Ecological community and ecosystem "red lists" have been developed in several jurisdictions to improve ecosystem-level biodiversity protection. However, a challenge for the conservation and management of listed ecosystems is consistent identification in the field or from plot records. Ecosystem descriptions must have enough detail for positive identification but be broad enough that most instances are included. In many jurisdictions, descriptions are not supported by dichotomous keys or thresholds of ecosystem collapse and identification relies on the interpretation of trained individuals, with potential for opposing opinions. Using a structured process, we assessed the ability of experts to identify a critically endangered ecological community from vegetation plot samples. We compared the allocations made by experts with a numeric classification that underpinned the legal definition of the community. Overall, experts correctly identified the presence or absence of the community in 81% of samples although individual classification rates ranged from 63% to 94%. False positive rates varied among experts (7-50%) and experienced botanists did not necessarily perform better. Disturbance increased uncertainty and experts differed in their opinion about when the community had collapsed and was no longer recoverable. Inconsistent interpretation, in the absence of diagnostic keys and consensus models of collapse, will have implications for recovery and conservation of listed communities and ecosystems, and could impact the effectiveness of laws and policies designed to protect them.

Native vegetation of the upper Murrumbidgee catchment in southeast NSW and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) was classified into 75 plant communities across 18 NSW Vegetation Classes within nine Structural Formations. Plant communities were derived through numerical analysis of 4,106 field survey plots including 3,787 plots from 58 existing survey datasets and 319 new plots, which were sampled in under surveyed ecosystems. All plant communities are described at a level appropriate for discrimination of threatened ecological communities and distinct vegetation mapping units.The classification describes plant communities in the context of the upper Murrumbidgee catchment and surrounding landscapes of similar ecological character. It incorporates and, in some instances, refines identification of plant communities described in previous classifications of alpine vegetation, forest ecosystems, woodlands and grasslands across the Australian Alps and South Eastern Highlands within the upper Murrumbidgee catchment. Altitude, precipitation, soil saturation, lithology, slope, aspect and landscape position were all important factors in guiding plant community associations.Nine Threatened Ecological Communities under Commonwealth, NSW and ACT legislation occur in the upper Murrumbidgee catchment. This study has also identified five additional plant communities which are highly restricted in distribution and may require active management or protection to ensure their survival. Armstrong et al., Plant communities, upper Murrumbidgee al. 2009). In the development of the United States National Vegetation Classification System, Grossman et al. (1998) noted that vegetation classification ideally should be based on the analysis of high quality field data spanning the full geographic and environmental range of related vegetation, and the subsequent US National Vegetation Classification Standard Version 2.0 (FGDC 2008) proposed that natural vegetation types be derived from analysis of field plot data, with these data providing the fundamental information for the numerical description of types. CunninghamiaWithin NSW, many natural resource management decisions are made by Catchment Management Authorities (CMAs) based on information and assessment at the scale of broad catchments. Within the Murrumbidgee CMA area and the ACT, the upper Murrumbidgee River catchment contains a diverse range of landscapes and vegetation types which are subject to ongoing land-use pressures including clearing of native vegetation for farming and urban development, urban expansion and ongoing pastoral management. The upper Murrumbidgee catchment has a relatively high density of existing vegetation survey plot data collected by previous vegetation studies, ranging from specific conservation reserve surveys to a large regional inventory of forest ecosystems on public lands, but to date it has not had a systematic classification of all plant communities across all Structural Formations across all tenures.This study aimed to classify and des...

Aerial photo interpretation of high resolution airborne imagery (ADS40) was used in a three-dimensional (3-D) digital Geographic Information System (GIS) environment to map native plant communities defined in the NSW Vegetation Classification and Assessment (NSW VCA) in central-southern New South Wales. NSW VCA plant community types form part of the NSW BioMetric vegetation type dataset underpinning NSW natural resource management (NRM) planning frameworks. This region was previously devoid of detailed vegetation mapping. In addition to developing a novel method for mapping plant communities, the use of ADS40 imagery allowed for capture of multiple attributes in each map polygon including attributes pertaining to dominant species and vegetation condition. Such data informs multi-attribute models used in conservation planning, providing utility beyond that of a singular plant community map. A total of 546,150 hectares of native vegetation in 100 native plant communities was mapped across the study area