Nightcap Range Reserves Vegetation for Fire Management. VIS ID 5126.

Vegetation mapping for Nightcap Range Reserves (Nightcap National Park and Whian Whian State Conservation Area), June 2023. A North Coast NPWS Branch contract by Peter Richards and Craig Harre. The mapping identifies Plant Community Types (PCTs), NSW Vegetation Formations, and Vegetation Classes (Keith 2004).\r\n\r\nThe Vegetation Report is supplied with the spatial data for external use. Internally the report is located at P:\\Corporate\\Products\\Vegetation\\VegReserves\r\n\r\nThe purpose of undertaking new, detailed vegetation mapping of the Nightcap Range reserves is to provide a base data layer for use by NPWS in updating its existing reserve fire management strategy (DEC 2005). By clearly understanding the complex interactions of vegetation in the Nightcap Range, fire planners can predict where wildfire will travel based on prevailing conditions, vegetation type and natural advantages (eg. rainforest with no pyrophytic vegetation). The mapping will also assist in clearly defining vegetation types that will benefit from active planned fire management for ecological purposes as well as for wildfire mitigation and the protection of life and property.\r\nIn his review of prescribed burning operations within the Nightcap Range reserves, a part of the Gondwana Rainforests World Heritage Area (GRWHA), Bradstock (2016) noted that: \r\n‘Both rainforest and sclerophyll plant communities are recognised as key values of the GRWHA, both in the original nomination and contemporary policy documents. Maintenance of the full spectrum of species and plant communities in the GRWHA and ongoing opportunities for evolution and dynamic adaptation in response to climatic and other changes is thus a key priority for management.’\r\nThe present vegetation mapping project arises from Bradstock’s recommendation to:\r\n‘Review, revise and improve existing vegetation mapping in the Nightcap Range reserves, using existing floristic information from various studies and new survey information where required. This would not only aim to refine community definitions and mapping but also to provide a dynamic perspective on the current and future status of different plant communities in relation to fire regimes.’\r\nThis project has utilised Plant Community Types (PCTs) that were recognised in the NSW Government’s most recent classification of the vegetation of eastern NSW (DPE 2022; Connolly et al. in prep.)\r\n\r\nVIS ID. 5126