A Study of the land in the catchment of Lake Eildon

This publication is based on the report prepared in 1964 by A. S. Rundle of the former Soil Conservation Authority.

The material was most relevant to an objective of great concern to the Authority, namely the correct use and management of lands within water supply catchments, based on adequate prior study of the ecosystems. In this study, land systems have been recognised on the basis of relative uniformity in environmental features. In the Eildon catchment, changes in climate and topography give rise to most of the differences in the land. They are particularly relevant to the supply of water. On the other hand, climate and topography in this are difficult to use directly as a means of delineation. Some related feature must therefore be adopted, and such a feature is the native vegetation which still covers most of the area. Vegetation was therefore used as the basis for mapping land systems.The use of the pattern of native vegetation as the criterion for characterising the land systems differs from methods used for other studies at the time in which the breakdown of landscapes was based more on geologic-geomorphic patterns. For this reason, and also because the interpretation of stereophotographs was not feasible at this time, land systems in this area may not be the same as, nor may their boundaries match, those recognised in adjoining areas.

Land Systems

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Mansfield Land System (PDF 190KB)	Eildon Land System (PDF 172KB)	Maintongoon Land System (PDF 192KB)	Jamieson Land System (PDF 219KB)
Howqua Land System (PDF 184KB)	Bindaree & Taponga Land System (PDF 308KB)	Buller Land System (PDF 269KB)

	Front page & Table of Contents (PDF 27KB)
	Foreword (PDF 683KB)
	Summary (PDF 14KB)
	Purpose and area of survey (PDF 51KB)
	The environment of the catchment Geology and Geomorphology (PDF 174KB) Climate (PDF 695KB) Soils (PDF 1MB) Native Vegetation (PDF 744KB)
	The Land Systems (See the list above)
	Present use and condition of the Catchment Present land use and its hazards (PDF 181KB) Condition of the land (PDF 1.8MB)
	Potential use of the Catchment (PDF 131KB)
	Acknowledgements (PDF 13KB)
	References (PDF 18KB)
	Appendix I - Methods of Soil Analysis (PDF 19KB)
	Appendix II - Analytical data for selected soil profiles (PDF 43KB)