1.3.2.1 Description

The total number of ecological assets in the preliminary assessment extent (PAE) of the Gloucester subregion is 116 (made up from 3400 elements). They fall within five of the ten ecological asset classes (Table 10): ‘River or stream reach, tributary, anabranch or bend’, ‘Wetland, wetland complex or swamp’, ‘Aquifer, geological feature, alluvium or stratum’, ‘Groundwater‑dependent ecosystems’ and ‘Habitat (potential species distribution)’. As described in the companion submethodology M02 (as listed in Table 1) for identifying water‑dependent assets (Mount et al., 2014), an asset may be made up of one or many polygons termed ‘elements’, and the number of elements for each asset is indicated in the following tables.

Table 10 Classification of elements into ecological assets in the preliminary assessment extent (PAE) of the Gloucester subregion

Group	Subgroup	Class	Elements	Total assets
Ecological	Surface water feature	River or stream reach, tributary, anabranch or bend	24	24
		Lake, reservoir, lagoon or estuary	0	0
		Waterhole, pool, rockpool or billabong	0	0
		Wetland, wetland complex or swamp	140	1
		Marsh, sedgeland, bog, spring or soak	0	0
		Floodplain	0	0
Ecological	Groundwater feature (subsurface)	Aquifer, geological feature, alluvium or stratum	3	3
Ecological	Vegetation	Groundwater‑dependent ecosystems	2426	45
		Riparian vegetation	0	0
		Habitat (potential species distribution)	807	43
Total			3400	116

Landscape features such as aquifers, rivers and wetlands are obviously water dependent and are included in the water‑dependent asset register (Table 11 to Table 13). The distribution of these is shown in Figure 7. As described in Section 1.3.3.2 below, data from the Atlas of Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems (Bureau of Meteorology, 2012) were not ‘fit for purpose’ for the bioregional assessment of the Gloucester subregion and have not been included in the water‑dependent asset register (Table 14). However, more accurate mapping of groundwater‑dependent ecosystems (GDEs) obtained from the NSW Office of Water will be used in the assessment to identify receptors for GDEs.

Table 11 Assets within the ‘Aquifer geological feature, alluvium or stratum’ class

Asset name^a	Elements	In register
Hunter‑Central Rivers Karuah Alluvium	1	Yes
Hunter‑Central Rivers Manning Alluvium	1	Yes
Hunter‑Central Rivers New England Fold Belt	1	Yes

^aPunctuation and typography appear as used in the asset database.

Table 12 Assets within the ‘River or stream reach, tributary, anabranch or bend’ class

Asset name^a	Elements	In register
Catchments 237, 243–247, 250–256, 298, 300, 308, 329–330, 344, 347, 356–357, 464	24	Yes
Hunter‑Central Rivers Karuah River Estuary	1	Yes

^aPunctuation and typography appear as used in the asset database.

Table 13 Assets within the ‘Wetland wetland complex or swamp’ class

Asset name^a	Elements	In register
Port Stephens Estuary	140	Yes

^aPunctuation and typography appear as used in the asset database.

Table 14 Assets within the ‘Groundwater‑dependent ecosystems’ class

Asset name	Elements	In register
Barrington Moist Blue Gum‑White Mahogany	25	No
Barrington River	7	No
Barrington Wet New England Blackbutt‑Blue Gum	19	No
Central Mid Elevation Sydney Blue Gum	1	No
Coastal Flooded Gum	22	No
Dry Foothills Blackbutt‑Turpentine	3	No
Dry Foothills Spotted Gum	239	No
Dry Grassy Blackbutt‑Tallowwood	132	No
Dry Grassy Tallowwood‑Grey Gum	41	No
Dry Heathy Blackbutt‑Bloodwood	11	No
Dry Redgum‑Bloodwood‑Apple	79	No
Escarpment Redgum	168	No
Escarpment Tallowwood‑Bloodwood	20	No
Foothills Grey Gum‑Spotted Gum	6	No
Gloucester River	94	No
Gorge Grey Box	3	No
Grey Gum‑Stringybark	2	No
Ironbark	180	No
Karuah River	24	No
Mangrove	6	No
Manning River	7	No
Moist Foothills Spotted Gum	59	No
Moist Open Escarpment White Mahogany	2	No
Open Coastal Brushbox	13	No
Open Shrubby Brushbox‑Tallowwood	45	No
Open Silvertop Stringybark‑Blue Gum	2	No
Paperbark	3	No
Rough‑barked Apples	15	No
Smoothbarked Apple‑Sydney Peppermint‑Stringybark	31	No
South Coast Shrubby Grey Gum	494	No
South Coast Tallowwood‑Blue Gum	304	No
Southern Wet Sydney Blue Gum	250	No
Stringybark‑Apple	93	No
Swamp Mahogany	1	No
Sydney Peppermint‑Stringybark	6	No
Wetland (5 assets in total)	5	No
Wet Coastal Tallowwood‑Brushbox	5	No
Wet Flooded Gum‑Tallowwood	1	No
Wet Foothills Blackbutt‑Turpentine	5	No
Wet New England Blackbutt‑Silvertop Stringybark	2	No
Wet Shrubby Brushbox‑Tallowwood	1	No

^aPunctuation and typography appear as used in the asset database.

Thirty‑six of the 43 ecological assets that were classified as ‘Habitat (potential species distribution)’ were included in the water‑dependent asset register on the basis that they were judged to be moderately or highly water dependent (Table 15). These included the Karuah National Park and the threatened ecological community ‘Lowland Subtropical Rainforest on Basalt Alluvium in NE NSW and SE Qld’ (Figure 7), as well as fish biodiversity hotspots and the oyster growing areas within the Karuah River. The justification for judging seven of the assets as having low water dependence, and excluding them from the water‑dependent asset register, is provided in Table 16.

Table 15 Assets within the ‘Habitat (potential species distribution)’ class

Although examples of individual species are listed below, bioregional assessments consider the potential impact to the habitat of species not individual species per se.

Asset name^a	Elements	In register
(Grevillea guthrieana)	1	Yes
Australasian Bittern (Botaurus poiciloptilus)	1	Yes
Black‑eyed Susan (Tetratheca juncea)	6	No
Broad‑headed Snake (Hoplocephalus bungaroides)	2	No
Brush‑tailed Rock‑wallaby (Petrogale penicillata)	1	No
Charmhaven Apple (Angophora inopina)	2	Yes
Eastern Bristlebird (Dasyornis brachypterus)	1	No
Giant Barred Frog (Mixophyes iteratus)	1	Yes
Grey‑headed Flying‑fox (Pteropus poliocephalus)	20	Yes
Hastings River Mouse (Pseudomys oralis)	1	Yes
Karuah National Park	1	Yes
Karuah River Oyster growing Area	1	Yes
Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus)	1	Yes
Leafless Tongue‑orchid (Cryptostylis hunteriana)	1	Yes
Lowland Subtropical Rainforest on Basalt Alluvium in NE NSW and SE Qld (threatened ecological community)	77	Yes
New Holland Mouse (Pseudomys novaehollandiae)	1	No
Red Goshawk (Erythrotriorchis radiatus)	2	Yes
Regent Honeyeater (Anthochaera phrygia)	623	Yes
Slaty Red Gum (Eucalyptus glaucina)	1	Yes
Spot‑tailed Quoll (Dasyurus maculatus maculatus)	1	No
Stuttering Frog (Mixophyes balbus)	1	Yes
Swift Parrot (Lathamus discolor)	15	Yes
Trailing Woodruff (Asperula asthenes)	3	Yes
White‑flowered Wax Plant (Cynanchum elegans)	2	No
Known Platypus habitat in Catchment 244–247, 250, 252–253, 329–330, 347, 356 (11 assets in total)	33	Yes
Fish Biodiversity Hotspots 2–3, 21, 29, 30–31, 49, 108 (8 assets in total)	8	Yes

^aPunctuation and typography appear as used in the asset database.

Table 16 Justification for judgement of low water dependence for seven assets

Common name	Scientific name	Justification
Black‑eyed Susan	Tetratheca juncea	It generally prefers well‑drained sites below 200 m elevation and annual rainfall between 1000 – 1200 mm. The preferred substrates are sandy skeletal soil on sandstone, sandy‑loam soils, low nutrients; and clayey soil from conglomerates, pH neutral. ‘Well‑drained sites’ suggests no dependence on groundwater.
Broad‑headed snake	Hoplocephalus bungaroides	Nocturnal. Shelters in rock crevices and under flat sandstone rocks on exposed cliff edges during autumn, winter and spring. Moves from the sandstone rocks to shelters in hollows in large trees within 200 m of escarpments in summer. Feeds mostly on geckos and small skinks; will also eat frogs and small mammals occasionally. No specific mention of water dependency.
Brush‑tailed rock‑wallaby	Petrogale penicillata	Brush‑tailed rock‑wallaby habitat includes refuge habitat, feeding habitat, and routes in between. Refuge habitat includes rock faces or outcrops with large tumbled boulders, ledges and caves (often with vegetation cover) that provide shelter and some protection from predators. No specific mention of water dependency.
Eastern bristlebird	Dasyornis brachypterus	Habitat is characterised by dense, low vegetation including heath and open woodland with a heathy understorey; all of these vegetation types are fire prone. Age of habitat since fires (fire‑age) is of paramount importance to this species. No specific mention of water dependency.
New Holland mouse, Pookila	Pseudomys novaehollandiae	Known to inhabit open heathlands, woodlands and forests with a heathland understorey and vegetated sand dunes. Distribution is patchy in time and space, with peaks in abundance during early to mid stages of vegetation succession typically induced by fire. No specific mention of water dependency.
Spot‑tailed quoll	Dasyurus maculatus maculatus	Recorded across a range of habitat types, including rainforest, open forest, woodland, coastal heath and inland riparian forest, from the sub‑alpine zone to the coastline. Mostly nocturnal, although will hunt during the day; spends most of the time on the ground, although also an excellent climber and may raid possum and glider dens and prey on roosting birds. Females occupy home ranges up to about 750 ha and males up to 3500 ha; usually traverse their ranges along densely vegetated creek lines. May utilise creek lines and riparian vegetation but no specific dependence.
White‑flowered wax plant	Cynanchum elegans	Usually occurs on the edge of dry rainforest vegetation. Other associated vegetation types include littoral rainforest; coastal tea‑tree – coastal banksia coastal scrub; forest red gum aligned open forest and woodland; spotted gum aligned open forest and woodland; and bracelet honeymyrtle scrub to open scrub. Associated vegetation types not indicative of groundwater dependent vegetation.

Figure 7 Location of ecological assets in the Gloucester subregion preliminary assessment extent (PAE)

(a) Groundwater assets, (b) Surface water assets and (c) Vegetation and wetland assets

Last updated:

15 October 2018

Product Finalisation date

Numbered headings

ASSESSMENT

PRODUCT DATA