ANNE CLEMENTS & ASSOCIATES PTY. LIMITED (ABN 41 077 242 365, ACN 077-160-939) Environmental and Botanical Consultants Office 2, 3 Harbourview Crescent, Milsons Point 2060 PO Box 1623, North Sydney 2059 Phone: (02) 9955 9733, Facsimile: (02) 9957 4343 Email: [email protected] 13 March 2017 Flora and Fauna Report 2016: Six parks in Ryde Local Government Area Bell Park, Brush Farm Park, Darvall Park, Field of Mars Reserve, Lambert Park and Outlook Park. Prepared by: Dr AnneMarie Clements Tony Rodd Jessica Gardner Ruth Palsson with fauna section by: Damian Lettoof (co-ordinator, reptiles and frog) Henry Cook (birds specialist) David Martin (nocturnal assistance with surveys) Dr James Schlunke (invertebrates specialist) Glenn Hoye (bat call analysis) Barbara Triggs (mammal hair analysis) Prepared for: City of Ryde – North Ryde Office Binary Centre Building 0, Level 1 3 Richardson Place, North Ryde NSW 2113 Phone: 02 9952 8222 Anne Clements & Associates Pty Limited 1 Contents Preamble.....................................................................................................................................6 Section A: Background information, including environmental setting...........................................7 A1.0 Introduction..........................................................................................................................8 A1.1 Zoning of the parks..............................................................................................................8 A2.0 Environmental Setting........................................................................................................10 A2.1 Climate..............................................................................................................................10 A2.2 Geology and soil landscape...............................................................................................12 A2.2.1 Geology..........................................................................................................................12 A2.2.2 Soil landscape................................................................................................................13 A2.2.3 Onsite soil observations..................................................................................................14 A2.3 Land use............................................................................................................................15 A2.3.1 Historic land use.............................................................................................................15 A2.3.2 Heritage item zoning.......................................................................................................18 A2.3.3 Land use changes since earliest available aerial photograph.........................................18 A2.4 General observations within the parks...............................................................................20 Section B: Flora assessment.....................................................................................................23 B1.0 Introduction........................................................................................................................24 B2.0 Existing mappings.............................................................................................................24 B3.0 The 2016 survey................................................................................................................27 B3.1 Methods.............................................................................................................................29 B3.2 Observations/ Findings......................................................................................................31 B3.2.2 Exotic and non-local native species................................................................................35 B3.3 Ground truthing confirmation of the previous mapping......................................................38 B3.4 Targeted threatened species searches..............................................................................39 B3.4.1 Database searches.........................................................................................................39 B3.4.2 Target searches in the parks...........................................................................................42 References for Sections A, B.....................................................................................................43 Section C: Fauna assessment...................................................................................................45 C1.0 Introduction.......................................................................................................................46 C1.1 Sampling methods.............................................................................................................46 C1.1.1 Reptiles..........................................................................................................................46 C1.1.2 Frogs..............................................................................................................................46 C1.1.3 Mammals........................................................................................................................46 C1.1.4 Birds...............................................................................................................................47 C1.1.5 Fish................................................................................................................................47 C1.1.6 Invertebrate fauna..........................................................................................................47 C1.2 Comparisons between the 2006 and 2016 surveys...........................................................48 C2.0 Fauna findings...................................................................................................................48 C2.1 Reptiles.............................................................................................................................48 C2.2 Frogs.................................................................................................................................50 C2.3 Mammals...........................................................................................................................52 C2.4 Birds..................................................................................................................................55 C2.5 Fish...................................................................................................................................62 C2.6 Invertebrate fauna.............................................................................................................63 C2.6.1 Comparability with previous (Biosphere 2006) results....................................................63 C2.6.2 Habitat availability in Ryde reserves...............................................................................63 Anne Clements & Associates Pty Limited 2 C2.6.2.1 Ground-layer vegetation..............................................................................................63 C2.6.2.2 Shrubs and mid-storey vegetation...............................................................................64 C2.6.2.3 Leaf litter and debris....................................................................................................64 C2.6.2.4 Aquatic habitats...........................................................................................................64 C2.6.2.5 Eucalyptus and Acacia spp. foliage.............................................................................64 C2.6.2.6 Tree trunks..................................................................................................................65 C2.6.3 Invertebrates recorded in the parks................................................................................65 Reference for Section C.............................................................................................................87 Appendix C1. Method details.....................................................................................................89 Acknowledgements....................................................................................................................91 Figures Site Location 1a. Boundaries of the six parks overlaid on the SIX Maps 1:25 000 topographic map 1a-1. Boundaries of Bell Park, Brush Farm Park, and Lambert Park overlaid on the SIX Maps 1:25 000 topographic map 1a-2. Boundaries of Darvall Park and Outlook Park overlaid on the SIX Maps 1:25 000 topographic map 1a-3. Boundary of the Field of Mars Reserve overlaid on the SIX Maps 1:25 000 topographic map 1b. Boundaries of the six parks overlaid on the NearMap aerial photograph (dated 19 January 2016) 1b-1. Boundaries of Bell Park, Brush Farm Park, and Lambert Park overlaid on the NearMap aerial photograph (dated 19 January 2016) 1b-2. Boundaries of Darvall Park and Outlook Park overlaid on the NearMap aerial photograph (dated 19 January 2016) 1b-3. Boundary of the Field of Mars Reserve overlaid on the NearMap aerial photograph (dated 19 January 2016) Zoning 2a. Boundaries of Brush Farm Park, Bell Park and Lambert Park overlaid on the Land Zoning map sheet LZN_002 (Ryde LEP 2014) 2b. Boundaries of Darvall Park and Outlook Park overlaid on the Land Zoning map sheet LZN_002 (Ryde LEP 2014) 2c. Boundary of the Field of Mars Reserve