Chowilla Floodplain Icon Site Lignum condition …...3 1 Introduction This report presents a summary of data on lignum plant condition on the Chowilla Floodplain collected during a

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Chowilla Floodplain Icon Site Lignum condition monitoring summary 2017

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Publication title: Chowilla Floodplain Icon Site Lignum condition monitoring summary 2017.

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liability or responsibility to any person using the information or advice, Infromation contained in the document is correct at the

time of writing.

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Contact us

Inquiries regarding the licence and any use of the document are welcome at:

Nathan Creeper

Floodplain and Wetlands Team, Environment and Conservation

South Australia Murray-Darling Basin

Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources

T: +61 (8) 8595 2170

E: [email protected]

www.environment.sa.gov.au

This project was funded by The Living Murray initiative. The Living Murray is a joint initiative funded by the New South Wales,

Victorian, South Australian, Australian Capital Territory and Commonwealth governments, coordinated by the Murray–Darling

Basin Authority.

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/

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1 Introduction

This report presents a summary of data on lignum plant condition on the Chowilla Floodplain collected during a monitoring

survey in April 2017 as a component of Chowilla Floodplain Icon Site Condition Monitoring Program. A more complete review

of the lignum condition monitoring program and its data for the period 2009 to 2017 is currently in preparation.

A full description of the ecological objectives and target for lignum on the Chowilla floodplain, the current method used to assess

lignum condition, and the interpretation and analysis of lignum condition index scores is currently provided in the condition

monitoring program development draft (MDFRC 2011) and the Revised Condition Monitoring Plan (DEWNR in prep). In brief,

the ecological objectives and target relating to lignum and the assessment method used are outlined here in Table 1.

Table 1. Summary description of sampling strategy and calculation of Index for Lignum Condition

Characteristic Description

Ecological Objective Maintain viable lignum populations in 40% of existing areas.

Ecological Target

In all standardised lignum condition assessment sites ≥70% of lignum plants will

have a Lignum Condition Score (LCI) ≥ 6 by 2020.

Threshold for

management action

Within the area that can be influenced by management action(s), more than 10% of

established viable plants receive LCI scores ≤ 2.

Lignum assessment

method

Lignum condition is assessed using the Lignum Condition Index (LCI) method. In

standardised transects 100 m long the condition of lignum plants that intersect or

lie within 2.5 m from either side of the transect centreline are assessed. A score from

0-6 is given to both the viability of crown and the colour of the viable crown for a

total score out of 12.

Monitoring of lignum condition occurred at a total of 8 lignum condition assessment sites in the Chowilla floodplain in April

2017 (

Figure 1). Four additional sites were also established and will become part of the ongoing monitoring program in 2018 (Table 2).

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Figure 1. Spatial distribution of Lignum assessment sites. Lignum shrubland boundaries (grey) are extracted from SAVEG

vegetation groups with lignum present as a dominant or subdominant species (DEH 2005)

Table 2. Current lignum condition assessment sites and summary monitoring effort for the period 2009 to 2017.

Site Habitat 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Brandy Bottle Wetland - - - - Est. -

Coombool Swamp Wetland - - - - - - - - Est.

Coppermine Complex North Floodplain -

Coppermine Complex South Floodplain -

Coppermine Complex West Floodplain - -

Gum Flat Floodplain - -

Lake Limbra Wetland - - - - - - - - Est.

Lake Littra Wetland - - - - Est. -

Monoman Creek Depression Floodplain -

Punkah Island Horseshoe Wetland - - - - - - - - Est.

Twin Creeks Depression Floodplain - - - - - - - - Est.

Werta Wert Wetland - - - - Est. -

‘’ indicates site was sampled in that year. ‘-‘ indicates site was not sampled in that year. ‘Est.’ indicates the year in which a site

was established.

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2 Results

The results of the monitoring survey is summarised by site in Figure 2 and by habitat type in Figure 3. The proportion of plants

in each lignum condition category at each of the monitoring sites is presented in Table 2. In addition, Table 2 highlights where

the ecological target has been met or where the management threshold has been exceeded.

Figure 2. Proportion of lignum plants with LCI score ≥ 6 (top) and ≤ 2 (bottom) for each of the lignum condition assessment sites.

Horizontal dashed reference lines correspond to the ecological target (70%) and management threshold (10%).

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Figure 3. Proportion of lignum plants with LCI score ≥ 6 (top) and ≤ 2 (bottom) for wetland and floodplain habitat types and at all

lignum condition assessment sites. Horizontal dashed reference lines correspond to the ecological target (70%) and management

threshold (10%).

Table 3. Data summary of Lignum condition index showing proportion of plant in each condition category.

Brandy Bottle

Proportion of plants 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

‘Good condition’ LCI ≥ 6 (%) - - - - - 86* - 81* 88*

‘Stressed condition’ 2 < LCI < 6 (%) - - - - - 2 - 4 0

‘Poor condition’ LCI ≤ 2 (%) - - - - - 14# - 15# 12#

‘Non viable’ LCI = 0 (%) - - - - - 14 - 15 12

Total plants (n) - - - - - 498 - 262 979

Coppermine Complex North


‘Good condition’ LCI ≥ 6 (%) 21 22 67 82* 93* 94* - 69 95*

‘Stressed condition’ 2 < LCI < 6 (%) 41 43 0 0 1 3 - 14 0

‘Poor condition’ LCI ≤ 2 (%) 38# 36# 33# 17# 6 3 - 17# 5

‘Non viable’ LCI = 0 (%) 28 25 33 17 6 3 - 17 5

Total plants (n) 192 169 126 224 655 1079 - 163 1020

Coppermine Complex South


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‘Good condition’ LCI ≥ 6 (%) 12 5 29 42 32 52 - 19 54


‘Poor condition’ LCI ≤ 2 (%) 65# 66# 71# 58# 59# 35# - 68# 45#

‘Non viable’ LCI = 0 (%) 58 61 71 58 58 35 - 68 45

Total plants (n) 278 268 243 183 229 469 - 118 370

Coppermine Complex West


‘Good condition’ LCI ≥ 6 (%) 1 - 9 5 5 8 - 2 6

‘Stressed condition’ 2 < LCI < 6 (%) 9 - 0 4 3 7 - 5 3

‘Poor condition’ LCI ≤ 2 (%) 90# - 91# 91# 91# 85# - 93# 91#

‘Non viable’ LCI = 0 (%) 83 - 91 91 91 85 - 93 91

Total plants (n) 673 - 293 330 256 386 - 194 351

Gum Flat


‘Good condition’ LCI ≥ 6 (%) 16 33 44 - 48 54 - 38 60

‘Stressed condition’ 2 < LCI < 6 (%) 32 17 0 - 6 10 - 10 3

‘Poor condition’ LCI ≤ 2 (%) 52# 50# 56# - 46# 35# - 52# 37#

‘Non viable’ LCI = 0 (%) 48 49 56 - 46 35 - 52 37

Total plants (n) 159 293 160 - 140 201 - 88 270

Lake Littra




‘Poor condition’ LCI ≤ 2 (%) - - - - - 11# - 23# 5

‘Non viable’ LCI = 0 (%) - - - - - 11 - 23 5

Total plants (n) - - - - - 302 - 121 571

Monoman Creek Depression


‘Good condition’ LCI ≥ 6 (%) 11 25 45 50 36 38 - 24 42


‘Poor condition’ LCI ≤ 2 (%) 61# 48# 53# 49# 53# 45# - 56# 49#

‘Non viable’ LCI = 0 (%) 60 41 53 49 53 45 - 56 49

Total plants (n) 258 197 266 166 218 332 - 100 344

Werta Wert




‘Poor condition’ LCI ≤ 2 (%) - - - - - 14# - 16# 15#

‘Non viable’ LCI = 0 (%) - - - - - 14 - 16 15

Total plants (n) - - - - - 484 - 413 605

*Meets ecological target. #Exceeds threshold trigger for management action

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3 Discussion

There was an increase in proportion of ‘good condition’ plants (LCI ≥ 6) and a decrease in the proportion of ‘poor condition’

plants (LCI ≤ 2) at all of the lignum condition assessment sites in 2017. This most recent improvement of overall condition is a

result of substantial floodplain inundation from September to December 2016 as a result of the large scale regulator operation

(inundating approximately 7,650 hectares of floodplain) and the following natural flood event. However, the ongoing

environmental water delivery program in preceding years help ensure that the condition of lignum on the floodplain was in a

position where it was able to respond positively to the latest watering.

The proportion of lignum plants in ‘good condition’ across the icon site in 2017 is the highest recorded during the monitoring

program and is the first year that the ecological target of ≥ 70% of lignum plants has been met since 2009 (Figure 3).

The proportion of Lignum plants in ‘good condition’ at all sites is influenced positively by the data recorded at wetland habitat

sites. When considered separately, the proportion of lignum plants in ‘good condition’ at the floodplain habitat sites still fall

below the ecological target. This result is likely due to the more frequent delivery of e-water to the wetland habitat sites then to

floodplain habitat sites. The typically higher elevation of the floodplain habitat sites make their inundation via e-water pumping

logistically challenging and the delivery of e-water by regulator operation and/or natural flooding less likely. There has been a

continued gradual decrease in the number of lignum plants in ‘poor condition’. However, the proportion of plants in this

condition remain 2-3 times higher than the management threshold when considering all sites together, but was as high as 91%

at Coppermine Complex West. The success of meeting the ecological target for lignum condition across the floodplain is

promising. However, it is important that this result needs to be considered carefully and within the context of lignum condition

trends at individual assessment sites.

4 References

MDFRC (2011) The Living Murray: Condition Monitoring Program design for Chowilla Floodplain and the Lindsay, Mulcra and

Wallpolla Islands. Development Draft 2.2. May 2011. A report prepared for the Murray-Darling Basin Commission by the Murray-

Darling Freshwater Research Centre.

DEWNR (in prep) Condition Monitoring Plan (Revised). The Living Murray – Chowilla Floodplain Icon Site. DEWNR Technical Report.

Smith FM and Kenny SK (2005) Floristic vegetation and tree health mapping, River Murray Floodplain, South Australia. Department

for Environment and Herritage, Adelaide.

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Documents

Chowilla Floodplain Icon Site Lignum condition …...3 1 Introduction This report presents a summary of data on lignum plant condition on the Chowilla Floodplain collected during a