Ecological Vegetation Classes (EVCs)

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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); and
• information that describes variation in the physical environment (including aspect, elevation, geology and soils, landform, rainfall, salinity and climatic zones).

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)

EVC mapping was undertaken in Victoria as part of the Regional Forest Agreement process (external link). Maps included for Victoria are for the East Gippsland, Gippsland, Western Victoria, North East Victoria and Central Highlands regions.

EVC Group mapping is available on the regional VRO Sites for:

• Port Phillip and Westernport
• Corangamite
• Glenelg-Hopkins
• North Central
• Wimmera
• North East
• Goulburn-Broken
• West Gippsland
• East Gippsland

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. This information is regularly updated.

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