Bruce Highway (Cooroy to Curra) Project Section D Terrestrial Fauna Survey Report (Final) Department of Transport and Main Roads May 2016 0331161 www.erm.com The world’s leading sustainability consultancy Bruce Highway (Cooroy to Curra) Approved by: Tom Cotter Project Section D Position: Project Manager Terrestrial Fauna Survey Report (Final) Signed: Department of Transport and Main Roads Date: 13 May, 2016 Approved by: David Dique May 2016 Position: Partner Signed: Date: 13 May, 2016 0331161 www.erm.com Environmental Resources Management Australia Pty Ltd Quality System This disclaimer, together with any limitations specified in the report, apply to use of this report. This report was prepared in accordance with the contracted scope of services for the specific purpose stated and subject to the applicable cost, time and other constraints. 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CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND 1 1.2 PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF THIS REPORT 2 1.3 KEY TERMS 2 2 METHOD 2.1 SUBJECT SPECIES 4 2.2 DESKTOP REVIEW 6 2.3 FIELD SURVEY METHOD 6 2.4 ANALYSIS 16 3 ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SURVEY AREA 3.1 REGIONAL CONTEXT 20 3.2 ABIOTIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SURVEY AREA 20 3.3 BROAD HABITAT TYPES 22 3.4 AQUATIC HABITAT FEATURES 28 4 FAUNA SPECIES OF CONSERVATION SIGNIFICANCE 4.1 CONSERVATION SIGNIFICANT SPECIES KNOWN TO OCCUR WITHIN THE SURVEY AREA 32 4.2 CONSERVATION SIGNIFICANT SPECIES LIKELY TO OCCUR WITHIN THE SURVEY AREA 37 4.3 CONSERVATION SIGNIFICANT SPECIES WITH POTENTIAL TO OCCUR WITHIN THE SURVEY AREA 40 4.4 MIGRATORY AND SPECIAL LEAST CONCERN SPECIES 40 5 CONCLUSIONS 6 REFERENCES LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1.1 KEY TERMS 2 TABLE 2.1 SUBJECT SPECIES WITH LIKELIHOOD OF OCCURRENCE FROM REF 5 TABLE 2.2 DESKTOP REVIEW SOURCES 6 TABLE 2.3 SURVEY APPROACHES AND TIMING RECOMMENDED IN RELEVANT GUIDELINES 7 TABLE 2.4 DESCRIPTION OF SURVEY TECHNIQUES 10 TABLE 2.5 REPRESENTATION OF TERRESTRIAL HABITAT ASSESSMENT AND SPOT ASSESSMENT TECHNIQUE WITHIN REGIONAL ECOSYSTEMS 15 TABLE 2.6 LIKELIHOOD OF OCCURRENCE DEFINITIONS 16 TABLE 2.7 CRITERIA USED FOR HABITAT AND BREEDING PLACE EVALUATIONS 17 TABLE 3.1 ABIOTIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SURVEY AREA 20 TABLE 3.2 EUCALYPT COMMUNITIES ON SEDIMENTARY AND METAMORPHIC ROCK 22 TABLE 3.3 EUCALYPT COMMUNITIES ON ALLUVIAL SOILS 24 TABLE 3.4 VINE FOREST 26 TABLE 3.5 CLEARED AREAS (WITH ISOLATED TREES) 27 TABLE 3.6 WATERWAYS 28 TABLE 3.7 DAMS 29 ANNEXES ANNEX A FIGURES ANNEX B BUREAU OF METEOROLOGY WEATHER DATA ANNEX C SURVEY SITE SUMMARY ANNEX D FAUNA SPECIES RECORDED DURING SUMMER 2016 FIELD SURVEYS ANNEX E SUBJECT SPECIES PROFILES EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Bruce Highway Cooroy to Curra Project aims to provide an upgrade and realignment to the existing 61 km section of the Bruce Highway between Cooroy and Curra. Section D of the Project involves creation of a predominately greenfield four lane dual carriageway from Woondum Road to Curra, with a total length of approximately 30 km. A fauna survey of the alignment and a broader Survey Area was undertaken in summer 2016 to identify ecological values that may require specific management in the planning and delivery of Section D. The summer 2016 survey was designed to build upon ecological surveys previously undertaken in the alignment as part of the Review of Environmental Factors for Section D (Jacobs 2015). As the previous work described the general ecological values of the Survey Area, the summer 2016 assessment focussed on those values of conservation importance, specifically species listed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) and/or Nature Conservation Act 1992 (NC Act). Survey Method The summer 2016 (Jan/Feb) survey program involved desktop review, development of a field survey program in consideration of available state and Commonwealth guidelines, and delivery of the field surveys over two survey periods in January and February 2016. Field survey methods included detailed threatened species habitat assessment, grey-headed flying fox (Pteropus poliocephalus) food plant surveys, koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) faecal pellet searches, call playback targeting selected species, tusked frog (Adelotus brevis) area searches and black-breasted button quail (Turnix Melanogaster) area searches. Data collated through field surveys and desktop review was evaluated to identify if the Survey Area contained suitable habitat for conservation significant species; habitat critical to the survival of an EPBC Act-listed threatened species; an ‘important population’ of an EPBC Act-listed vulnerable species; ‘important habitat’ for an EPBC Act-listed migratory species; or a ‘breeding place’ for any species protected under the NC Act. Threatened Species Signs of two EPBC Act and NC Act-listed threatened species, black-breasted button quail and koala, were recorded during the summer 2016 surveys. While the species were not directly sighted, koala faecal pellets and platelets associated with black- breasted button quail feeding were observed. The Survey Area is considered to provide habitat critical to the survival of black-breasted button quail and koala, based on definitions provided in Commonwealth Guidelines. The NC Act-listed tusked frog was not recorded in the summer 2016 surveys, despite substantial survey effort and suitable survey conditions. However the species was recorded within the Survey Area during the Review of Environmental Factors (Jacobs 2015), and the Survey Area is likely to contain breeding places for the species. ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT AUSTRALIA 0331161/FINAL/24 MAY 2016 I In addition, other threatened species are considered likely or as having potential to occur in the Survey Area. The Survey Area is not considered to provide habitat critical to the survival of the threatened species likely or with potential to occur, and it is considered unlikely that the Survey Area will contain an important population of threatened species likely or with potential to occur. Migratory and Special Least Concern Species Five migratory species, the cattle egret (Ardea ibis), fork-tailed swift (Apus pacificus), rainbow bee-eater (Merops ornatus), spectacled monarch (Symposiarchus trivirgatus) and rufous fantail (Rhipidura ruficauda), have been recorded within the Survey Area and additional migratory species are considered to be likely or to have potential to occur. The Survey Area was not evaluated as providing important habitat, or being likely to support an ecologically significant proportion of any populations of these species. Signs of the special least concern species, short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus), were recorded at 20 of the 45 habitat assessment sites, and it is likely the Survey Area contains breeding places for this species. ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT AUSTRALIA 0331161/FINAL/24 MAY 2016 II 1 INTRODUCTION The Bruce Highway Cooroy to Curra Project aims to provide an upgrade and realignment to the existing 61 km section of the Bruce Highway between Cooroy and Curra. Section D of the Project involves creation of a predominately greenfield four lane dual carriageway from Woondum Road to Curra, with a total length of approximately 30 km. Section D realigns the Bruce Highway from its existing position aligned immediately west of Gympie town centre, to be aligned approximately 4 km east of Gympie town centre. The proposed road alignment has been divided into two segments for management: Section D1 extends from the south of Section D at Woondum Road, north to Sandy Creek Road; and Section D2 extends from Sandy Creek Road, north to Curra (Figure 1). 1.1 BACKGROUND As part of the Review of Environmental Factors (REF) for Section D (Jacobs 2015), terrestrial ecology surveys were undertaken within the proposed alignment and a broader Survey Area in March 2015. The Survey Area for the assessment was based on the alignment at January 2015, and comprised a buffer of approximately 50 m to 100 m to the alignment, with some broader areas where the Survey Area followed lot boundaries (Figure 1). The surveys: Recorded a number of species of conservation significance (i.e. species listed as migratory, threatened or special least concern under state or Commonwealth legislation) within the Survey Area; Assessed additional species of conservation significance as being likely, expected or having potential to occur in the Survey Area; and Mapped habitat for selected species of conservation significance that were known or assessed as likely to occur in the Survey Area. To build on the information presented in the REF, fauna surveys were undertaken in January and February 2016 to target fauna species identified as known, likely and having potential to occur in the Survey Area. ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT AUSTRALIA 0331161/FINAL/24 MAY 2016 1 1.2 PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF THIS REPORT The purpose of this report is to provide information