High diversity of native plants and vegetation types in the Morialta Conservation Park and the threat of invasive species

ABSTRACT

Morialta Conservation Park is a scenic protected area that contains important vegetation remnants of the Mount Lofty Ranges. Here we investigate the vegetation ecology, soils and plant diversity of the park. Using a stratified, quantitative survey of woody vegetation and topsoils throughout the park within forty-five 10 × 10 m plots, we identified ten distinct vegetation types, nine being native and the other being dominated by the invasive European olive (Olea europaea). Soil conductivity and fertility, as well as aspect, were significant predictors of species composition, indicating that high environmental heterogeneity in soils and topography are important in facilitating the high biodiversity in the Morialta Conservation Park. The European olive and Boneseed (Chrysanthemoides monilifera ssp. monilifera) are widespread in the park and a threat to native vegetation. Using published plant lists and the Atlas of Living Australia, we report 486 native (and 300 introduced) plant taxa from the park and its immediate surrounds, including species considered endangered at either the state or national level, or the IUCN Red List. Therefore, the park is highly important for conservation and the threat posed by the European olive, Boneseed and other invasive species should be effectively managed.

KEYWORDS:

• Eucalyptus woodlands
• field surveys versus remote sensing
• invasive alien species
• IUCN versus national species red list assessments
• vegetation-soil relationships

Acknowledgments

Research was undertaken under permit A26594-1 from the Department of Environment and Water. Funding was provided by the South Australian Natural Resources Management (NRM) Research and Innovation Network. We wish to thank Zackary Anderson, Veronica Alves Serafim and Marcela Del Carmen Vieira for assistance in collecting data and samples, and Erdem Mustafa for assistance with the soil testing. A practical class handout by Robert Baldock provided the initial hypothesis (that vegetation type is related to soil properties) for this project and personal correspondence with him provided further detail about his initial observations. Robert Aebi, Patrick Sherman and other technical and administrative staff of the University of South Australia provided assistance with logistics, equipment and laboratory work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Suppelmentary material

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Additional information

Funding

Funding to accommodate this research was awarded through the 2016 South Australian NRM Research & Innovation Network scholarship.