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- Bioregional Assessment Program
- Namoi subregion
- 1.1 Context statement for the Namoi subregion
- 1.1.7 Ecology
- 1.1.7.4 Terrestrial species and communities
The Namoi river basin supports a diversity of landscapes including the Liverpool and Kaputar ranges, the rolling hills of the sedimentary slopes, and the floodplains of the Liverpool Plains and Darling Riverine plains in the west of the river basin (Green et al., 2011). Vegetation in the upper Namoi includes open box woodlands on the slopes and temperate and sub-alpine forests in the ranges. The Liverpool Plains contain endangered native grasslands, and the riparian vegetation is dominated by river oaks and willows with river red gum communities along the major streams (Green et al., 2011). Ninety-seven regional vegetation communities were recognised to occur within the Namoi (Namoi CMA, 2011), However recent updates of this earlier mapping have revised this to 70 regional vegetation communities that were existed prioir to European colonisation and 3 derived regional vegetation communities (EcoLogical Australia 2013). Over 3200 km2 of native woodlands and forests are protected within national parks and nature reserves. East of Tamworth the Warrabah National Park approximates 40 km2 of habitat along the Namoi River. East of Narrabri the Kaputar National Park protects rainforest patches, semi-arid to sub-alpine woodlands and forests and heathlands on the high plateaus and peaks. The Pilliga Nature Reserve in the upper catchment of Bohena Creek is the largest reserve in the river basin protecting extensive areas of Pilliga scrub containing iron box woodlands and small areas of river red gum, yellow box, white box and angophora. White and black cypress are commonly associated with the iron bark. The Pilliga scrub is the largest remaining area of dry sclerophyll forest west of the Great Dividing Range in New South Wales and its size and connection to adjacent forest habitat makes it an important habitat for a range of threatened species including the endemic Pilliga mouse (Green et al., 2011).
1.1.7.4.1 Species/communities of national significance
Table 15 presents species or communities that occur in the Namoi river basin and are listed under the EPBC Act.
Table 15 Nationally listed biodiversity assets of the Namoi river basin
Source data: Thurtell and Wettin (2012)
1.1.7.4.2 Species/communities of regional significance
Table 16 presents species or communities that occur in the Namoi river basin and are listed as threatened species by the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage (2012).
Table 16 Species and communities of the Namoi river basin listed as threatened in New South Wales
Source data: Thurtell and Wettin (2012)
