Tukituki Catchment Terrestrial Ecology Characterisation Prepared for Hawke's Bay Regional Council December 2011 EMT 11/13 HBRC Plan Number 4294 Hawke's Bay Regional Council Tukituki Catchment Terrestrial Ecology Characterisation CONTENTS 1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Objectives ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Study area .......................................................................................................................... 1 1.2.1 Location and key features .............................................................................................. 1 1.2.2 ‘Catchment Units’ for description..................................................................................... 2 1.3 Report structure ................................................................................................................... 3 1.4 Methods .............................................................................................................................. 3 1.4.1 Landform, geology and soil............................................................................................. 3 1.4.2 Climate ......................................................................................................................... 3 1.4.3 Land cover and flora ...................................................................................................... 3 1.4.4 Avifauna ....................................................................................................................... 4 1.4.5 Lizard fauna .................................................................................................................. 4 1.4.6 Bat fauna ...................................................................................................................... 5 1.4.7 Terrestrial invertebrate fauna .......................................................................................... 5 2 Background ............................................................................................................................. 6 2.1 Current land cover and Land Environments ........................................................................... 6 2.2 Windrose data ..................................................................................................................... 8 2.3 Department of Conservation, ‘Protected’ and ‘Recommended Areas for Protection’ .................. 9 3 Terrestrial Ecology Character .................................................................................................. 13 3.1 Catchment scale overview .................................................................................................. 13 3.1.1 Vegetation cover and rare/uncommon habitats .............................................................. 13 3.1.2 Avifauna ..................................................................................................................... 21 3.1.3 Herpetofauna .............................................................................................................. 28 3.1.4 Bat fauna .................................................................................................................... 40 3.1.5 Terrestrial invertebrate fauna ........................................................................................ 40 3.1.6 Introduced mammals ................................................................................................... 41 3.2 Catchment Unit A ............................................................................................................... 41 3.2.1 Overview of landform, geology and soil ......................................................................... 41 3.2.2 Climate ....................................................................................................................... 42 3.2.3 Land cover and flora .................................................................................................... 42 3.2.4 Terrestrial fauna .......................................................................................................... 45 3.3 Catchment Unit B ............................................................................................................... 46 3.3.1 Overview of landform, geology and soil ......................................................................... 46 3.3.2 Climate ....................................................................................................................... 47 3.3.3 Land cover and flora .................................................................................................... 47 Status: Final December 2011 Project number: Z1800410 Our ref: Tukituki T.E Characterisation_Final.doc 3.3.4 Terrestrial fauna .......................................................................................................... 49 3.4 Catchment Unit C .............................................................................................................. 50 3.4.1 Overview of landform, geology and soil ......................................................................... 50 3.4.2 Climate ....................................................................................................................... 51 3.4.3 Land cover and flora .................................................................................................... 51 3.4.4 Terrestrial fauna .......................................................................................................... 60 3.5 Catchment Unit D .............................................................................................................. 63 3.5.1 Overview of landform, geology and soil ......................................................................... 63 3.5.2 Climate ....................................................................................................................... 63 3.5.3 Land cover and flora .................................................................................................... 63 3.5.4 Terrestrial fauna .......................................................................................................... 65 3.6 Catchment Unit E ............................................................................................................... 68 3.6.1 Overview of landform, geology and soil ......................................................................... 68 3.6.2 Climate ....................................................................................................................... 68 3.6.3 Land cover and flora .................................................................................................... 68 3.6.4 Terrestrial fauna .......................................................................................................... 72 3.7 Catchment Unit F ............................................................................................................... 73 3.7.1 Overview of landform, geology and soil ......................................................................... 73 3.7.2 Climate ....................................................................................................................... 73 3.7.3 Land cover and flora .................................................................................................... 74 3.7.4 Terrestrial fauna .......................................................................................................... 79 4 Landscape Ecology Synthesis ................................................................................................. 84 4.1 Local application ................................................................................................................ 84 5 Risks to River Bird Populations from Changes in Flow Regime .................................................. 87 5.1 Riverbed bird numbers and previous surveys ....................................................................... 87 5.1.1 Bird species, numbers and regional/national significance of the riverbed for birds ............ 87 5.2 Generic assessment of effects from changes in river flows and/or river morphology to river and terrestrial bird values ................................................................................................................ 89 5.2.1 Changes in physical and chemical characteristics, and water temperature ....................... 90 5.2.2 Direct changes in physical structure of rivers ................................................................. 90 5.2.3 Indirect changes in physical structure of rivers ............................................................... 91 5.3 The proposed Ruataniwha Augmentation Scheme as an example of potential effects to river bird communities by altered river flows from water abstraction ............................................................ 91 5.3.1 Construction phase ...................................................................................................... 91 5.3.2 Post-construction phase ............................................................................................... 92 6 Summary ............................................................................................................................... 94 6.1 Terrestrial ecology character