Roadsides within local government districts in South Australia contain a significant amount of remnant native vegetation and therefore contribute to the conservation of local biodiversity. Road agencies however undertake activities that have the potential to adversely affect biodiversity on roadsides. A method of assessment of both conservation and ecological significance of vegetation is necessary in order to develop appropriate management strategies and work procedures for road agencies to ensure that high value roadside vegetation can be conserved. The task of surveying roadside vegetation for a large road network has required the development of a rapid, low intensity survey methodology involving the systematic collection of objective floristic and ecological data. This paper reports on the development of a "drive-by" roadside vegetation survey methodology for South Australia, focusing on a number of key issues that were addressed during its development. The development of this methodology involved identifying the key elements determining ecological and conservation value of vegetation to enable assessment of overall importance. The problems of collecting and storing continuous spatial and attribute data for a linear feature were addressed by the use of the dynamic segmentation process, allowing data input and editing to be a substantially lower proportion of the total survey costs compared to traditional arc-attribute data storage. (A)
Abstract