Delphine Terrestrial Vertebrate Fauna Assessment

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Delphine Terrestrial Vertebrate Fauna Assessment JANUARY 2015 FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED WESTERN HUB PROJECT – DELPHINE TERRESTRIAL VERTEBRATE FAUNA ASSESSMENT This page has been left blank intentionally Fortescue Metals Group Limited Western Hub Project ‐ Delphine Terrestrial Vertebrate Fauna Assessment Document Status Approved for Issue Rev. Author/s Reviewer/s Date Name Distributed To Date 1 N. Jackett D. Cancilla 31/8/12 L. Roque‐Albelo M. d’Auvergne 31/8/12 J. Forbes‐Harper S. Grein 2 D. Cancilla M. d’Auvergne 12/10/12 L. Roque‐Albelo T. Edwards 12/10/12 S. Grein 3 D. Cancilla M. d’Auvergne 24/10/12 L. Roque‐Albelo T. Edwards 29/10/12 A. Nowicki S. Grein 4 J. Forbes‐Harper D.Cancilla 13/06/13 K. Bauer‐Simpson T Edwards 14/06/13 A. Heidrich S Grein 5 J. Graff D. Cancilla 07/01/15 D. Cancilla T Edwards 15/01/15 S Grein ecologia Environment (2015). 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 Limited and ecologia Environment. Restrictions on Use This report has been prepared specifically for Fortescue Metals Group Limited. Neither the report nor its contents may be referred to or quoted in any statement, study, report, application, prospectus, loan, or other agreement document (with the exception of when this document is required to be publicly released as part of a statutory approval process), without the express approval of Fortescue Metals Group Limited and/or ecologia Environment. ecologia Environment Level 8, Carillon City Office Tower 207 Murray Street Perth, WA 6000 Phone: 08 6180 4450 Fax: 08 6180 4451 Email: [email protected] January 2015 i Fortescue Metals Group Limited Western Hub Project ‐ Delphine Terrestrial Vertebrate Fauna Assessment TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................. VII 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 PROJECT OVERVIEW .................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK ....................................................................................................... 1 1.3 SURVEY OBJECTIVES .................................................................................................................. 3 2 EXISTING ENVIRONMENT .................................................................................................. 5 2.1 CLIMATE .................................................................................................................................... 5 2.2 WEATHER DURING SURVEY ...................................................................................................... 5 2.3 BIOGEOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................................ 6 2.4 LAND SYSTEMS .......................................................................................................................... 6 2.5 VEGETATION ............................................................................................................................. 7 2.6 PREVIOUS SURVEYS AND LAND USE ......................................................................................... 8 3 METHODS ....................................................................................................................... 19 3.1 DETERMINATION OF SURVEY SAMPLING DESIGN AND INTENSITY ........................................19 3.2 SURVEY TIMING ......................................................................................................................20 3.3 SAMPLING METHODS .............................................................................................................20 3.4 TARGETED CONSERVATION SIGNIFICANT FAUNA SURVEYING...............................................24 3.5 SITE SELECTION .......................................................................................................................24 3.6 CONSERVATION SIGNIFICANT FAUNA ....................................................................................31 3.7 SURVEY EFFORT ......................................................................................................................31 3.8 DATA ANALYSIS .......................................................................................................................35 3.9 TAXONOMY AND NOMENCLATURE ........................................................................................35 3.10 ANIMAL ETHICS AND LICENCES ...............................................................................................36 3.11 SURVEY TEAM .........................................................................................................................36 4 RESULTS .......................................................................................................................... 37 4.1 FAUNA HABITATS ....................................................................................................................37 4.2 FAUNA HABITAT ANALYSIS .....................................................................................................43 4.3 FAUNA ASSEMBLAGE ..............................................................................................................45 4.4 CONSERVATION SIGNIFICANT FAUNA ....................................................................................46 4.5 SURVEY ADEQUACY ................................................................................................................53 4.6 SURVEY LIMITATIONS AND CONSTRAINTS .............................................................................55 5 DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................... 57 January 2015 ii Fortescue Metals Group Limited Western Hub Project ‐ Delphine Terrestrial Vertebrate Fauna Assessment 5.1 HABITATS ................................................................................................................................57 5.2 FAUNA ASSEMBLAGES ............................................................................................................64 5.3 CONSERVATION SIGNIFICANT FAUNA ....................................................................................65 5.4 SURVEY ADEQUACY ................................................................................................................84 6 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................. 85 7 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................... 87 TABLES Table 2.1 – Land systems of the survey area ........................................................................................... 7 Table 2.2 – Vegetation associations of the survey area ........................................................................... 8 Table 2.3 – Fauna databases searched to determine the potential vertebrate fauna assemblage ........ 8 Table 2.4 – Previous biological survey reports within 135 km of the survey area ................................... 9 Table 2.5 – Number of species recorded during previous surveys and database searches ..................10 Table 3.1 – Factors likely to influence survey design (EPA 2004) ..........................................................19 Table 3.2 – Summary of survey timing and duration .............................................................................20 Table 3.3 – Vegetation condition scale (Trudgen 1991) ........................................................................24 Table 3.4 – Survey site information .......................................................................................................26 Table 3.5 – Likelihood of occurrence categories ....................................................................................31 Table 3.6 – Survey effort ........................................................................................................................33 Table 3.7 – References used for identification .......................................................................................36 Table 3.8 – Survey personnel .................................................................................................................36 Table 4.1 – Habitat comparisons between vertebrate fauna assessments ...........................................37 Table 4.2 – Summary of fauna habitat types .........................................................................................38 Table 4.3 – Summary of survey effort by habitat type ...........................................................................38 Table 4.4 – Pairwise comparisons between terrestrial faunal assemblages. ........................................43 Table 4.5 – Pairwise comparisons between avian faunal assemblages. ................................................44 Table 4.6 – Conservation significant fauna recorded during the survey ...............................................47 Table 4.7 – Mean estimates of total species richness of systematically sampled vertebrate fauna .....53 Table 4.8 – Summary of survey limitations
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