Description: Western Australia has a rich and largely unique biodiversity. Areas of this State are among some of the most diverse in the world but vast amounts of native vegetation have been cleared to make way for agriculture and urban development. In some areas of the Wheatbelt, more than 90 per cent of the native vegetation has been cleared, with the flow-on effect being loss of animal habitat and connectivity between the remaining remnant vegetation. As a consequence, the roadside remnants now fulfil a very important function in linking a fragmented landscape and enhancing wildlife dispersal. Roadside vegetation also meets other important roles such as: • mitigation against erosion and soil drift; • shelter for adjoining properties; • material for revegetation; • wildflower tourism; and • a sense of place or local identity for the local community. In 1989, the Roadside Conservation Committee (RCC) initiated a method of surveying roadsides for their conservation values. The survey program is ongoing and aims to assist Shires and communities in the protection, maintenance and improvement of roadside vegetation. In order to effectively manage and conserve roadside corridors, it is vital that road managers are aware of the conservation status and regional significance of roadsides under their control. For this to be achieved, roadside vegetation in Western Australia should be assessed and mapped. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) provide a powerful and useful method of mapping data collected from roadside inventories and this can be utilized by all agencies and community groups with an interest in roadside values. In Western Australia, the managers of roads and road verges are Main Roads Western Australia (MRWA), Local Government and DEC. The roadside survey records a number of attributes, such as width, diversity of vegetation, number of native species present, extent of weed cover and adjoining land use. These characteristics are scored to produce a roadside conservation value (RCV) for that section of road. The resulting map shows the pattern of roadside conservation values (high, medium high, medium low, low) and how those values vary across a district. The scores are used by road managers to establish which areas need priority attention or protection. The survey results can be used in the following ways: • to target weed control, • as a general roadside inventory, • to protect wildlife corridors, • to promote significant wildflower areas, historical and cultural sites for tourism, • to plan roadside maintenance activities, • to target strategic revegetation. For SLIP display purposes the road lines have been copied 5 metres to the left and right of the original road with the original road line removed. Left road lines have been attributed with values of 0 for the RCV_RIGHT field and right road lines have been attributed with values of 0 for the RCV_LEFT field. Some shires have been surveyed more than once and the most recent data is included. For information on previous surveys contact the Roadside Conservation Committee (RCC).
Feature Type: Line
Type: FeatureLayer
Display Field: rcl_shire_name
Primary Key Field: objectid
Show Map Tips: False
Searchable: False
Identifiable: True
Queryable: True
Can Copy Feature: True
Snappable: True
Snapping Enabled: False
Has Attachments: False
Feature Label: {rcl_shire_name}
Feature Description: N/A
Feature Long Description: N/A
Feature Zoom Factor: N/A
Feature Zoom Scale: N/A
Feature Border Color: N/A
Feature Border Width: N/A
Feature Fill Color: N/A
Icon: N/A
Include in Layer List: True
Include in Legend: True
Can Toggle Labels: False
Allow Symbolization: True
Draw Index: N/A
Legend URL: N/A
Style Name: N/A
Data Provider: Default
Time Zone ID: N/A
Fields:
objectid (Type: Int32, Visible: True, Searchable: True, Can Symbolize Unique Value: True, Can Symbolize Class Breaks: True, Addressable: True)
rcl_shire_number [Shire Number] (Type: Double, Visible: True, Searchable: True, Can Symbolize Unique Value: True, Can Symbolize Class Breaks: True, Addressable: True)
rcl_shire_name [Shire Name] (Type: String, Visible: True, Searchable: True, Can Symbolize Unique Value: True, Can Symbolize Class Breaks: True, Addressable: True)
rcl_road_number [Road Number] (Type: String, Visible: True, Searchable: True, Can Symbolize Unique Value: True, Can Symbolize Class Breaks: True, Addressable: True)
rcl_section_number [Section Number] (Type: Double, Visible: True, Searchable: True, Can Symbolize Unique Value: True, Can Symbolize Class Breaks: True, Addressable: True)
rcl_odometer_start [Start Dist.] (Type: Double, Visible: True, Searchable: True, Can Symbolize Unique Value: True, Can Symbolize Class Breaks: True, Addressable: True)
rcl_odometer_finish [End Dist.] (Type: Double, Visible: True, Searchable: True, Can Symbolize Unique Value: True, Can Symbolize Class Breaks: True, Addressable: True)
rcl_cons_value_left [Conservation Val. - Left] (Type: Double, Visible: True, Searchable: True, Can Symbolize Unique Value: True, Can Symbolize Class Breaks: True, Addressable: True)
rcl_cons_value_right [Conservation Val. - Right] (Type: Double, Visible: True, Searchable: True, Can Symbolize Unique Value: True, Can Symbolize Class Breaks: True, Addressable: True)
rcl_width_tot [Reserve Width] (Type: Double, Visible: True, Searchable: True, Can Symbolize Unique Value: True, Can Symbolize Class Breaks: True, Addressable: True)
rcl_weeds [Weeds List] (Type: String, Visible: True, Searchable: True, Can Symbolize Unique Value: True, Can Symbolize Class Breaks: True, Addressable: True)
rcl_mth_year [Surrvey - Month/Year] (Type: String, Visible: True, Searchable: True, Can Symbolize Unique Value: True, Can Symbolize Class Breaks: True, Addressable: True)
rcl_year [Surevey - year] (Type: String, Visible: True, Searchable: True, Can Symbolize Unique Value: True, Can Symbolize Class Breaks: True, Addressable: True)
rcl_slip_year [SLIP Pub. Date] (Type: String, Visible: True, Searchable: True, Can Symbolize Unique Value: True, Can Symbolize Class Breaks: True, Addressable: True)
rcl_weed [Presence/Absence] (Type: String, Visible: True, Searchable: True, Can Symbolize Unique Value: True, Can Symbolize Class Breaks: True, Addressable: True)
shape (Type: Object, Visible: True, Searchable: True, Can Symbolize Unique Value: True, Can Symbolize Class Breaks: True, Addressable: True)