Small Snake Orchid Monitoring Report 2018 LAKE WALLACE 5 YEAR MONITORING PLAN 2018
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Small Snake Orchid monitoring report 2018 LAKE WALLACE 5 YEAR MONITORING PLAN 2018 DECEMBER 2018 www.nghenvironmental.com.au e: [email protected] Sydney Region Canberra ‐ NSW SE & ACT Brisbane 18/21 mary st 8/27 yallourn st (po box 62) suite 4, level 5, 87 wickham terrace surry hills nsw 2010 (t 02 8202 8333) fyshwick act 2609 (t 02 6280 5053) spring hill qld 4000 (t 07 3129 7633) Newcastle ‐ Hunter and North Coast Wagga Wagga ‐ Riverina and Western NSW Bega ‐ ACT and South East NSW 1/54 hudson st suite 1, 39 fitzmaurice st (po box 5464) 89‐91 auckland st (po box 470) hamilton nsw 2303 (t 02 4929 2301) wagga wagga nsw 2650 (t 02 6971 9696) bega nsw 2550 (t 02 6492 8333) Document Verification Project Title: Lake Wallace 5 year monitoring plan 2018 Project Number: 18‐665 Project File Name: Lake Wallace monitoring report final v1.0.docx Revision Date Prepared by (name) Reviewed by (name) Approved by (name) Draft v10 27/11/18 Paul McPherson Jane Mills Jane Mills Final v1.0 5/12/18 No changes Jane Mills NGH Environmental prints all documents on environmentally sustainable paper including paper made from bagasse (a by‐ product of sugar production) or recycled paper. www.nghenvironmental.com.au e: [email protected] Sydney Region Canberra ‐ NSW SE & ACT Brisbane 18/21 mary st 8/27 yallourn st (po box 62) suite 4, level 5, 87 wickham terrace surry hills nsw 2010 (t 02 8202 8333) fyshwick act 2609 (t 02 6280 5053) spring hill qld 4000 (t 07 3129 7633) Newcastle ‐ Hunter and North Coast Wagga Wagga ‐ Riverina and Western NSW Bega ‐ ACT and South East NSW 1/54 hudson st suite 1, 39 fitzmaurice st (po box 5464) 89‐91 auckland st (po box 470) hamilton nsw 2303 (t 02 4929 2301) wagga wagga nsw 2650 (t 02 6971 9696) bega nsw 2550 (t 02 6492 8333) Small Snake Orchid monitoring report 2018 Lake Wallace 5 year monitoring plan 2018 CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 2 BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................................ 1 2.1 LAKE WALLACE PROJECT .................................................................................................................. 1 2.2 SMALL SNAKE ORCHID ..................................................................................................................... 2 2.2.1 Conservation status and taxonomy .................................................................................................... 2 2.2.2 Ecology and habitat ............................................................................................................................ 2 2.2.3 Lake Wallace orchid colony ................................................................................................................ 3 3 MONITORING METHODS ............................................................................................................. 6 3.1.1 Colony census ..................................................................................................................................... 6 3.1.2 Groundcover and grass height survey ................................................................................................. 6 3.1.3 Photographs ....................................................................................................................................... 6 4 MONITORING RESULTS ............................................................................................................... 6 4.1.1 Survey timing, effort and conditions ................................................................................................... 6 4.1.2 Population size and reproductive status ............................................................................................. 7 4.1.3 Area of occupancy .............................................................................................................................. 8 4.1.4 Groundcover ...................................................................................................................................... 8 4.1.5 Impacts and threats .......................................................................................................................... 10 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................ 11 6 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................. 12 TABLES Table 4‐1 Survey timing, effort and conditions in 2014‐2018 ...................................................................... 7 Table 4‐2 Population size and age structure of the Small Snake Orchid colony (2014 ‐ 2018) ..................... 7 Table 4‐3 Groundcover transect survey results 2016 ‐ 2018 ..................................................................... 10 FIGURES Figure 2‐1 Small Snake Orchid at the site in 2017 ........................................................................................ 2 Figure 2‐2 Exclosure fence in 2018 .............................................................................................................. 2 Figure 2‐3 Lake Wallace block offset site ..................................................................................................... 4 Figure 2‐4 Southern blocks offset site ......................................................................................................... 5 18‐665 Final v1.0 i Small Snake Orchid monitoring report 2018 Lake Wallace 5 year monitoring plan 2018 Figure 4‐1 Inside the Small Snake Orchid exclosure in 2018 ........................................................................ 8 Figure 4‐2 Proliferation of exotic Sweet Vernal Grass following erection of the fence in 2015 ................... 9 Figure 4‐3 Reduced Sweet Vernal Grass and abundance of old Weeping Grass inflorescences in 2016 ...... 9 Figure 4‐4 Thickening Snow Grass dominant over much of the exclosure in 2017 ...................................... 9 Figure 4‐5 Increased Kangaroo Grass abundance in 2018 ........................................................................... 9 Figure 4‐6 Groundlayer inside and outside the exclosure in 2017 ............................................................. 10 Figure 4‐7 Groundlayer inside and outside the exclosure in 2018 ............................................................. 10 18‐665 Final v1.0 ii Small Snake Orchid monitoring report 2018 Lake Wallace 5 year monitoring plan 2018 1 INTRODUCTION This report presents the findings of population monitoring conducted for the Small Snake Orchid (Diuris subalpina) at the Lake Wallace water supply dam site in November 2018. The report also consolidates the findings of earlier orchid monitoring conducted at the site between 2014 and 2017 (NGH Environmental 2015a, 2015b, 2016, 2017). The monitoring is located adjacent to the Lake Wallace reservoir, approximately 6 kilometres south of Nimmitabel, on land established as an offset site for the dam project. The monitoring report has been prepared for Snowy Monaro Regional Council for submission to the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage. 2 BACKGROUND 2.1 LAKE WALLACE PROJECT Cooma Monaro Shire Council/Snowy Monaro Regional Council completed construction of the 320 megalitre Lake Wallace storage dam on Pigring Creek in mid 2016. The dam provides a town water supply to the nearby village of Nimmitabel. The dam project required the clearing of native vegetation, including one NSW and one Commonwealth listed Endangered Ecological Community (EEC) (NGH Environmental 2013a). Two offset sites located adjacent to and upstream of the dam were established to compensate for the loss of EEC vegetation (refer Figure 2‐3 and 2‐4). Council is responsible for establishing, managing and monitoring the offset sites in accordance with the Lake Wallace Offset Management Plan (NGH Environmental 2014) and a Conservation Property Vegetation Plan. The Lake Wallace offset site which surrounds the dam contains a colony of the Small Snake Orchid. The taxon was listed as threatened (as Diuris pedunculata sens lat) in NSW at the time of the dam proposal. As a condition of State Government approval for the dam, Council is required to protect and monitor the orchid colony during and following construction: Condition 42 The colony of Small Snake Orchids identified in the SIS [Species Impact Statement] must be protected through all stages of the project, including temporary fencing during construction. The Site Environmental Officer must make personnel aware of the location and significance of the colony. The colony must be monitored during the flowering period each year from project approval until the dam has been constructed and operating for 5 years. Monitoring results must be provided to OEH within 2 months of the fieldwork. Monitoring must include the number of individuals present, photographs of the colony and an assessment of whether there have been any impacts to the colony. Any new Small Snake Orchid records at the site must be submitted to OEH and Bionet. These requirements have been included in the Offset Management Plan. The plan also provides for vegetation condition monitoring at the establishment of the offset sites in 2014, subsequent monitoring after one year (2015), and then every two years until 2025. The orchid and vegetation condition monitoring are to be conducted in mid‐November. 18‐665