page, and/or the Threatened Species, Populations and Ecological Communities endangered ecological communities profile page. The information contained in this database is available on the internet link under DECC 2008a in the references. New parks and additions to existing reserves was provided by DECC upon request, as the website only listed all the parks and reserves created over the last 12 months. Information on park and fire management plans, as well as recovery plans for endangered ecological communities was provided by DECC.
References
Anon (2003) Southern Tablelands Grassy Ecosystems Conservation Management Network, The Austral Bugle Volume 1, Issue 2, Autumn 2003.
Audit Office 2006, Auditor-General's Report: Performance Audit, Department of Natural Resources – Regulating the Clearing of Native Vegetation, follow-up of 2002 performance audit, Audit Office of NSW, Sydney
DECC—see Department of Environment and Climate Change (NSW)
DEHWA—see Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (Commonwealth)
Department of Environment and Climate Change (NSW) (2008a) NSW Scientific Committee—Final Determination, (search on threatened ecological community - endangered ecological community listing), viewed 20 October 2008, http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/natureconservation.htm
Department of Environment and Climate Change (NSW) (2008b) Threatened Species, Populations and Ecological Communities, Final determinations by date, viewed 22 October 2008, http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/committee/FinalDeterminations.htm
Department of Environment and Climate Change (NSW) (2006), NSW State of the Environment Report 2006, Biodiversity http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/soe/soe2006/chapter6/chp_6.1.htm#6.1.60
Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (Commonwealth) (2006), Australia State of the Environment 2006, Pressures on biodiversity http://www.environment.gov.au/soe/2006/publications/report/biodiversity-2.html
Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (Commonwealth) (2008a) Australian Wetlands Database, Department of Environment and Heritage, viewed 22 October 2008, http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/wetlands/search.pl?smode=BOTH
Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (Commonwealth) (2008b), Biodiversity, search on threatened ecological community, viewed October 2008, http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/index.html
Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (Commonwealth) (2008c), EPBC Act List of Threatened Ecological Communities, Final determinations by date, viewed October 2008, http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/index.html
Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources (NSW) (2004) 2003/04 Combined NSW Catchment Management Authorities Annual Report, Volume 1: CMA Activities and Achievements, Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources, Sydney.
DIPNR—see Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources (NSW)
Dovey, L (1984) The Snowy River Shire Conservation Study; vol. 1: summary and recommendations; vol. 2: environmental description and evaluation; vol. 3: appendices, National Parks and Wildlife Service, South-eastern Region.
Eddy, D (2005) Coordinator, Monaro Grassland Conservation Management Network, personal communication.
JANIS—see Joint ANZECC/MCFFA National Forest Policy Statement Implementation Sub-committee
Joint ANZECC/MCFFA National Forest Policy Statement Implementation Sub-committee (1997) Nationally Agreed Criteria for the Establishment of a Comprehensive, Adequate and Representative Reserve System for Forests in Australia, Joint ANZECC/MCFFA National Forest Policy Statement Implementation Sub-committee, Commonwealth of Australia.
McConkey, G. (2003) State of the Environment, Supplementary (Annual) report on the State of the Environment within the Snowy River Shire. Snowy River Shire Council, 2002-2003, Snowy River Shire Council, Berridale.
Murrumbidgee Catchment Management Board (2003) Murrumbidgee Catchment Blueprint, NSW Department of Land and Water Conservation, Sydney, viewed 5 August 2005, http://www.dlwc.nsw.gov.au/care/cmb/blueprints/pdf/murrumbidgee_blueprint.pdf.
Rehwinkel, R (2005) Threatened Species Officer, Department of Environment and Conservation, Queanbeyan, personal communication.
Sattler, P and Creighton, C (eds) (2002) Australian Terrestrial Biodiversity Assessment 2002, National Land and Water Resources Audit on behalf of the Commonwealth of Australia, Chapter 4: Threatened Ecosystems and Species, viewed 4 August 2005, http://audit.deh.gov.au/ANRA/vegetation/docs/biodiversity/bio_assess_threat.cfm.
South East Catchment Management Board (2002) South East Catchment Blueprint – An Integrated Catchment Management Plan for the South East Catchment 2002, NSW Department of Land and Water Conservation, Sydney, viewed 5 August 2005 http://www.dlwc.nsw.gov.au/care/cmb/blueprints/pdf/south_east_blueprint.pdf.
Tozer, M.G., Turner, K., Simpson, C., Keith, D.A., Beukers, P., MacKenzie, B., Tindall, D. & Pennay, C. (2006) Native vegetation of southeast NSW: a revised classification and map for the coast and eastern tablelands. Version 1.0. Department of Environment and Conservation and Department of Natural Resources
