Waterbird and aquatic invertebrate survey for the Beyondie Potash Project Prepared for Kalium Lakes Ltd March 2017 Final Report Waterbird and aquatic invertebrate survey for the Beyondie Potash Project Prepared for Kalium Lakes Ltd Waterbird and aquatic invertebrate survey for the Beyondie Potash Project Prepared for Kalium Lakes Ltd Final Report Author/s: Anna Leung, Volker Framenau Reviewer/s: Karen Crews Date: 31 March 2017 Submitted to: Brett Hazelden Chain of authorship and review Name Task Version Date V.W. Framenau Draft for client comments 1.0 31 March 2017 Choose an item. ©Phoenix Environmental Sciences Pty Ltd 2017 The use of this report is solely for the Client for the purpose in which it was prepared. Phoenix Environmental Sciences accepts no responsibility for use beyond this purpose. All rights are reserved and no part of this report may be reproduced or copied in any form without the written permission of Phoenix Environmental Sciences or the Client. Phoenix Environmental Sciences Pty Ltd 1/511 Wanneroo Rd BALCATTA WA 6021 P: 08 9345 1608 F: 08 6313 0680 E: [email protected] Project code: 1063-TM-KAL-ECO Waterbird and aquatic invertebrate survey of the Beyondie Potash Project Prepared for Kalium Lakes Ltd Contents CONTENTS ................................................................................................................................................ I LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................................... II LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................................... III LIST OF APPENDICES .............................................................................................................................. III EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................... IV 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 6 1.1 Background ............................................................................................................................. 6 1.2 Survey objectives and scope of works .................................................................................... 8 2 LEGISLATIVE CONTEXT .................................................................................................................... 9 2.1 Commonwealth ....................................................................................................................... 9 2.2 State ...................................................................................................................................... 10 3 EXISTING ENVIRONMENT .............................................................................................................. 11 3.1 Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation of Australia ............................................................. 11 3.2 Land systems ......................................................................................................................... 13 3.3 Hydrology and geomorphology ............................................................................................ 15 3.4 Climate and weather ............................................................................................................. 15 3.5 Land use ................................................................................................................................ 17 3.5.1 Threatening processes .................................................................................................. 1 7 3.5.2 Reserves ........................................................................................................................ 17 3.6 Biological context .................................................................................................................. 17 3.6.1 Waterbirds .................................................................................................................... 18 3.6.2 Aquatic macro-invertebrates and zooplankton ............................................................ 19 4 METHODS ...................................................................................................................................... 20 4.1 Desktop review ..................................................................................................................... 20 4.1.1 Database searches and literature review ..................................................................... 20 4.2 Field survey ........................................................................................................................... 21 4.2.1 Timing and survey effort ............................................................................................... 2 1 4.2.2 Sites selection and habitat characterisation ................................................................. 21 4.2.3 Water quality ................................................................................................................ 23 4.2.4 Waterbirds .................................................................................................................... 23 4.2.5 Aquatic invertebrates.................................................................................................... 23 4.3 Taxonomy and nomenclature ............................................................................................... 24 4.3.1 Morphological species identification ............................................................................ 24 4.3.2 Molecular species identification ................................................................................... 24 4.3.3 Nomenclature ............................................................................................................... 24 4.4 Statistical analyses ................................................................................................................ 25 4.4.1 Water quality ................................................................................................................ 25 4.4.2 Species richness ............................................................................................................ 25 Phoenix Environmental Sciences Pty Ltd i Waterbird and aquatic invertebrate survey of the Beyondie Potash Project Prepared for Kalium Lakes Ltd 4.4.3 Water quality and invertebrate communities .............................................................. 26 4.5 Survey personnel .................................................................................................................. 26 5 RESULTS ........................................................................................................................................ 27 5.1 Desktop review ..................................................................................................................... 27 5.1.1 Waterbirds .................................................................................................................... 27 5.1.2 Aquatic invertebrates.................................................................................................... 27 5.2 Field survey ........................................................................................................................... 27 5.2.1 Hydrology ...................................................................................................................... 27 5.2.2 Water quality ................................................................................................................ 30 5.2.3 Waterbirds .................................................................................................................... 31 5.2.4 Aquatic invertebrates.................................................................................................... 33 5.2.5 Arachnida (spiders and allies) ....................................................................................... 44 5.2.6 Crustacea (crabs and allies) .......................................................................................... 44 5.2.7 Insecta (insects)............................................................................................................. 46 5.2.8 Gastropoda (snails) ....................................................................................................... 46 5.2.9 Oligochaeta (aquatic worms) ........................................................................................ 47 5.2.10 Species richness ............................................................................................................ 47 5.3 Survey limitations ................................................................................................................. 50 6 DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................................... 51 6.1 Water quality ........................................................................................................................ 51 6.2 Waterbirds ............................................................................................................................ 52 6.3 Aquatic invertebrates ........................................................................................................... 52