EVC Group Maps

Ecological Vegetation Class, Broad Group Maps

Victoria's native vegetation communities are being progressively mapped in a statewide program coordinated by The Parks, Flora and Fauna Division of the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE). Vegetation mapping for conservation uses in Victoria uses Ecological Vegetation Classes which are a classification based on co-occuring native plant species (both understorey and overstorey), broad ecological themes, and environmental attributes. Mapping is typically at 1:100 000 scale but may also be undertaken at 1:25 000 in very fragmented or diverse landscapes. The map provided here shows the major groups of EVC classes that occur in the Corangamite region. These groups are used to simplify the number of colours required so that maps can be easily displayed on the website. The Biodiversity Interactive Map on the DSE website (external link) allows users to display a number of vegetation themes for any area of Victoria - including Ecological Vegetation Classes (EVCs), 1750 EVCs, broad EVC Groups and Bioregional Conservation Status of EVCs. Users can then print out the maps they have created. The Biodiversity Interactive Map is regularly updated as new information becomes available and should be referred to for the most up-to-date EVC mapping - rather than the image maps provided on this website which may not have been updated with more recently available information.

Ecological Vegetation Classes (EVCs) are the basic mapping units used for biodiversity planning and conservation assessment at landscape, regional and broader scales in Victoria. They are derived from large-scale forest type and plant community mapping and are based on the following types of information:

• plant communities and forest types (including species and structural information);
• ecological information relevant to the species that comprise the communities (including life-form and reproductive strategies);
• information that describes variation in the physical environment (including aspect, elevation, geology and soils, landform, rainfall, salinity and climatic zones.

There are 255 Ecological Vegetation Classes (EVC's) found within the Goulburn Broken Region. Each EVC represents one or more plant (floristic) communities that occur in similar types of environments. The floristic communities within each EVC tend to show similar ecological responses to environmental factors such as disturbance (e.g. wildfire). As well as representing plant communities, EVCs can be used as a guide to the distribution of individual species and groups of species, including animals and lower plants such as mosses and liverworts. (Commonwealth of Australia and State of Victoria, 1999).

Tabulated Information

		Ecological Vegetation Classes	Pre-European^	Vegetation Cover 1993
			Total Area	Total Area				Other Land
Bioregion	No.	Conservation Status	Ha	Ha	%*	Ha	% of 1993 Cover that is Freeehold	Ha
Central Victorian Uplands	30 6 3 9	Endangered Vulnerable Depleted Least Concern	180027 121285 176200 12103	6495 9676 76160 9211	4 8 43 76	4272 6081 35090 1899	66 63 46 21	2223 3595 41070 7312
Goldfields	36 12 5	Endangered Vulnerable Depleted	90245 19477 122495	3913 2801 60275	4 14 49	2600 2207 10750	66 79 18	1313 594 49525
Highlands – Northern Fall	7 9 3 15 8	Endangered Vulnerable Depleted Least Concern Rare	22948 9376 2043 500168 8277	2664 4737 592 407938 5332	12 51 29 82 64	2427 885 355 41540 1255	91 19 60 10 24	237 3852 237 366398 4077
Highlands – Southern Fall	1 1 9 5	Vulnerable Depleted Least Concern Naturally Restricted	1880 60 18284 151	1880 60 18131 151	100 100 99 100	0 0 224 0	0 0 1 0	1880 60 17907 151
Northern Inland Slopes	19 1 6	Endangered Vulnerable Depleted	83232 28100 15740	1685 2230 7530	2 8 48	1066 1270 3090	63 57 41	619 960 4440
Victorian Alps	1 8 4	Vulnerable Least Concern Rare	1050 22007 682	1000 21987 682	95 100 100	0 0 0	0 0 0	1000 21987 682
Victorian Riverina	42 10 3 2	Endangered Vulnerable Depleted Rare	852462 44846 59700 2750	15575 9318 42860 2430	2 21 72 88	92664 3134 3600 0	59 34 8 0	6311 6184 39260 2430

* Percentage of original EVC Remaining. DPI/DSE’s 1993 Tree 100 Layer used to calculate areas remaining. Minor discrepancies occur due to different scales of data captured (1:250,000 and 1:100,000).

^ Terminology used in this Goulburn Broken Native Vegetation Management Strategy is pre-European rather than pre-1750 to simplify communication. (Pre-1750 is terminology used on DPI/DSE Corporate Database from which BVT information extracted.)

@ 1987 Forest Type (1:500,000) data used.

Information derived from DPI/DSE’s Corporate database.

Conservation Status of EVC at a Bioregional Level

Status		Criteria
Presumed Extinct	X	Probably no longer present in the bioregion (the accuracy of this presumption is limited by the use of remotely-sensed 1:100000 scale woody vegetation cover mapping, to determine depletion. Grassland, open woodland and wetland types are particularly affected.)
Endangered	E1	Contracted to less than 10% of former range or less than 10% pre-European extent remains.
	E2	Combination of depletion, degradation, current threats and rarity. Is comparable overall to E1: - 10 to 30% pre-European extent remains and severely degraded over a majority of this area; or - naturally restricted EVC reduced to 30% or less of former range and moderately degraded over a majority of this area; or - rare EVC cleared and/or moderately degraded over a majority of former area.
Vulnerable	V1	10-30% pre-European extent remains.
	V2	Combination of depletion, degradation, current threats and rarity. Is compatible overall to V1: - greater than 30% and up to 50% pre-European extent remains and moderately degraded over a majority of this area; or - greater than 50% pre-European extent remains and severely degraded over a majority of this area; or - naturally restricted EVC where greater than 30% pre-European extent remains and moderately degraded over a majority of this area; or - rare EVC cleared and/or moderately degraded over a minority of former area.
Depleted	D1	Greater than 30% and up to 50 % pre-European extent remains.
	D2	Combination of depletion, degradation and current threats is comparable overall to D: - greater than 50% pre-European extent remains and moderately degraded over a majority of this area.
Least concern	LC	Greater than 50% pre-European extent remains and subject to little to no degradation over a majority of this area.
Rare	R1	Total range generally less than 10,000 ha.
	R2	Pre-European extent in Victorian Bioregion less than 10,000 ha.
	R3	Patch size generally less than 100 ha.
Naturally Restricted		Pre-European extent in Victorian Bioregion less than 10,000 ha.
Common		Pre-European extent in Victorian Bioregion greater than 10,000 ha.
Minor		Pre-European Extent in Victorian bioregion less than approximately 1% of Statewide extent.

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