Species Credit
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‘Species credit’ threatened bats and their habitats NSW survey guide for the Biodiversity Assessment Method © 2018 State of NSW and Office of Environment and Heritage With the exception of photographs, the State of NSW and Office of Environment and Heritage are pleased to allow this material to be reproduced in whole or in part for educational and non-commercial use, provided the meaning is unchanged and its source, publisher and authorship are acknowledged. Specific permission is required for the reproduction of photographs. The Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) has compiled this report in good faith, exercising all due care and attention. No representation is made about the accuracy, completeness or suitability of the information in this publication for any particular purpose. OEH shall not be liable for any damage which may occur to any person or organisation taking action or not on the basis of this publication. Readers should seek appropriate advice when applying the information to their specific needs. All content in this publication is owned by OEH and is protected by Crown Copyright, unless credited otherwise. It is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0), subject to the exemptions contained in the licence. The legal code for the licence is available at Creative Commons. OEH asserts the right to be attributed as author of the original material in the following manner: © State of New South Wales and Office of Environment and Heritage 2018. Published by: Office of Environment and Heritage 59 Goulburn Street, Sydney NSW 2000 PO Box A290, Sydney South NSW 1232 Phone: +61 2 9995 5000 (switchboard) Phone: 1300 361 967 (OEH and national parks enquiries) TTY users: phone 133 677, then ask for 1300 361 967 Speak and listen users: phone 1300 555 727, then ask for 1300 361 967 Email: [email protected] Website: www.environment.nsw.gov.au Report pollution and environmental incidents Environment Line: 131 555 (NSW only) or [email protected] See also www.environment.nsw.gov.au ISBN 978-1-925754-53-7 OEH 2018/0466 September 2018 Find out more about your environment at: www.environment.nsw.gov.au Contents 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 1.1. Purpose of this guide .............................................................................................. 1 1.2. Background............................................................................................................. 1 1.3. Survey data and biodiversity credits calculations .................................................... 2 1.4. Allocation of bat species to biodiversity credit classes. ........................................... 2 1.5. Objective of targeted threatened bat surveys .......................................................... 3 What is breeding habitat? .............................................................................................. 3 Definitions for this guide ................................................................................................ 4 2. Overall approach to the targeted threatened bat or habitat survey ......................... 5 2.1. Take a systematic approach ................................................................................... 5 2.2. Identify the skills of the threatened bat surveyor ..................................................... 5 2.3. Create a candidate species list ............................................................................... 6 2.4. Optimise the time of year for the survey .................................................................. 6 2.5. Identify areas of potential habitat on the subject land .............................................. 7 2.6. Prepare a field survey plan ..................................................................................... 7 Survey effort for large potential habitat areas ................................................................ 7 2.7. Field Survey Effort .................................................................................................. 8 2.8. Standard survey methods ....................................................................................... 8 2.9. Preliminary evaluation of efficacy ............................................................................ 9 2.10.Documenting survey results ...................................................................................... 9 Biodiversity Assessment Reports (BAR) ........................................................................ 9 Species polygon .......................................................................................................... 10 3. Species survey requirements ................................................................................... 14 3.1. Survey requirements for species credit bat species .............................................. 14 Bristle-faced free-tailed bat Mormopterus eleryi .......................................................... 14 Southern myotis Myotis macropus ............................................................................... 14 3.2. Survey requirements for bats where breeding habitat must be identified ............... 15 3.3. Survey requirements for bat species where breeding habitat is a potential serious and irreversible impact .................................................................................................... 15 Large-eared pied bat Chalinolobus dwyeri .................................................................. 15 Eastern cave bat Vespadelus troughtoni ..................................................................... 16 3.4. Survey requirements for bats with species credits for breeding habitat only .......... 16 Grey-headed flying-fox Pteropus poliocephalus .......................................................... 16 Eastern bentwing-bat Miniopterus schreibersii oceanensis .......................................... 17 Little bentwing-bat Miniopterus australis ...................................................................... 17 4. References ................................................................................................................. 18 Appendix 1: Threatened bat survey decision key........................................................... 21 Appendix 2: Supporting information ............................................................................... 22 iii Identification of breeding bats ..................................................................................... 22 Determining sex .......................................................................................................... 22 Determining reproductive condition ............................................................................. 22 Survey techniques ........................................................................................................ 25 Harp traps ................................................................................................................... 25 Mist nets ...................................................................................................................... 26 Acoustic detection ....................................................................................................... 26 Radio tracking ............................................................................................................. 27 Roost searches ........................................................................................................... 27 Alternative methods ..................................................................................................... 28 Appendix 3: Estimating expected results ....................................................................... 29 Estimating expected likelihood of detecting threatened bat species ........................ 30 List of tables Table 1 Features and approach required to develop the species polygon for species credit bat species. 11 Table 2 Features and approach required to develop the species polygon for species that require the identification of breeding habitat. 12 Table 3 Sample bat surveys demonstrating effort and results across different methods and locations in NSW. 29 Table 4 Ratio and observation rates of threatened bats in NSW 30 List of figures Figure 1 Example of how a species polygon for breeding habitat may be drawn around breeding habitat features (including single and multiple caves and escarpment fitting the description of potential breeding habitat). 13 Figure 2 Bat genitals 22 Figure 3 Mammary area at different reproductive stages 23 Figure 4 Lactating female Eastern cave bat Vespadelus troughtoni 23 Figure 5 Bat finger joints 24 iv ‘Species credit’ threatened bats and their habitats – NSW survey guide for the Biodiversity Assessment Method 1. Introduction 1.1. Purpose of this guide The purpose of this guide is to aid accredited assessors when applying the Office of Environment and Heritage’s (OEH) Biodiversity Assessment Method (BAM) (OEH 2017) to survey for threatened bat species or their habitat. Under the BAM some threatened bats or their breeding habitat, are treated as species credits (i.e. cannot be predicted by habitat surrogates) and require appropriately timed on-ground surveys to determine their likelihood of occurrence at a development, biocertification or biodiversity stewardship site. The guide should be read in conjunction with