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Fauna Assessment of Bush Forever Site 355 (Point Peron and Adjacent Bushland)

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Fauna Assessment of Bush Forever Site 355 (Point Peron and Adjacent Bushland) Fauna Assessment of Bush Forever Site 355 (Point Peron and adjacent bushland) M. J. Bamford Prepared for: strategen, PO Box 660, South Perth, 6951 . Prepared by: M.J. & A.R. Bamford, CONSULTING ECOLOGISTS. 23 Plover Way, Kingsley, WA, 6026 24 th July 2005 Point Peron Fauna assessment INTRODUCTION As part of the strategic environmental review process for a proposed marina/tourism precinct, Bamford Consulting Ecologists was commissioned to undertake a fauna assessment of Bush Forever Protection Area 355 and adjacent bushland on Point Peron. The aims of this fauna study are to collate information available on fauna of the area and place it in a regional context, so that likely impacts of the proposed development upon fauna in a local and regional setting can be assessed. The key stages in this fauna study are as follows: • Review available information to produce a list of fauna species with the potential to occur at the sites; • Identify any species of conservation significance with the potential to occur on the site; • Identify significant or sensitive habitats and locations; and • Discuss the local and regional significance of the fauna assemblage of the site. This report details the findings of the fauna assessment. METHODS Level of assessment This assessment is classified as a Level 1 survey (a background research or ‘desk-top’ study) according to the EPA Guidance Statement No. 56 (Environmental Protection Authority 2003). This was the level of assessment commissioned by the client. The approach involved a brief site visit, personal familiarity with the site from previous visits to the area, and a review of available published and unpublished information (see below). Personnel The site inspection, data review and report preparation were carried out by Dr Michael Bamford of Bamford Consulting Ecologists. Sources of Information Lists of fauna expected to occur in the study area were produced using information from a number of sources. These included publications that provide information on general patterns of distribution of frogs (Tyler et al. 2000), reptiles (Storr et al. 1983, 1990, 1999 and 2002), birds (Barrett et al . 2003; Johnstone and Storr 1998), and mammals (Menkhorst and Knight 2001; Strahan 1995). Kwinana, Rockingham and Mandurah Branch of the Naturalists’ Club (1998) provides information on fauna that is specific to the area. In addition, several databases were searched for fauna records in the general area as follows: Bamford Consulting Ecologists 1 Point Peron Fauna assessment Database Area searched Fauna included in database WA Museum 32.2 to 32.4S, 115.6 Frogs, reptiles, birds and mammals faunabase to 115.8 E CALM’s 32.2 to 32.4S, 115.6 Invertebrates and vertebrates included threatened fauna to 115.8 E under WA Wildlife Conservation Act database and CALM’s priority species list Birds Australia 32 to 33 S, 115 116 E Birds Atlas 2 Database Department for the 32.2 to 32.4S, 115.6 Fauna listed under the federal EPBC Environment and to 115.8 E Act, including threatened and Heritage EPBC migratory species Protected Matters search tool These sources of information were used to create lists of species with the potential to occur at the site. As far as possible, expected species are those that are likely to utilise the project area, and such lists exclude species that have been recorded in the general region as vagrants or for which suitable habitat is absent. Particularly among the birds, for example, vagrants can be recorded almost anywhere. Pelagic birds and marine mammals and reptiles have thus been excluded from the list of species likely to utilise the project area, but coastal species have been included. Taxonomy and nomenclature for fauna species used in this report generally follow the WA Museum (2001) for amphibians, reptiles and mammals, and Christidis and Boles (1994) for birds. Where differences in the names of birds occur between these two sources, alternative names are given in parenthesis. Assessment of conservation significance The conservation status of fauna species is assessed under Commonwealth and State Acts such as the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act) 1999 and the Western Australian Wildlife Conservation Act 1950. The significance levels for fauna used in the EPBC Act are those recommended by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN 2001). The WA Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 uses a set of Schedules but also classifies species using some of the IUCN categories. These categories and Schedules are described in Appendix 1. The EPBC Act also has lists of migratory species that are recognised under international treaties such as the China Australia Migratory Bird Agreement (CAMBA), the Japan Australia Migratory Bird Agreement (JAMBA) and the Bonn Convention (The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals). The list of migratory species under the EPBC Act has been revised to include species only, thus excluding family listings (DEH, pers comm.). Those species listed in JAMBA are also protected under Schedule 3 of the WA Wildlife Conservation Act . There is a separate list of marine species under the EPBC Act, but this only applies to land and waters under Bamford Consulting Ecologists 2 Point Peron Fauna assessment Commonwealth management. Therefore, marine listings are not included in this report. The Department of the Environment and Heritage (DEH, formerly Environment Australia) has also supported the publication of reports on the conservation status of most vertebrate fauna species: reptiles (Cogger et al. 1993), birds (Garnett and Crowley 2000), monotremes and marsupials (Maxwell et al. 1996), rodents (Lee 1995) and bats (Duncan et al. 1999). The Threatened Species and Communities Section of Environment Australia has also produced a list of Threatened Australian Fauna (Environment Australia 1999), although this list is effectively a precursor to the list produced under the EPBC Act. These publications also use the IUCN categories, although those used by Cogger et al. (1993) differ in some respects because this report pre-dates categories reviewed by Mace and Stuart (1994) and revisited since by IUCN (2001). In Western Australia, the Department of Conservation and Land Management (CALM) has produced a supplementary list of Priority Fauna, being species that are not considered Threatened under the WA Act but for which the Department feels there is cause for concern. Some Priority species, however, are also assigned to the IUCN Conservation Dependent category. Levels of Priority are described in Appendix 1. Fauna species included under conservation acts and/or agreements are formally recognised as of conservation significance under state or federal legislation. Species listed only as Priority by CALM, or that are included in publications such as Garnett and Crowley (2000) and Cogger et al. (1993), but not in State or Commonwealth Acts, are also of recognised conservation significance. In addition, species that are at the limit of their distribution, those that have a very restricted range and those that occur in breeding colonies, such as some waterbirds, can be considered of conservation significance, although this level of significance has no legislative or published recognition and is based on interpretation of distribution information. The WA Department of Environmental Protection used this sort of interpretation to identify significant bird species in the Perth metropolitan area as part of Perth Bushplan (Dell and Banyard 2000). On the basis of the above comments, three levels of conservation significance are recognised in this report: • Conservation Significance (CS) 1 : Species listed under State or Commonwealth Acts. • Conservation Significance (CS) 2 : Species not listed under State or Commonwealth Acts, but listed in publications on threatened fauna or as Priority species by CALM. • Conservation Significance (CS) 3 : Species not listed under Acts or in publications, but considered of at least local significance because of their pattern of distribution. Bamford Consulting Ecologists 3 Point Peron Fauna assessment SITE DESCRIPTION The study area consists of Bush Forever Site 355, located at Point Peron and Shoalwater Bay in Rockingham. Descriptions of the site are presented in the Bush Forever report volume 2 (Dell and Banyard 2000) and the vegetation is described in detail by Bennett Environmental Consulting Pty Ltd (2005) as part of the present study. The vegetation had previously been investigated by Keating and Trudgen (1986). The site supports coastal and near-coastal vegetation complexes consisting largely of low heaths and shrublands, but with some tall shrubland of Acacia rostellifera in dune swales and an area of open forest (near corner of Memorial Drive and Safety Bay Road) of Tuart Eucalyptus gomphocephala, Peppermint Agonis flexuosa , Rottnest Island Pine Callitris preissii and Rottnest Island Tea-tree Melaleuca lanceolata . The lease area proposed for development supports regenerating A. rostellifera shrubland and a heath dominated by the sedge Lomandra martima , the grass Acanthocarpus preissii and the introduced wild geranium Pelargonium capitatum . Topographically, the shoreline of the site consists of a series of limestone headlands with sandy bays and tidal reef platforms. Quindalup dunes lie behind the coast. There is a drain (channel) that contains water at least seasonally. The natural landscape of the site is degraded by weed invasion and fragmented
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