Soil/Landform Unit 184

This unit has an abundance of remnant vegetation, in particular Plains Grassy Woodland near Inverleigh. Few units across the catchment have more than 50% vegetation coverage as this unit does

Area:

1332 ha

0.10% of CMA region

The sedimentary near-level plains at Teesdale are characterised by significant vegetation stands of

Eucalyptus camaldulensis,

with other species in forests and woodlands. These sediments comprise Neogene sands that have been deposited as part of a marine inundation in geologic time. This unit has a high level of remnant vegetation (approximately 60%) on plains that have relatively low inherent soil fertility levels. As part of the Western Plains, this unit has significant remnant native vegetation classes including Plains Grassy Woodland and Damp Sands Herb-rich Woodland. The dominant species of these woodlands include

E. leucoxylon, Acacia pycnantha, E. melliodora, Casurina stricta, E. viminalis and E. camaldulensis

. Land use is mainly nature conservation with grazing and minor cropping. The soils tend to be sandy

mottled

yellow, brown, red or black texture contrast soils with some uniform deep sands also. Main hazards to land use are overland flow causing sheet and rill erosion, and gully erosion. Soils are particularly limited for agricultural land use by their low nutrient status and poor water holding capacity.

Plains Grassy Woodland vegetation north-west of Inverleigh

Component	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Proportion of soil-landform unit	30%	9%	12%	10%	4%	28%	7%
CLIMATE Rainfall (mm)	Annual 550
Temperature (^oC)	Minimum 9, Maximum 19
Precipitation less than potential evapotranspiration	October–April
GEOLOGY Age and lithology	Holocene sand	Pleistocene basalt	Neogene unconsolidated sediments	Holocene alluvium	Sand ridge with ferricrete	Neogene unconsolidated sediments
Geomorphology	6.2.4 Plains, rises and low hills of the Sedimentary Western Plains
LANDUSE	Uncleared: Nature conservation; water supply Cleared: Sheep and beef cattle grazing; cropping (cereal)
TOPOGRAPHY Landscape	Near level plains
Elevation range (m)	54–135
Local relief (m)	7
Drainage pattern	Dendritic
Drainage density (km/km²)	2.3
Landform	Sandy ridges, scarps and hummocks	level areas and rock outcrops	Lower lying areas between hummocks	Drainage line	Outcrop	Gently undulating plains
Landform element	Upper slope	Mid slope	Mid slope	Lower slope	Mid slope	Upper plain	Lower plain
Slope and range (%)	7 (2–15)	1 (1–2)	1 (1–3)	1 (1–2)	4 (3–8)	3 (2–5)	3 (1–5)
Slope shape	Convex	Convex	Straight	Straight - concave	Convex	Straight	Straight
NATIVE VEGETATION Structure	Plains Grassy Woodland (50.3%), Damp Sands Herb-rich Woodland (7.4%)
Dominant species		E. camaldulensis	E. camaldulensis	E. camaldulensis	E. camaldulensis	E. leucoxylon, Acacia pycnantha, E. melliodora, Casurina stricta, E. viminalis	E. leucoxylon, Acacia spp.
SOIL Parent material	Unconsolidated sediments	In situ weathered basalt	Unconsolidated sediments	Unconsolidated sediments	Unconsolidated sediments	Unconsolidated clay, silt, sand and gravel	Unconsolidated clay, silt, sand and gravel
Description (Corangamite Soil Group)	Brown sand soils (8)	Mottled browm, grey or yellow texture contrast soils, coarse structure (36)	Mottled red texture contrast soils (13)	Uniform soils – variable (34)	Mottled brown sands and texture contrast soils (16)	Mottled brown, grey, yellow and red texture contrast soils, both fine structured (13/15)	Mottled brown, grey or yellow sodic soils, coarse structure (14)
Soil type sites	CLRA5, CLRA25, OTR740	CLRA47, SFS6, MM5015	SW67, CLRA3, CLRA2	SW39, SW56, CLRA15	SW61, SW70	CLRA3, SW67, SW63	SW99, SW93, OTR734
Surface texture	Loamy sand	Clay loam	Fine sandy loam	Silty clay loam (variable)	Fine sandy loam	Fine sandy loam	Sandy loam
Permeability	High	Moderate to low	High to moderate	High to moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Low
Depth (m)	0.7–1.5	0.5–1.0	0.5–1.5	1.0–2.5	0.3–0.8	1.0–2.0	2
LAND CHARACTERISTICS, POTENTIAL AND LIMITATIONS	Low nutrient holding capacity and highly permeable soils leads to leaching and nutrient decline.	Hardsetting surface soils leads to surface compaction and minor sheet erosion. Slowly permeable subsoils are subject to periodic waterlogging.	Some overland flow and minor sheet erosion occurs on these soil types.	Low lying areas lead to flooding, waterlogging and seasonally high watertables. Streambank undercutting and streambank erosion also commonly occur.	Some overland flow and moderate sheet erosion occurs on these soil types.	Hardsetting surface soils leads to surface compaction and minor sheet erosion.	Dispersive soils, overland flow, subsurface flow and moderate gully erosion are features of this soil type.

Page top