Melville Range Nature Reserve Vegetation 2006 VIS_ID 4746

Melville Range Nature Reserve vegetation mapping was undertaken by Dr John T. Hunter and Paul Sheringham in 2006 by contract for the NPWS Northern Tableland Region. Melville Range Nature Reserve comprises some 843 ha of land and lies between Tamworth and Gunnedah. These lands were previously freehold and all boundaries are with freehold lands. Us such much of the past landuse management has been for grazing and some timber removal. The reserve falls within the Nandewar Bioregion and the North Western Slopes Botanical Division.

The vegetation of Melville Range Nature Reserve is described and mapped (scale 1:25 000). Five communities are defined based on classification (Kulczynski association). These five communities were mapped based on ground truthing, air photo interpretation and landform. Almost all of the reserve is dominated by the trees Eucalyptus crebra, Euc. albens and Euc. dealbata with a sparse shrub layer of Notelaea microcarpa, Psydrax odoratum and Bursaria longisepala and an understorey dominated by Aristida ramosa, Scutellaria humilis, Arthropodium sp. B, Joycea pallida, Geranium solanderi, Dichondra sp. A and Cymbopogon refractus. Much of the reserve has been disturbed in the past, particularly clearing and grazing. Parts of Community 3: Dry Rainforest, are likely to conform to the Endangered Ecological Community of Semi-Evergreen Vine Thickets. Communities 4 and 5 should be considered as highly restricted and therefore of concern.

VIS_ID 4746