Bushfire Hazard Assessment & Management Plan v2 - 48-59 Kabi Road COOTHARABA

Bushfire Hazard Assessment & Management Plan v2                                              NCES REF: J001061
Lot 7 on RP216403, Lot 394 on M371117, and Lot 650 on M37380 – 48-59 Kabi Road, Cootharaba



3.2.1    Vegetation Hazard Class 2.1 – Complex to semi-deciduous mesophyll to notophyll vine
         forest
Vegetation Hazard Class 2.1 (VHC 2.1) occurs in several patches within the golf course area and in
a larger linear unit in the southern site extent. This VHC exhibits an average canopy height of 10-
25m with Projective Foliage Canopy Cover (PFCC) of 40-50%.
The canopy included Argyrodendron sp. Kin Kin (rusty tulip oak), Flindersia schottiana (bumpy ash),
Acacia disparrima (hickory wattle), Araucaria cunninghamii (hoop pine), Commersonia bartramia
(brown kurrajong), Xanthostemon oppositifolius (southern penda), Averrhoa carambola (starfruit),
Elaeocarpus eumundi (quandong), Elaeocarpus reticulatus (blueberry ash), Elaeocarpus grandis
(blue quandong), Castanospermum Australe (black bean), Brachychiton acerifolius (flame tree),
Grevillea baileyana (brown silky oak), Ficus watkinsiana (strangler fig), Buckinghamia calsissima
(ivory curl), Agathis robusta (Queensland kauri), Aleurites moluccanus (candlenut), and Stenocarpus
sinuatus (firewheel tree), and Teconta grandis (teak).
The mid-storey was characterised by Medicosma forsteri (Mt Mellum medicosma), Syzgium
luehmannii (riberry), Helcicia glabriflora (pale helicia), Mischocarpus anodontus (veiny pear-fruit),
Syzgium smithii (narrow-leaved lillipilli), Cupaniopsis serrata (smooth tuckeroo), Pleioluma
queenslandica (blush coondoo), Archontophoenix cunninghamiana (bangalow palm), and Livistona
australis (cabbage tree palm).
The understorey was sparse due to low light conditions but where present included Calamus muelleri
(wait-a-while vine), Ottochloa gracillima (graceful grass) Cordyline rubra (palm lily), Gahnia aspera
(sawsedge), rejuvenating Grevillea baileyana (brown silky oak) and herbaceous weeds.
A liner edge of Melaleuca quinquenervia (broad-leaved paperbark) was present fronting the
southernmost unit of VHC 2.1, however, given its limited width at 1-2 trees wide, it was not isolated
as an individual vegetation hazard class.
It is also noted that the north-western most units of VHC 2.1 exhibit an unnatural growth form of
planted rows (Plate 5 left).
VHC 2.1 is attributed a potential combined surface fuel load of 3.5 t/ha and total fuel load of 12.0t/ha,
and is classified as Prone Type 3 (QFES, 2019). It should be noted that Rainforest vegetation is a
low hazardous vegetation type and is not assessable under the SPP 2019. Plate 5 depicts typical
conditions within VHC 2.1.




                                  Plate 5 – Characteristic vegetation within VHC 2.1

3.2.2    Vegetation Hazard Class 8.1 – Wet eucalypt tall open forest
Vegetation Hazard Class 8.1 (VHC 8.1) dominates the majority of the bushland areas in the southern
and eastern site extents. This VHC exhibits an average canopy height of 20->30m with Projective
Foliage Canopy Cover (PFCC) of 25-50%.
The canopy exhibited a T1 and T2 canopy layer. The T1 canopy layer included Eucalyptus grandis
(flooded gum), Eucalyptus microcorys (tallow wood), Eucalyptus tereticornis (Queensland blue
gum), and Lophostemon confertus (brushbox). The T2 canopy layer was dominated by mixed


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