A Quantitative Approach to Identifying and Monitoring Vehicle-Strike Hotspots

MITIGATING KOALA THREATS FROM THE DESK: A QUANTITATIVE APPROACH TO IDENTIFYING AND MONITORING VEHICLE-STRIKE HOTSPOTS

Photo: Harrison Warne

Kirsten Wallis, Amanda Lane, Stephen Phillips & Grant Brearley Vehicle-strike

• Known threat to koala populations (OEH, 2017 & 2018, DECC, 2008)

• Anthropogenic caused mortality of > 2% of koala populations will drive

decline over time(Phillips et al., 2007) - hubs

• Roads are a barrier

to movement (NSW, 2006)

Photo: Paul O’Callaghan Considerations - Available data: carers and hospital records

- Under-reporting (Biolink 2017 & 2018b)

- Direction provided to road authorities / councils / government - clear, concise - manageable - within budget constraints

Photo: Paul O’Callaghan Vehicle-strike / year – Ocean Drive

koalas/year Ocean Road 10

(DEE, 2012) Vehicle-strike / year – Port Stephens

(Biolink, 2018a) Vehicle-strike / year

koalas/year Ocean Road 10 Port Stephens 27 (Biolink, 2018a)

37 (DEE, 2012) Vehicle-strike / year

koalas/year Ocean Road 10 Port Stephens 27 Lismore 33 (Biolink, 2017)

70 (DEE, 2012) Vehicle-strike / year

koalas/year Ocean Road 10 Port Stephens 27 Lismore 33 Gold Coast 10 (QLD Gov, 2017)

80 (DEE, 2012) Vehicle-strike / year

koalas/year Ocean Road 10 Port Stephens 27 Lismore 33 Gold Coast 10 Redlands 94 (Biolink, 2018c)

184 (DEE, 2012) Vehicle-strike / year

koalas/year Ocean Road 10 Port Stephens 27 Lismore 33 Gold Coast 10 Redlands 94 Gympie 22 South Burnett 17 Sunshine Coast 2 Moreton Bay 120 Brisbane City Council 42 Logan City Council 28 Ipswich City Council 14 Scenic Rim 5 Coffs Harbour 15 Clarence Valley 1 (Biolink 2018b, QLD Gov, 2018a)

440 (DEE, 2012) Standardising the approach • Euclidean-distance clustering Standardising the approach • Euclidean-distance clustering • Distance of road segment: 1km Standardising the approach • Euclidean-distance clustering • Distance of road segment: 1km

• Time frame: 1 generation (Phillips, 2000) • Under-reporting

Metric # koalas / km / generation Case Study 1: Lismore

Wyrallah Road

(Biolink, 2017) Case Study 1: Lismore

- 5 blackspots

- 50 km of road

- Worst segment = 12 koalas/km/generation

(Biolink, 2017) Case Study 2: Clarence Valley Number of koalas reported to WIRES to

due vehicle-strike No. of vehicle strikes vehicle of No.

(Biolink, 2018b) Case Study 2: Clarence Valley

(Biolink, 2018b) Case Study 3: Redlands

Number of koalas in Redlands reported due to vehicle strike

250

200

150

100

Number of of Numberkoalas 50

mortality sighting only survived unknown

(Biolink, 2018c) Case Study 3: Redlands

• 1 generation (of 1,975 records)

• Major blackspot on Boundary Road & Taylor Road intersection

(Biolink, 2018c) Case Study 3: Redlands • Vehicle-strike records over time

• Baseline data

(Biolink, 2018c) Buffering road ends • Buffering mitigation solutions to avoid ‘end

of fence’ problems (Kassar, 2005)

(Biolink, 2017) Management Options

(Photo: RMS, 2019) Successful Vehicle-strike Mitigation: Skyline Road, Lismore Underpass usage Baseline data Site Koala radius (m) No. A/Level (%) - Category trees

L02 50 26 57.69 - HUd L04 50 27 88.89 - HUd L05 30 30 28.57 – M(N)U L06 25 27 81.48 - HUd L07 50 26 50 - HUd L08 50 26 73.08 - HUd L12 50 14 100 - HUd L13 30 22 63.64 - HUd L14 30 26 65.38 - HUd Spotlight monitoring data L15 30 26 80.77 - HUd L16 30 26 48 - HUd L19 100 13 84.62 - HUd L29 65 22 63.64 - HUd L33 20 27 40.74 - HUd L34 20 30 10 - LU L36 30 30 33.33 - HU L38 40 27 74.07 - HUd L39 30 25 64 - HUd L42 50 27 62.96 - HUd L43 50 25 60 - HUd L44 30 25 80 - HUd

(Biolink, 2010) References Acknowlegements

Biolink. (2010). Koala Monitoring Report No 6. Skyline Road Upgrade, Lismore NSW. Report prepared for Lismore City Council Biolink. (2014). Ocean Drive Road Corridor Koala Management Framework. Report for Port Maquarie-Hastings council Biolink. (2017). Koala Habitat & Population Assessment: Lismore Local Government Area. Final Report to Lismore Council Biolink. (2018a). Managing koala populations for the future: consistent populations of the Central ARKS Port Stephens sub-area. Final Report to Port Stephens council Biolink. (2018b) The Southern Clarence ARKS: aspects of distribution and abundance of koalas 1952-2017. Final report to Clarence Valley Council DECC. (2008). Recovery plan for the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) Pat Edwards Biolink.(2018c). Redlands Coast Koala Population and Habitat Assessment. Final Report to Redlands council DEE. (2012). Koala Distribution Map (http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/species/pubs/phascolarctos-cinereus-distribution- map.pdf) Environment and Science, Queensland Government (2017), Koala Hospital Data, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0sourced on 03 July 2019 KASSAR, C.A., (2005). Wildlife vehicle collisions in Utah: An analysis of wildlife road mortality hotspots, economic impacts, and implications for mitigation and management, Utah State University NSW (2006) Koala population of Tweed and Brunswick Rivers Endangered Population Listing ( https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/animals-and-plants/threatened-species/nsw-threatened-species- scientific-committee/determinations/final-determinations/2016/koala-phascolarctos-cinereus-population-tweed- brunswick-rivers-endangered-population-listing) OEH. (2017). Saving Our Species Iconic Koala Project 2017–21 OEH, (2018), NSW Koala Strategy 2016 Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) population between the Tweed and Brunswick Rivers east of the Pacific Highway - endangered population listing Phillips, S. (2000). Population trends and the koala conservation debate. Conservation Biology 14: 650-659. Phillips S, Hopkins M, Callaghan J (2007) Conserving koalas in the Coomera-Pimpama Koala Habitat Area – a view to the future. Report to Gold Coast City Council. Biolink Ecological Consultants, Uki. QLD Gov, 2017.Koala hospital data. https://data.qld.gov.au/dataset/koala-hospital-data RMS, 2019, https://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/projects/northern-nsw/koala-grids/index.html