The conservation and management of the bilby ( Macrotis lagotis ) in the Pilbara M. A. Dziminski and F. Carpenter Progress Report 2016 April 2017 Department of Parks and Wildlife Locked Bag 104 Bentley Delivery Centre WA 6983 Phone: (08) 9219 9000 Fax: (08) 9334 0498 www.dpaw.wa.gov.au © Department of Parks and Wildlife on behalf of the State of Western Australia 2017 April 2017 This work is copyright. You may download, display, print and reproduce this material in unaltered form (retaining this notice) for your personal, non-commercial use or use within your organisation. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 , all other rights are reserved. Requests and enquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the Department of Parks and Wildlife. This report/document/publication was prepared by Martin Dziminski Questions regarding the use of this material should be directed to: Dr Martin Dziminski Research Scientist Science and Conservation Division Woodvale Wildlife Research Centre Locked Bag 104 Bentley Delivery Centre WA 6983 Phone: 08 9405 5120 Email: [email protected] The recommended reference for this publication is: Department of Parks and Wildlife, 2017, The conservation and management of the bilby (Macrotis lagotis ) in the Pilbara: Progress Report 2017, Department of Parks and Wildlife, Perth. This document is available in alternative formats on request. Please note: urls in this document which conclude a sentence are followed by a full point. If copying the url please do not include the full point. The conservation and management of the bilby (Macrotis lagotis) in the Pilbara: Progress Report 2016 Contents Summary ......................................................................................................................... 7 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 8 2 Collation of current and historic distributional data .................................................... 13 2.1 Management implications ................................................................................ 13 3 Presence/absence survey ......................................................................................... 15 3.1 Current survey .................................................................................................. 15 3.2 Management implications ................................................................................ 16 4 Improving survey techniques .................................................................................... 18 4.1 Verification of bilby presence ........................................................................... 18 4.1.1 Sign needed to verify bilby presence .................................................... 18 4.2 Standardisation and development of best practice occupancy survey techniques ................................................................................................................. 22 4.3 Management implications ................................................................................ 26 4.4 Aids to identification of likely bilby habitat ........................................................ 26 4.4.1 Key plant species ................................................................................. 26 4.4.2 Physical habitat characteristics ............................................................. 27 4.4.3 Management implications ..................................................................... 27 4.5 Detectability of bilby sign using remotely piloted aircraft .................................. 34 4.5.1 Management implications ..................................................................... 35 5 Population monitoring ............................................................................................... 41 5.1 Abundance monitoring: Genotyping individuals from scats .............................. 41 5.1.1 Management implications ..................................................................... 43 5.2 Implementation of population monitoring ......................................................... 43 5.2.1 Lost populations ................................................................................... 43 5.2.2 Management implications ..................................................................... 44 5.3 Comparing the effects of storage methods on the quality of DNA from bilby faecal pellets .............................................................................................................. 46 5.3.1 Management implications ..................................................................... 48 6 2016 Ninu Festival .................................................................................................... 49 6.1.1 Management implications ..................................................................... 49 7 Ongoing work ............................................................................................................ 50 Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................... 51 Offset Funding ........................................................................................................... 51 Department of Parks and Wildlife iii The conservation and management of the bilby (Macrotis lagotis) in the Pilbara: Progress Report 2016 Appendices ................................................................................................................... 53 References .................................................................................................................... 59 Appendices Appendix 1 Publications ............................................................................................ 53 Appendix 2 Bilby Poster ............................................................................................ 54 Appendix 3 Standardised data sheet for 2 ha Sign Plots .......................................... 55 Figures Figure 1. Current and former distribution of the greater bilby. ......................................... 9 Figure 2. Bilby records collated from the Pilbara region. ............................................... 13 Figure 3. Frequency distribution of all collated bilby records from the Pilbara. .............. 14 Figure 4. Plots surveyed for bilby presence across the Pilbara. .................................... 17 Figure 5. Bilby presence detected at survey plots across the Pilbara. .......................... 17 Figure 6. Maxent model of suitable bilby habitat based on TERN Soil layers, geology and elevation. Area included is the Pilbara IBRA region with a 200 km buffer. Warmer colors show areas with better predicted conditions. .................................... 32 Figure 7. Maxent model of suitable bilby habitat based on Australian Atlas of Soils, TERN Soil layers, geology and elevation. Area included is the Pilbara IBRA region with a 200 km buffer. Warmer colors show areas with better predicted conditions. .. 33 Figure 8. A. Aerial view of the area with bilby sign used for the experimental overflights. B. Ground view of the Acacia trachycarpa stand. ................................... 36 Figure 9. Camera FOV of each altitude and camera angle treatment: A. 12 m and 45°; B. 12 m and 56.25°; C. 25 m and 45°; 25 m and 56.25°. ................................... 38 Figure 10. Bilby diggings recorded during ground-truthing and the flight path FOV (camera FOV × flight path length) of each altitude and camera angle treatment: A. 12 m and 45°; B. 12 m and 56.25°; C. 25 m and 45°; 25 m and 56.25°. Scale bars represent 30 m. ......................................................................................................... 39 Figure 11. Mean proportions (±1 S.E.) of diggings detected for each main effect. ........ 40 Figure 12. Current, potential future and locally extinct population monitoring sites. ...... 46 Figure 13. The mean proportions of samples that amplified, false alleles, and missing alleles from DNA extracted from bilby faecal pellets stored tubes with silica gel beads, envelopes and frozen in envelopes. .............................................................. 47 Tables Table 1. Published accounts of suitable bilby habitat characteristics. ........................... 11 Table 2. Alignment of this project with the goals of the interim conservation (Bradley et al. 2015) and research priorities for the greater bilby in the north of Western Australia (Cramer et al. 2016). .................................................................................. 12 Table 3. Protocol to assess potential bilby activity and verify bilby presence from sign. .......................................................................................................................... 21 Department of Parks and Wildlife iv The conservation and management of the bilby (Macrotis lagotis) in the Pilbara: Progress Report 2016 Table 4. Acacia associations at sites where bilbies were found in the Pilbara. ............. 27 Table 5. Known plant species that consistent and repeatable observations have been recorded of bilbies digging into the roots to obtain root dwelling larvae (RDL). ......... 30 Table 6. Relative contributions of variables to the Maxent model of suitable bilby habitat based on TERN Soil layers, geology and elevation ....................................... 32 Table 7. Relative contributions of variables to the