An alternative broad vegetation hierarchy for eastern New South Wales, with application for environmental planning and management
Nicholas J. H. Gellie
A C and John T. Hunter B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Principal Fire and Vegetation Scientist, at Ecofuego, 53 Pioneer Road, Stanley, Vic. 3747, Australia.
B School of Environmental and Rural Science, Elm Avenue, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2350, Australia. Email: jhunter8@bigpond.com
C Corresponding author. Email: ecofuego.au@posteo.net
Australian Journal of Botany 69(7) 450-467 https://doi.org/10.1071/BT20072
Submitted: 29 June 2020 Accepted: 8 July 2021 Published: 24 August 2021
Abstract
Many previous vegetation description and mapping programs have highlighted the need for a hierarchical classification that easily translates from regional through to international scales. Often programs have not selected appropriate levels of vegetation classification and mapping for management purposes. Here, we provide an alternative broad vegetation classification at the macrogroup level in the international vegetation classification for eastern New South Wales (NSW) that could be applied in regional and local environmental planning and management. Existing aerial photographic interpretation (API) floristic and canopy maps available for eastern NSW were collated and reclassified and incorporated into a unifying dataset of macrogroups, which also included types dominated by exotic vegetation such as exotic plantations. There we identified, in total, 71 macrogroups across eastern New South Wales (NSW) of a total of 85 identified for NSW mapped at 1:25 000 scale, or finer, in the following three sections: north-east, Sydney basin and central west, and southern coast and Snowy Mountains. These were then amalgamated into a single remnant vegetation map covering 23 525 280 ha. This alternative broad vegetation hierarchy provides a reliable and overt vegetation classification and mapping dataset that can easily incorporate future revisions as new mapping data become available.
Keywords: vegetation classification, vegetation map, fuel type classification, eastern NSW.
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