Cloudbreak SRE Invertebrate Fauna
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NOVEMBER 2010 FORTESCUE METALS GROUP CLOUDBREAK SHORT‐RANGE ENDEMIC DESKTOP ASSESSMENT This page has been left blank intentionally FORTESCUE METALS GROUP CLOUDBREAK SHORT‐RANGE ENDEMIC DESKTOP ASSESSMENT Fortescue Metals Group Cloudbreak SRE Desktop Assessment Document Status Approved for Issue Rev Author Reviewer/s Date Distributed Name Date To A C. Hall L. Roque‐Albelo 10 08 2010 1 L. Roque‐Albelo E. Fox 23 08 2010 L. Roque‐Albelo Les Egerton 24 08 2010 2 L. Roque‐Albelo 30 09 2010 L. Roque‐Albelo Les Egerton 30 09 2010 3 L. Roque‐Albelo 10 11 2010 L. Roque‐Albelo Les Egerton 10 11 2010 ecologia Environment (2010). Reproduction of this report in whole or in part by electronic, mechanical or chemical means including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, in any language, is strictly prohibited without the express approval of Fortescue Metals Group Ltd and/or ecologia Environment. Restrictions on Use This report has been prepared specifically for Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. Neither the report nor its contents may be referred to or quoted in any statement, study, report, application, prospectus, loan, or other agreement document, without the express approval of Fortescue Metals Group Ltd and/or ecologia Environment. ecologia Environment 1025 Wellington Street WEST PERTH WA 6005 Phone: 08 9322 1944 Fax: 08 9322 1599 Email: [email protected] November 2010 i Fortescue Metals Group Cloudbreak SRE Desktop Assessment TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 8 1.1 PROJECT BACKGROUND............................................................................................................8 1.2 LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK .......................................................................................................8 1.3 STUDY OBJECTIVES..................................................................................................................10 1.4 SHORT RANGE ENDEMIC FAUNA: A REVIEW ..........................................................................11 2 PROJECT AREA ................................................................................................................ 14 2.1 CLIMATE ..................................................................................................................................14 2.2 VEGETATION ...........................................................................................................................15 2.3 LAND SYSTEMS........................................................................................................................15 2.4 BIOGEOGRAPHY ......................................................................................................................16 3 METHODS....................................................................................................................... 22 3.1 SRE STATUS .............................................................................................................................22 3.2 WAM DATABASE SEARCH .......................................................................................................22 3.3 NATUREMAP DATABASE SEARCH ...........................................................................................22 3.4 PREVIOUS SRE SURVEYS..........................................................................................................22 3.5 SRE HABITATS DETERMINATION.............................................................................................23 4 RESULTS.......................................................................................................................... 24 4.1 CONSERVATION SIGNIFICANT SRE FAUNA..............................................................................24 4.2 WAM DATABASE SEARCH .......................................................................................................28 4.3 PREVIOUS SURVEYS.................................................................................................................29 4.4 POTENTIAL SRE........................................................................................................................31 4.5 SRE INVERTEBRATE HABITATS ................................................................................................33 5 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS..................................................................................... 36 6 STUDY TEAM................................................................................................................... 38 7 REFERENCES.................................................................................................................... 40 November 2010 ii Fortescue Metals Group Cloudbreak SRE Desktop Assessment TABLES Table 2.1 – Beard Vegetation Types of Cloudbreak Survey Area...........................................................15 Table 2.2 – Land Systems of the Project Area. .......................................................................................16 Table 4.1 – DEC Priority Fauna Categories .............................................................................................24 Table 4.2 – Results from WAM Database Search...................................................................................28 Table 4.3 – Results from Previous Surveys Within and Around the Project Area..................................29 FIGURES Figure 1.1 – Location of the Project Area in Relation to the Pilbara Region............................................9 Figure 2.1 – Climatic Summary Data (Newman Airport) (BOM 2010)....................................................14 Figure 2.2 – Vegetation of the Survey Area............................................................................................18 Figure 2.3 – Land Systems of the Project Area.......................................................................................19 Figure 2.4 – Biogeographic Regions of the Project Area ........................................................................20 Figure 4.1 – SRE and Potential SRE Species Recorded within the Project Area .....................................26 November 2010 iii Fortescue Metals Group Cloudbreak SRE Desktop Assessment ACRONYMS List all acronyms used in the report here. Format alphabetically as follows: DEC Department of Environment and Conservation EPA Environmental Protection Authority EPBC Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1950 SRE Short‐Range Endemic WAM Western Australian Museum November 2010 iv Fortescue Metals Group Cloudbreak SRE Desktop Assessment This page has been left blank intentionally November 2010 v Fortescue Metals Group Cloudbreak SRE Desktop Assessment EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The study area is located in the Pilbara, approximately 120 km north‐west of Newman along the northern margin of Fortescue Marsh. Included in this project area is the Cloudbreak mine, which is part of Fortescue Metal Group’s Chichester Operations. Fortescue Metal Group commissioned ecologia Environment to undertake a baseline biological desktop study of the Short Range Endemic (SRE) invertebrate fauna of the Cloudbreak project area as part of the environmental approval process. The primary objective of this study was to provide sufficient information with which to assess previous surveys undertaken at the area and to guide further survey work at Cloudbreak. The paucity of knowledge and lack of extensive invertebrate survey work in the area of Cloudbreak prompted database searches of the eastern Pilbara region between: 21°55’08” S to 22°54’32”S, and 118°48’40”E to 120°02’52”E. Families and genera known to contain SRE species were targeted from this area in searches of the Malacology and Terrestrial Invertebrate Databases of the Western Australian Museum. Three species of conservation significance listed by DEC are potentially occurring on the Project Area. Search results and literature records from projects undertaken around the Project Area identified 38 species considered potential SRE invertebrates including Trapdoor spiders, Opilionids, Pseudoscorpions, Scorpions, Millipedes, Centipedes, Isopods and Snails. Very few SRE invertebrate groups have been recognised in previous surveys at the Project Area. Two possible explanations for this are identified: Insufficient sampling and environmental degradation, which independently, or in conjunction would explain the absence of short‐range endemic groups. Additional surveys are recommended to augment the survey work previously undertaken and collect information about the distribution and habitat associations of the SRE invertebrates. November 2010 vi Fortescue Metals Group Cloudbreak SRE Desktop Assessment This page has been left blank intentionally November 2010 vii Fortescue Metals Group Cloudbreak SRE Desktop Assessment 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 PROJECT BACKGROUND Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) holds a number of mining tenements that cover iron ore resources in the Pilbara region of Western Australia and has commenced operation of the Pilbara Iron Ore and Infrastructure Project. Included in this project is the Cloudbreak mine, which is part of Fortescue’s Chichester Operations, and is located approximately 120 km north‐west of Newman along the northern margin of the Fortescue Marsh (Figure 1.1). As part of the environmental approvals process, this document provides a desktop Short‐Range Endemic (SRE) invertebrate fauna assessment of the Cloudbreak Project Area.