2016-12-12 General Committee - Attachment 1 to Item 6 - Biodiversity Assessment Report

                                                       Noosa Biodiversity Plan – Biodiversity Assessment Report




          •       Review core and connecting habitat areas in Noosa Shire and develop an improved
                  understanding of vegetation network (corridor) planning using leading science
          •       Review existing vegetation and fauna studies for Noosa Shire in consideration of changes
                  to legislation, land tenure, threatened species listings and emerging biodiversity threats and
                  issues
          •       Improve understanding of fauna associations with Regional Ecosystems (REs), based on
                  current knowledge
          •       Outline the current biodiversity values of Noosa Shire
          •       Use updated information and mapping methods to document, analyse and map biodiversity
                  values for the purpose of developing a Biodiversity Overlay for the new planning scheme
                  and strategic corridor mapping
          •       Assess the vulnerability of the Broad Vegetation Groups (BVG) of Noosa Shire to climate
                  variability and give a rating from most resilient to least resilient
          •       Identify future priority areas for actions by Noosa Council based on conservation
                  significance.

For the purpose of this study, the definition of biodiversity has been taken at the ecosystem level of
organisation. It is therefore defined as the variety of all habitat types, ecological communities and
ecological processes (Natural Resource Management Ministerial Council, 2010). In doing so, the study
focusses on the upper hierarchy of biodiversity and encompasses diversity at both a genetic and species
level of organisation.

Biodiversity has been described in terms of its components and patterns, including the identification of
the various ecosystem types, spatial distribution, complexity and connectivity across the landscape.
Threats to biodiversity have been identified and assessed in terms of the potential impact on ecosystem
resilience and integrity. Biodiversity value or significance in this study has been defined through a series
of criteria representing ecological condition, rarity, significant species habitat value, connectivity and
ecological processes. Whereas, conservation significance has been defined as a function of biodiversity
significance and risk of threat.

The study is limited to terrestrial sources of biodiversity as well as biodiversity within the terrestrial
interface of aquatic and marine environments such as mangrove, saltmarsh and dune systems.


1.4       St u d y a pp ro ach
This Biodiversity Assessment Report has been prepared using a variety of desktop information, some
field validated vegetation records and a range of government supplied spatial data. The methodology
was based on a combination of desktop review, aerial photographic interpretation (API), field survey and
spatial data interrogation and analysis. A summary of the spatial and data analysis are listed below.

      •       Attribution of ecological condition of land across the Local Government Area (LGA)
      •       Interrogation of LGA based data to identify regional and locally significant values as well as poorly
              represented values
      •       Analysis of the relative levels of protection for REs in Noosa compared to the broader SEQ region
      •       Analyses of patch size and core to edge ratio
      •       Analysis of ecological connectivity including corridors and habitat nodes
      •       Identification of significant species, their locations and habitats
      •       Waterway and wetland mapping
      •       Identification and mapping of Threatened Ecological Communities (TECs) (Lowland Rainforest
              and Saltmarsh)


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