Port Macquarie Hastings Shire Council Vegetation Mapping undertaken by Biolink Ecological Consultants from Nov 2012 to March 2013. The Port Macquarie Hastings Local Government Area encompasses an area of approximately 368,610ha between Taree and Kempsey on the mid-north coast of NSW.

Field survey commenced in May 2010 and was completed in November 2012, the latter period also allowing for ground-truthing and further refinement of mapped communities. Collectively, a total of 457 field sites were sampled, comprising 219 sites conforming to requirements of Modules 1 & 2 of the NVTS and 238 Rapid Assessment sites; converted data from a further 138 field sites associated with earlier studies was also utilized. A total of 611 plant species from 131 Families were recorded from the field sites.

The mapping project captured approximately 115,922ha of vegetation in 12,967 discrete polygons. Vegetation mapping was undertaken in two stages and involved polygon capture down to a minimum patch size of 0.25ha (0.1ha for littoral rainforest) using task-specific software and a combination of satellite, aerial and digital imagery. Excluding National Park and State Forest estate approximately 115,922ha of remnant vegetation was captured for purposes of the mapping project. Once captured, polygons were internally partitioned by hand. Field survey involved a combination of formal 0.04ha floristic plots sampled in accord with Modules 1 and 2 of the NSW Government’s Native Vegetation Type Standard. Less detailed but similarly quantitative “rapid” assessments were also undertaken in other areas, supported by foot-, vehicle- and air-based traverses for ground truthing purposes. Available data from other studies was also employed to assist the mapping process.

The vegetation dataset also includes field attribute classifications for the PMHC Koala Habitat Management Plan.

Data were reviewed by Darkheart Eco-Consultancy in 2014. These data supersede VIS_ID 3925.

Two updated datasets:

PortMacquarieLGA_2014_E_4205: vegetation communities

PortMacquarieLGA_EEC_2014_E_4206: EEC data

VIS_ID 4205

VIS_ID 4206