Kuluwan Flora Reserve Vegetation 2025. VIS_ID 5233

Kuluwañ Flora Reserve vegetation mapping was conducted by Eastcoast Flora Survey environmental consultants (Steve Bell and Ryan Sims) for Hunter Central Coast Branch in 2024-25. The mapping uses NSW Plant Community Types (PCTs) and includes Threatened Ecological Communities (TECs). Kuluwañ Flora Reserve is located on the Central Coast hinterland approximately 30 km north-west of Gosford, NSW. In January 2021, the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) was appointed as land manager of several Forestry Corporation NSW, Flora Reserves. One of these is the Kuluwañ Flora Reserve (FR), which occurs in the Central Coast Area (CCA) of the NPWS Hunter Central Coast Branch. To facilitate effective management of this reserve, NPWS required detailed information on floristics and vegetation communities. This information will be used to identify those species and communities of high conservation significance to inform future plans of management and associated works, fire management strategies, weed control strategies and rehabilitation plans. Full-floristic survey site information is required to support native vegetation mapping. Comprehensive field survey was undertaken across the 1610 ha. Ten vegetation communities were delineated, described and mapped. Multivariate clustering and nMDS ordination techniques on 36 sample plots and 373 plant taxa were undertaken in support of field observations, and there was good congruence between these two techniques suggesting a robust classification was achieved. In total, 373 taxa were recorded from Kuluwañ FR, and only four of these were weeds. The threatened shrub Rhodamnia rubescens (critically endangered) was relatively common across most sheltered slopes, and all populations displayed signs of Myrtle Rust infection despite good flowering. The vulnerable Melaleuca biconvexa, included in databases as present on the eastern edge of the reserve, could not be substantiated during current surveys. Additionally, the rare ironbark, bottlebrush and wattle were all recorded within Kuluwañ. Diversity in eucalypts (Angophora, Corymbia, Eucalyptus) within Kuluwañ FR is high for such a small area, with twenty-one (21) species recorded over the 1610 ha. This equates to one newly encountered species every 77 ha and is consistent with trends evident in other parts of the Central Coast and Hunter Valley. As might be expected, the vegetation present within Kuluwañ FR shows strong affinities to that in the nearby Jilliby/Watagan and Yengo/Parr reserve systems. This is reflected in the relative ease with which vegetation communities could be affiliated with those described for those reserves. The characteristic species present across ridges and slopes, as well as those on gullies and alluvial flats, are mostly consistent with those in these reserves. Nearly all of the eucalypts recorded within Kuluwañ FR are considered Koala use species for the Central Coast, in addition to three non-eucalypt species. Kuluwañ FR consequently provides substantial habitat for Koala, based on the diversity and abundance of over 20 known use tree species. Detailed information is included in the report: Bell, S.A.J. & Sims, R. (2025) Vegetation and floristics of Kuluwañ Flora Reserve, Central Coast LGA. Unpublished Report to NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. January 2025. Eastcoast Flora Survey. VIS_ID 5233