Preliminary Draft Design Considerations for Post Natural Disaster (Fire) On-Ground Assessment of Status of Species, Ecological Communities, Habitats and Threats
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Kangaroo Island glossy black-cockatoo at a breeding site that escaped the Jan 2020 fires. Photo Nicolas Rakotopare Preliminary Draft Design considerations for post natural disaster (fire) on-ground assessment of status of species, ecological communities, habitats and threats Dr Darren Southwell, The University of Melbourne April 2020 Preliminary Draft – Design considerations for post natural disaster (fire) on-ground assessment of status of species, ecological communities, habitats and threats Darren Southwell, University of Melbourne Purpose: This initial version is intended to provide guidance for the delivery of projects funded by the Wildlife and Habitat Recovery Program that include assessments, however its value is likely to extend to other stakeholders undertaking on-ground assessments. The document is a preliminary draft. It will be updated with more specific guidelines for rapid reconnaissance surveys after further consultation with species experts. Consideration will be given to guidance for plants following release of the list of priority plants requiring intervention following the bushfires. This next, more mature, iteration of the document will be available to guide project delivery. 1 Contents Executive summary ................................................................................................................................. 3 Background ............................................................................................................................................. 3 Aim of document .................................................................................................................................... 3 Step 1: Identify target species that may occur in fire affected region ................................................... 4 Step 2: Determine the optimal timing of surveys ................................................................................... 5 Step 3: Determine the optimal location of surveys ................................................................................ 5 Step 4: Establishing a reconnaissance site .............................................................................................. 6 Step 5: Measuring fire severity ............................................................................................................... 6 Step 6: Measuring habitat condition ...................................................................................................... 7 Step 7: Conducting surveys for priority species or communities ........................................................... 7 Selecting the entity to be measured ................................................................................................... 7 Select preferred sampling method for target species ........................................................................ 8 Threatened ecological communities ................................................................................................. 13 Select preferred sampling method for vertebrate predator threats ................................................ 13 Step 8: Decide on minimum survey effort ............................................................................................ 14 Step 9: Ensure appropriate personnel and ethics approval ................................................................. 15 Step 10: Data recording and management ........................................................................................... 15 Published detectability studies for priority species .............................................................................. 16 Birds .................................................................................................................................................. 16 Mammals .......................................................................................................................................... 32 Fish .................................................................................................................................................... 52 Frogs .................................................................................................................................................. 69 Invertebrates ..................................................................................................................................... 86 Reptiles ............................................................................................................................................. 91 Spiny crayfish .................................................................................................................................. 114 References .......................................................................................................................................... 115 2 Executive summary The purpose of this document is to highlight design considerations for conducting post-fire reconnaissance surveys to assess fire severity, habitat condition and threats, as well as the status of priority threatened species and ecological communities listed by the Federal Government as most vulnerable to the 2019-20 wildfires. It reviews the published literature on the preferred sampling method(s), minimum survey effort and the optimal timing of surveys to detect priority species and faunal threats with a high degree of confidence. Careful consideration of these factors in the design of post-fire reconnaissance surveys will maximise the chance of understanding the impact of the fires while providing the necessary information to prioritise management. This initial version of the document is intended to provide funding applicants to the Wildlife and Habitat Bushfire Recovery Program with guidance in the development of their project applications; however, its value is likely to extend to other stakeholders undertaking on- ground assessments. It is a preliminary draft and will be updated with more specific guidelines after consultation with species experts. Consideration will be given to guidance for plants following release of the list of priority plants requiring intervention following the bushfires. This next, more mature, iteration of the document will be available to guide project delivery. Background The 2019-20 wildfires in southern Australia have had an unprecedented impact on native species and ecological communities. Monitoring is crucial for quantifying the impact of such catastrophic events, for prescribing management interventions, and for measuring the recovery of populations over space and time (Possingham et al. 2012). However, designing large-scale, multi-species monitoring programs is complex: decisions must be made about where to monitor, what to record, the type(s) of sampling methods, the duration of monitoring, the arrangement of monitoring sites, and the frequency and intensity of sampling (Southwell et al. 2019). These decisions are further complicated by limited budget, logistical and time constraints, and the fact that monitoring is already underway for many species and environments across a range of jurisdictions. On 11th February 2020, the Australian Government released a list of threatened faunal species considered most vulnerable to the 2019-20 wildfires (Legge et al. 2020). The species were selected by the Wildlife and Threatened Species Bushfire Recovery Expert Panel based on their degree of range overlap with the fires and an assessment of their ecological traits such as dispersal ability. The initial assessment provided a provisional list of 113 species which included 20 reptile species, 17 frog species, 13 bird species, 19 mammal species, 5 invertebrates, 22 crayfish and 17 fish. On 24th March, a further 8 species were added to this list and two species were removed, increasing the number of priority faunal species to 119. A list of Threatened Ecological Communities with more than 10% of their range burnt has also been released, while assessments of vascular plants and invertebrates are in progress. Aim of document The aim of this document is to highlight preliminary design considerations for how, where and when to survey for the priority threatened species and ecological communities, as well as how to assess fire severity, habitat condition and faunal threats. While long-term 3 monitoring should aim to track the recovery of fire affected species and communities over time, the focus here is how to conduct rapid reconnaissance surveys to better understand the immediate impact of the fires on the distribution and status of listed species and communities. Post-fire reconnaissance surveys are already being conducted by other land management organisations for some of the listed priority species. The goal of this project is to provide guidance from a national perspective on how and where to survey while complementing these important survey efforts already underway. This will identify regions/species currently under-represented in post-fire assessments and promote a unified approach to on-ground surveys. Reconnaissance surveys should consider where to survey, the choice of sampling method(s), and the minimum survey effort required to have a high chance at detecting target species. This document describes 10 key steps required for effective surveys, with preliminary guidance on: • preferred sampling method(s); • minimum survey effort required to ensure species can be declared absent with a high degree of confidence; • how to assess fire severity, habitat condition and