Tonebridge-Frankland area land resources survey

Angela Stuart-Street

Abstract

This report presents the results from soil and landform mapping at a scale of 1:100,000 in the Tonebridge-Frankland area of Western Australia. One map representing the Tonebridge (2229) and Frankland (2329) map sheet areas, covering approximately 511,000 hectares accompanies the report on a CD-ROM. The Tonebridge-Frankland survey area covers major parts of the Warren-Tone and Frankland-Gordon River catchments. It also covers the upper catchments of the Kent and Deep Rivers, a small part of the Blackwood River catchment in the north western corner, as well as the Lake Muir-Unicup sub-catchments. The Tonebridge-Frankland survey falls within the Manjimup, Katanning and Albany advisory districts for the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia. The land resource information has been collected to help improve the decisions made by planners, researchers and land managers. The information can be used from regional scale, to catchment scale to farm level. By improving knowledge of the land resources, more sustainable land uses can be developed within the Tonebridge-Frankland region. Sixteen soil-landscape systems were identified during the survey. These systems were further divided into subsystems. The accompanying CD-ROM provides details of the main soils, landforms, geology, land use and native vegetation for each system. Also within each subsystem, the proportion of unmapped units (land units) is also indicated. The report includes a summary of the main soils recognised within the area. The major land degradation hazards identified during the survey are also outlined. This assessment is designed to give a broad overview of the limitations of the soils in the area. For specific land capability assessment it is recommended that the Department of Agriculture’s dynamic Map Unit Database be consulted to get the most current assessments of land qualities and land capabilities for specific land uses. Information on land use history, geology and physiography, climate, native vegetation and previous soil surveys are included in the report. These sections provide additional background material about the land resources within the Tonebridge-Frankland survey.