Vegetation Extent

AUS-TDG-CON-VEX General High confidence

Benchmark Value

0.5 ha

Direction: Higher is desirable ↑

Form: MinimumOnly

This curve shows how a field measurement for this indicator would score across all available benchmark forms in this context.

"the minimum patch size is 0.5 hectare"

Metric Definition:

Minimum patch size of Grey Box-dominated vegetation required to qualify as the listed ecological community under the EPBC Act.

Benchmark Definition:

Minimum viable spatial extent for Grey Box-dominated vegetation to qualify as the listed ecological community.

Justification:

This is the official statutory threshold in the Approved Conservation Advice under the EPBC Act.

Grey Box (Eucalyptus microcarpa) Grassy Woodlands and Derived Native Grasslands of South-eastern Australia, accessed August 10, 2025,

Approved Conservation Advice for the Grey Box (Eucalyptus microcarpa) Grassy Woodlands and Derived Native Grasslands of South-east Australia

Additional references from the underlying research that informed this benchmark.

An introduction to ecological thresholds

Irrelevant

An introduction to ecological thresholds

Landscape-level thresholds of habitat cover for woodland-dependent birds - ResearchGate

Direct Evidence

Landscape-level thresholds of habitat cover for woodland-dependent birds

Natural Temperate Grassland of the South Eastern Highlands: a nationally protected ecological community - DCCEEW, accessed August 12, 2025,

Direct Evidence Journal

Approved Conservation Advice for the Natural Temperate Grassland of the South Eastern Highlands

White Box - Yellow Box - Blakely's Red Gum Grassy Woodland and Derived Native Grassland National Recovery Plan

Regulatory Framework Government

White Box - Yellow Box - Blakely's Red Gum Grassy Woodland and Derived Native Grassland National Recovery Plan

Patches below 0.5 ha are excluded from protection under the EPBC Act as they are deemed highly degraded and ecologically unviable.

Other benchmarks in the AUS-TDG-CON-VEX family.