Conservation and Environment

EVC Benchmarks - Victorian Riverina bioregion

EVC - Benchmarks for Bioregion Home | Glossary

Below is a list of published Ecological Vegetation Class benchmarks for the Victorian Riverina 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	E	Damp Sands Herb-rich Woodland (PDF 97 kb) - VQA	December 2004 - New
18	D	Riparian Forest (PDF 138 kb) - VQA
19	D	Riparian Shrubland - VQA (PDF - 214 KB)	New - November 2007
20	LC	Heathy Dry Forest (PDF 138 kb) - VQA
21	V	Shrubby Dry Forest (PDF 138 kb) - VQA
22	D	Grassy Dry Forest (PDF 140 kb) - VQA
23	D	Herb-rich Foothill Forest (PDF 138 kb) - VQA
28	V	Rocky Outcrop Shrubland (PDF 95 kb) - VQA	December 2004 - New
47	V	Valley Grassy Forest (PDF 139 kb) - VQA
55_61	E	Plains Grassy Woodland (PDF 138 kb) - VQA
55_62	E	Riverina Plains Grassy Woodland ( syn. Plains Woodland) (PDF 138 kb) - VQA
56	V	Floodplain Riparian Woodland (PDF 137 kb) - VQA
61	V	Box Ironbark Forest (PDF 139 kb) - VQA
66	E	Low Rises Woodland (PDF 139 kb) - VQA
67	V	Alluvial Terraces Herb-rich Woodland (PDF 138 kb) - VQA
68	E	Creekline Grassy Woodland (PDF 138 kb) - VQA
72	E	Granitic Hills Woodland (PDF 138 kb) - VQA
74	E*	Wetland Formation - refer to generic wetland table	former wetland
80	V	Spring Soak Woodland - VQA (PDF - 211 KB)	New - November 2007
82	E	Riverine Escarpment Scrub - VQA (PDF - 213 KB)	New - November 2007
83	E	Swampy Riparian Woodland	New - November 2007
93	V	Sandstone Ridge Shrubland (PDF 95 kb) - VQA	December 2004 - New
96	E	Ridged Plains Mallee (PDF 137 kb) - VQA
97	E	Semi-arid Woodland (PDF 137 kb) - VQA
98	E	Semi-arid Chenopod Woodland (PDF 138 kb) - VQA
101	LC	Samphire Shrubland (PDF 135 kb) - VQA
103	V	Riverine Chenopod Woodland (PDF 139 kb) - VQA
104	V	Lignum Swamp (PDF 134 kb) - VQA	Name change - March 2006
106	D	Grassy Riverine Forest (PDF 95 kb) - VQA	December 2004 - New
107	D	Lake Bed Herbland (PDF 134 kb) - VQA
125	E	Plains Grassy Wetland (PDF 91 kb) - VQA
127	E	Valley Heathy Forest (PDF 138 kb) - VQA
132	E	Plains Grassland (PDF 138 kb) - VQA
168	E*	Drainage-line Aggregate - refer to wetland aggregate table	Name change - March 2006 former wetland mapping unit
172	V*	Floodplain Wetland Aggregate - refer to wetland aggregate table	New - November 2007
175_61	E	Low Rises Grassy Woodland (PDF 140 kb) - VQA
175_62	E	Shrubby Granitic-outwash Grassy Woodland (PDF 140 kb) - VQA
235	E	Plains Woodland/Herb-rich Gilgai Wetland Mosaic (PDF 96 kb) - VQA	Updated & Name change - March 2006
264	E	Sand Ridge Woodland (PDF 157 kb) - VQA	December 2004 - New
292	V	Red Gum Swamp (PDF 136 kb) - VQA	Changed BCS - November 2007
295	V	Riverine Grassy Woodland (PDF 136 kb) - VQA	Changed BCS - November 2007
334*	V	Billabong Wetland Aggregate - refer to wetland aggregate table	Changed BCS - November 2007
636	E*	Brackish Lake Aggregate - refer to wetland aggregate table	Name change - March 2006
641	E	Riparian Woodland (PDF 138 kb) - VQA
648	LC*	Saline Lake-verge Aggregate - refer to wetland aggregate table	former wetland
652	E	Lunette Woodland (PDF 96 kb) - VQA	December 2004 - New
717	LC*	Saline Lake Aggregate - refer to wetland aggregate table	March 2006- former wetland
718	V*	Freshwater Lake Aggregate - refer to wetland aggregate table	March 2006 - former wetland
803	E	Plains Woodland (PDF 140 kb) - VQA
810	V	Floodway Pond Herbland - VQA (PDF - 209 KB)	New - November 2007
813	D	Intermittent Swampy Woodland (PDF 136 kb) - VQA
814	D	Riverine Swamp Forest (PDF 94 kb) - VQA	Changed BCS - November 2007
815	V	Riverine Swampy Woodland - VQA (PDF - 210 KB)	New - November 2007
816	V	Sedgy Riverine Forest (PDF 137 kb) - VQA	Changed BCS - November 2007
819	V	Spike-sedge Wetland (PDF 134 kb) - VQA	Changed BCS - November 2007
821	D	Tall Marsh (PDF 136 kb) - VQA	Changed BCS - November 2007
823	V	Lignum Swampy Woodland (PDF 137 kb) - VQA	Changed BCS - November 2007
824	V	Woorinen Mallee (PDF 139 kb) - VQA
826	E	Plains Savannah (PDF 140 kb) - VQA
829	E	Chenopod Grassland (PDF 136 kb) - VQA
882	E	Shallow Sands Woodland (PDF 139 kb) - VQA
888	E	Plains Saltmarsh (PDF 134 kb) - VQA	Name change - March 2006
937	E	Swampy Woodland	New - November 2007
1085	V	Mountain Valley Riparian Woodland	New - November 2007

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 (XLS - 35 Kb)

EVC wetland aggregate table (XLS - 30 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 DSE or expert advice from a botanist.