EVC Benchmarks - Bridgewater bioregion

EVC - Benchmarks for Bioregion Home | Glossary

Below is a list of published Ecological Vegetation Class benchmarks for the Bridgewater bioregion.

These benchmarks have been developed to assess native vegetation using the method for Vegetation Quality Assessment (VQA).

Please note: These benchmarks are endorsed for the purpose of implementing 'Victoria's Native Vegetation Management - A Framework for Action, 2002'. For Wetland Vegetation assessments, please follow this link. Mosaic and complex mapping units have been removed from this page except where the scale is too fine to resolve at the site level. When assessing a site, you should be able to determine which component EVC is dominant on-site. See note below.

EVC no.
BCS
Ecological Vegetation Class Benchmark Last Updated
3
V
Damp Sands Herb-rich Woodland (PDF 138 kb) - VQA
9
V
Coastal Saltmarsh (PDF 93 kb) - VQA December 2004 - New
10
E
Estuarine Wetland (PDF 93 kb) - VQA December 2004 - New
23
V
Herb-rich Foothill Forest (PDF 138 kb) - VQA
53
E
Swamp Scrub - VQA [PDF File - 212.5 KB] February 2005
160
LC
Coastal Dune Scrub (PDF 95 kb) - VQA December 2004 - New
161
V
Coastal Headland Scrub (PDF 94 kb) - VQA December 2004 - New
200
E*
Shallow Freshwater Marsh - refer to generic wetland table former wetland mapping unit - March 2006
680
E*
Freshwater Meadow - refer to generic wetland table former wetland mapping unit - March 2006
681
V*
Deep Freshwater Marsh - refer to generic wetland table Changed BCS - Nov 2007
former wetland mapping unit - March 2006
682
na
Permanent Open Freshwater - refer to generic wetland table former wetland mapping unit - March 2006
684
na
Permanent Saline - refer to generic wetland table former wetland mapping unit - March 2006
858
LC
Coastal Alkaline Scrub (PDF 130 kb) - VQA
876
R
Spray-zone Coastal Shrubland (PDF 134 kb) - VQA
EVC - Ecological Vegetation Class
BCS - Bioregional Conservation Status
* - BCS rating to be used only if unable to determine the component EVC within the generic and/or aggregate wetland tables.
VQA - vegetation quality assessment


Wetland Vegetation Assessment
If you are interested in assessing a wetland area for the purpose of implementing 'Victoria's Native Vegetation Management - A Framework for Action, 2002', you must use an EVC Benchmark for Vegetation Quality Assessment (VQA) in conjunction with the VQA methodology.

If a wetland EVC benchmark for the VQA is unavailable, please use the wetlands default habitat score of 0.45 as outlined in the 'Guide for Assessment of Referred Planning Permit Applications, 2007'.

If you are interested in undertaking a wetland vegetation assessment which is not for the purpose of implementing "Victoria's Native Vegetation Management - A Framework for Action, 2002', then the Index of Wetland Condition (IWC) methodology may be appropriate. The IWC method uses a set of dedicated wetland EVC benchmarks that you will find on the IWC webpage.

Lookup tables for wetland areas:
The tables below provide information for mapped wetland areas that have not yet been assigned a wetland EVC type or are known to comprise an aggregate of wetland EVCs due to their temporal nature. Please keep in mind your purpose for assessing a wetland area and make sure you use the appropriate benchmark.

Generic wetland EVC - lookup table [MS Excel Document - 35.0 KB]

Note
  • The bioregional conservation status of EVCs was revised and updated in November 2007 following revised native vegetation mapping. To view the changes in the spatial datasets please go to the Accessing Native Vegetation Data page.
  • Before choosing any vegetation mapping units that are EVC mosaics, complexes and aggregates and generic wetland mapping units, some further on-site decision will be required before selecting the appropriate benchmark to apply. In addition, EVC 'variants' and those EVCs that are known to exhibit structural variation across their range will also need to utilise on-site information to determine the appropriate benchmark to apply.
  • The EVC benchmarks contain a subset of “typical” but not comprehensive lists of species for each EVC in a bioregion. It should also be noted that not all species listed in the benchmark will be appropriate to all sites across the range of an EVC in a bioregion nor readily available through local nurseries.
Further information for developing appropriate planting lists for a site should be sought from regional revegetation guides endorsed by DEPI or expert advice from a botanist.
Further enquiries and feedback on EVC benchmarks
EVC benchmarks will continue to be developed and refined as vegetation assessments are conducted across Victoria. DEPI has established a process for reviewing and revising changes to EVC benchmarks.

To request an unpublished EVC benchmark or feedback, please email evc.benchmark@dse.vic.gov.au and provide the EVC name, mapping unit number and the bioregion name along with your contact details. Please allow approximately one week for a response.

Please note: Document(s) on this page are presented in PDF format. If you do not have the Adobe Reader, you can download a copy free from the Adobe web site.

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