DNS has a deep knowledge and understanding of the different ecological communities of significance in mining regions. We focus our seed harvest efforts on the plants that make up these communities so that you have access to the seed needed to meet your revegetation goals. Understanding plant communities is the starting point for seed mix design, and we’re happy to provide customers with access to our Seed Mix Design System for the various mining regions and plant communities if needed.
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Hunter Valley
Liverpool Plains
Central Tablelands
Queensland
New South Wales
In NSW most of our customers are located in three main regions: The Hunter Valley, the Liverpool Plains and the Central Tablelands. The most important communities in these areas are as follows:
Hunter Valley
This region is dominated by grey box (Eucalyptus moluccana), ironbark (Eucalyptus crebra) and spotted gum (Corymbia maculata) communities. These contain a range of subdominant trees such as Eucalyptus tereticornis, Eucalyptus blakelyi, Angophora floribunda and Eucalyptus fibrosa. Structure varies from forest type with relatively shrubby understorey to woodland types that are relatively open and grassy.
This region contains diverse topography ranging from black soil plains to sandstone ridges and volcanic loams. Box woodlands are dominant over much of the area on more fertile soils and these range from open grassy formations to densely shrubby formations. White box (Eucalyptus albens) is perhaps the key species in many areas but other species such as grey box (Eucalyptus microcarpa), yellow box (Eucalyptus melliodora) and bimble box (Eucalyptus populnea) are dominant or co-dominant on certain soils types. On lighter soils ironbark open forest dominates, much of which tends to be rather shrubby. Other canopy species important in this region and representing a range of communities include Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Eucalyptus melanophloia, Eucalyptus dealbata and Callitris glaucophylla.
This region consists of undulating slopes and valleys dissecting steep ridges made up of sandstone and other sedimentry rock types. There are therefore areas where sandy and/or skeletal soils dominate, as well as heavier soils on valley floors and colluvial slopes. The coarse, shallower soils contain shrubby communities dominated by species such as ironbark (Eucalyptus crebra), red stringybark, (E. macrorhyncha), grey gum (E. punctata) and and black pine (Callitris endlicheri). More fertile soils, lower slopes and riparian areas are dominated by box woodland communities which include white box (Eucalyptus albens), yellow box (E. melliodora) and grey box (E. moluccana), with varying understories ranging from shrubby to grassy.
The Queensland mining areas cover a vast region inland from the coast and stretching some 1000km from the near the southern border to Townsville. Much of this area falls within the Brigalow Belt biogeographic region.
Within this region there is a huge diversity of community types (REs). These are broken down into a detailed range of types based on Land Zones, dominant species and soil types. There are, however, many species that grow in a range of communities on different soil types. Narrow-leaved ironbark (Eucalyptus crebra) and silver-leaved ironbark (Eucalyptus melanophloia) are good examples of such versatile species. For convenience a simplified list of some of the more important communities for mine rehabilitation are listed here:
Various Eucalyptus dominated woodlands as well as some vine thicket communities on heavier soils derived from volcanic rocks. Dominant species include Eucalyptus orgadophila, Corymbia erythrophloia and Eucalyptus melanophloia;
Various Acacia and Eucalyptus dominated woodlands on sandstone and ironstone ridges. These are characterised by lighter soils and include species such as Corymbia citriodora, Eucalyptus exserta and Eucalyptus crebra;
A range of communities on heavier soils derived from fine grained sedimentary rocks. Among these are various brigalow and vine thicket communities, as well as woodlands dominated by species such as Eucalyptus cambageana, Eucalyptus populnea, and Eucalyptus melanophloia.
