Mid North Coast Vegetation (EcoLogical Version). VIS_ID 3886

Two spatial products generated for the Comprehensive Regional Assessment (CRA), namely floristic linework captured by aerial photographic interpretation (API), and a; forest ecosystem model, were integrated to provide an improved spatial map of forest ecosystem distribution on the Mid North Coast of NSW. The process involved intuitive assignment of dominant forest ecosystems to polygons captured by the API, and involved a number of iterative steps. The resultant layer is both polygon and grid cell based, and provides an interim spatial product upon which Government agencies will be able to identify high conservation value native vegetation across the Mid North Coast of NSW with reasonable reliability.; The original forest ecosystem classification included some 230 ecosystems, occurring from the Queensland Border to the Lower Hunter Valley. Of these, 124 were eliminated, either because they were not considered to occur in the Mid North; Coast, or they were replaced by new or existing ecosystems. A total of 40 ecosystems were introduced, including splits of existing ecosystems (eg. rainforest) or new ecosystems imported from more recent classifications. The final number of ecosystems mapped within the Mid North Coast for this project was 140. Derivation of current and former extent of each ecosystem was undertaken to provide an index of conservation status in the form of a %-cleared estimate. In; summary, 39 ecosystems possessed a %-cleared value of at least 50%, while 46 ecosystems were less than 20% cleared. Several of those with a high clearing rate are equivalent to endangered ecological communities listed under the Threatened Species Act 1995. In the longer term, an improved classification will be required to replace forest ecosystems, which is overly broad on coastal and private land given the influence of commercial forest types on the classification. Additional targeted API will also be; required in future, as the reliability of API undertaken for the CRA is questionable in many areas. Provision of an improved API coverage and a more appropriate classification will enable production of a new generation of vegetation mapping products for north-east NSW, providing the future basis for property vegetation planning, benchmarking, bio-certification and bio-banking.; VIS_ID 3886