Choosing the right plants for your specific Ecological Vegetation Class (EVC)
THE BEST PLANTS FOR YOUR EVCEVC's were established by the DSE (now DEECA) to describe plant species indigenous specific areas of ecological vegetation class (EVC) throughout Victoria. There are many factors determining EVC including soil type, site elevation and proximity to the coast. To select the EVC for your area read the descriptions below and find the one which matches your site the closest. For more detailed information on EVC's visit:
https://www.environment.vic.gov.au/biodiversity/bioregions-and-evc-benchmarks. Now we get to the nitty gritty of selecting the best plants for your particular EVC. This is not as easy as it sounds.
There are over 30 EVC’s in our region. What we have prepared is not as complex and (arguably) not as accurate but it is efficient and effective for most revegetation jobs. The Foundation Lists we have created are designed to provide you with the most commonly found species across the extent of an EVC. They are not an exhaustive flora survey of every species found in every location. It is simply not practical to provide this information, nor is it always helpful in the revegetation context. These species have been chosen for the major structural role they play in establishing new vegetation areas as well as their abundance of seed, ease of germination and establishment. There may be many other species available for you to use but this depends on seed availability when you plan your project, ease of germination and survivability in the site conditions as they are. Sometimes it is only after the major canopy species are established and providing shade that other understory species are able to survive. Therefore there is no point spending time and money trying to replace everything from the very beginning. Aim for a diversity of species, structure (heights) and plant families. Often, once some structure is re-established and wildlife begin to use the area as habitat, they will bring in other plant species (including weeds) for you. We suggest you aim to obtain as many of the foundation species as possible, then add to that from the more localised Landcare Group species lists (found by link from your landcare group's page) depending on seed/tube-stock availability and your site analysis. Links to foundation species for your Landcare Group are set out below. |
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