Vegetation of the Singleton Military Area. VIS_ID 3913

Vegetation of the Singleton Military Area.;\nA vegetation survey, classification and mapping project has been completed for the 14,520 ha Singleton Military Area (SMA), located in the mid Hunter Valley of New South Wales, on behalf of the Department of Defence.;\nA preferential sampling design supported by extensive ground-data collection (1,427 ground control data points) was adopted to select and sample the vegetation so that observable variations in dominant plant species combinations could be analysed in detail. Two approaches to classification were employed, each tailored to different structural habitats: woody vegetation and grasslands. For woody vegetation, sample sizes were 0.04 ha, while 0.01 ha samples were used in grassland habitats. In all cases, all vascular plant species within sample plots were recorded and assessed in terms of a 6-point cover abundance code. Numerical classification of sample data was undertaken using the Primer statistical package, where cluster;\nanalysis and non-metric multidimensional scaling ordinations were performed. In total, 78 full floristic sample plots were used to define 23 woody vegetation communities, while 82 sample plots defined 21;\ngrassland (and wetland, shrubland) communities. Of these, six woody communities can be considered Threatened Ecological Communities (TECs), listed under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995;\nMapping of all vegetation communities was undertaken through on-screen interpretation of digital orthorectified aerial photographs (flown December 2008), supported by the 1,427 ground control data;\npoints for woody vegetation. Accuracy of this mapping is considered high across most of the SMA, due to the methods used in its construction. Grasslands were mapped in a similar way, but did not incorporate ground control points. Instead, intensive ground truthing was undertaken to attribute specific areas to grassland types. It was noted, however, that distinguishing community boundaries in the field between adjacent grasslands was difficult due to the history of grazing, and interpretation of aerial photographs could only distinguish broad grassland patterns. VIS_ID 3913