Soil/Landform Unit 8

Looking north towards the Bamganie State Forest

Area:

3032 ha

0.23% of CMA region

The undulating low hills in the area of the Bamganie State Forest near Meredith are composed of Ordovician marine sandstone and shale with Neogene fluvio-marine sands. The hillslopes support a wide range of vegetation classes including Grassy Dry Forest, Creekline Herb-rich Woodland and Valley Grassy Forest. Dominant species are

Eucalyptus obliqua, E. dives, E. radiata

and

E. viminalis.

The low fertility and the low water holding capacity of the soils have discouraged further clearing except on some of the gentler, lower slopes that support native pastures. Soils include an association of sandy mottled texture contrast soils with structured or massive subsoils that occur on the hillslopes with sandy equivalents occurring on upper slopes. These soils can be prone to gully erosion, which is minor to moderate in severity in some cleared areas.

Soils of the gullies and slopes can be quite sandy and of some depth. The presence of bracken fern highlights the light sandy soils of this unit
	Gully erosion is of minor to moderate severity across this unit. Dispersible subsoils are susceptible is exposed.

Component	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Proportion of soil-landform unit	1%	30%	25%	5%	4%	15%	15%	5%
CLIMATE Rainfall (mm)	Annual: 670
Temperature (^oC)	Minimum 8; Maximum 18
Precipitation less than potential evapotranspiration	October-March
GEOLOGY Age and lithology	Ordovician marine slates and sandstone						Neogene gravels, sands and clays
Geomorphology	2.1.1 Dissected uplands associated with Palaeozoic sedimentary and metamorphic rocks of the Western Uplands
LANDUSE	Uncleared: Nature conservation; firewood and sawlogs Cleared: Grazing; gravel extraction; mining
TOPOGRAPHY Landscape	Undulating hills
Elevation range (m)	180-370
Local relief (m)	3-65
Drainage pattern	Dendritic
Drainage density (km/km²)	3.5
Landform	Hills			Depressions	Ralling plains		Undulating plains	Level plains
Landform element	Moist protected slopes	Dry exposed slopes	Crests	Drainage line	Crests	Long gentle slopes	Well-drained non-sandy areas	Poorly drained non-sandy areas
Slope and range (%)	15	15	3	3	1-3	3-9	1-3	0-2
Slope shape	Straight	Straight	Convex	Concave	Convex	Straight	Convex	Flat
NATIVE VEGETATION Ecological Vegetation Class	Grassy Dry Forest (13.5%); Creekline Herb-rich Woodland (3.4%); Valley Grassy Forest (1.9%)
Dominant species		E. obliqua, E. dives, E. radiata, E. viminalis	E. obliqua, E. dives, E. radiata, E. viminalis	E. ovata, E. radiata, E. viminalis, E. obliqua	E. obliqua, E. radiata	E. obliqua, E. viminalis	Callitris columellaris E. viminalis, E. obliqua E. raidata, E. rubida E. ovata, E. pauciflora	E. ovata
SOIL Parent material	In situ weathered sandstone and shale	In situ weathered sandstone and shale	In situ weathered sandstone and shale	Alluviu, clay, silt, sand, gravel	In situ weathered sandstone and shale	In situ weathered sandstone and shale	Unconsolidated gravel, sand and clay	Unconsolidated gravel, sand and clay
Description (Corangamite Soil Group)	Red mottled brown, grey or yellow gradational or texture contrast soils, fine structure (26)	Red mottled brown, grey or yellow gradational or texture contrast soils, fine structure (25)	Shallow stony red and yellow gradational soil (25)	Black gradational (variable) and mottled yellow/red gradational soil (34)	Shallow stony red gradational soil (25)	Red mottled yellow texture contrast soil (26)	Red mottled, brown, grey or yellow texture contrast soil, fine structure (13)	Bronw, grey or yellow sodic texture contrast soil, coarse structure (14)
Soil type sites	BD13, BD11, MM204	BD10, CLRA53, CLRA57	BD10, CLRA53	CLRA1, SW39, CLRA15	BD10, CLRA53, CLRA54	BD13, BD11, MM204	SW67, CLRA3, CLRA2	SW99, MM204, OTR734
Surface texture	Fine sandy loam	Fine sandy loam	Gravelly loam	Clay loam	Gravelly loam	Loamy clay	Sandy clay loam to loamy sand	Clay loam
Permeability	High	High	High	Moderate to low	High	Moderate to low	Moderate	Low
Depth (m)	1	2	0.5	1.5-2.5	0.6	1	2	2
LAND CHARACTERISTICS, POTENTIAL AND LIMITATIONS	Hardsetting surface soils on steep slopes are subject to overland flow and sheet and rill erosion.	Harsetting surface soils can lead to compaction and are subject to overland flow and sheet and rill erosion on steep slopes.	Hardsetting surface soils can lead to compaction and are subject to overland flow and sheet and rill erosion on moderate slopes.	Organic surface soils grading to deep medium or heavy texture soils with vertic properties.	High silt content leading to erosion prone soils. Stongly acidic and low nutrient availability with generally shallow organic surface soils.	High silt conent with sodic subsoils can lead to erosion prone soils. Strongly acidic and low nutrient availability with generally shallow organic surface soils.	Presence of buckshot on top of the subsoil is a common feature. Sandy upper soil but subsoils of low permeability.	Presence of buckshot on top of the subsoil is a common feature. Sandy upper soil but strongly sodic subsoils of low permeability. Harsetting surfaces, surface compaction and overland flow lead to sheet erosion.

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