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Environment
Biodiversity
The south-west of Western Australia is internationally recognised as one of 34 global hotspots of biodiversity — the only listed for Australia. The Busselton–Augusta region has also been independently identified as one of 15 national biodiversity hotspots within Australia.
Biodiversity hotspots are designated to acknowledge the exceptional concentration diversity and endemism (that occur nowhere else) of species in these areas, but just as importantly, to highlight the threats to this biodiversity as a result of the significant loss of habitat in these areas.
The Shire lies within the South West’s botanical province which supports an estimated 8000 taxa of vascular plants, representing two thirds of the estimated plant taxa in Western Australia (Hopper et al. in EPA 2007; Beard et al. 2000). Over 80% of the plant taxa in the South West are endemic to the province (Beard et al. 2000), that is, they are not found anywhere else.
The Shire municipal area straddles two IBRA (Interim Biogeographical Regionalisation of Australia) regions:
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Southern Jarrah Forest Region
In the north-eastern portion of th, this represents part of the Yilgarn Craton where weathering has lead to the development of a hardened layer e Shireof sediments on the plateau. Within the Shire, the vegetation of this region generally comprises jarrah-marri forest on areas of laterite gravels. Sediments derived from weathering and carried by water have allowed the development of peppermint shrublands. Jarrah forests also occur interspersed with species rich shrublands (Molloy et al 2007).
- Warren Region
In the western and southern portions of the Shire, this includes several geological formations which have been dissected to form an undulating landscape. Karri is found on loamy soils and jarrah-marri forest is found predominantly on sand/laterite soils. Peppermint and banksia woodlands and heaths are found on marine dunes of Holocene age. Low jarrah woodlands as well as paperbark and sedge swamps are found in leached sandy soils in depressions and plains (Molloy et al 2007).
Biodiversity values within the Shire include:
- 6 Threatened Ecological Communities;
- 4 Priority Ecological Communities;
- 59 Vegetation complexes including a significant number which are threatened;
- 69 Declared Rare and Priority Flora species;
- 28 Declared Threatened Fauna species; and
- 15 Priority Fauna species.
For more information contact:
Customer Service Officer, Customer Service Centre
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