Desktop Review and Risk Assessment of Short Range Endemic Invertebrates for the Yanchep Rail Extension, Western Australia Report by Invertebrate Solutions for Public Transport Authority May 2018 Dr Timothy Moulds Director and Principal Ecologist Invertebrate Solutions PO Box 14 Victoria Park, WA 6979 Australia [email protected] www.invertebratesolutions.com Invertebrate Solutions. (2018). Desktop review and risk assessment of short range endemic invertebrates for the Yanchep Rail Extension, Western Australia. Unpublished report to Public Transport Authority, May 2018. Report Number 2018ISJ03_F01_20180531 Prepared for: Public Transport Authority Frontispiece: Banksia woodland near Yanchep COPYRIGHT: This document has been prepared to the requirements of the client identified above, and no representation is made to any third party. Copyright and any other Intellectual Property associated with the document belongs to Invertebrate Solutions and may not be reproduced without written permission of the Client or Invertebrate Solutions. It may be cited for the purposes of scientific research or other fair use, but it may not be reproduced or distributed to any third party by any physical or electronic means without the express permission of the client for whom it was prepared or Invertebrate Solutions. Yanchep Rail Extension SRE Invertebrate Desktop Review Contents Contents ................................................................................................................................................. iii Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................ vi 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Purpose of this report .................................................................................................................. 2 1.2. Study Area .................................................................................................................................... 2 1.3. Introduction to SRE invertebrate fauna ....................................................................................... 4 1.4. Conservation Legislation and Guidance Statements ................................................................... 5 1.5. Report Limitations and Exclusions ............................................................................................... 6 1.6. Assumptions ................................................................................................................................. 6 2. Desktop Methods .............................................................................................................................. 7 2.1 Likelihood of SRE invertebrate occurrence ......................................................................... 7 2.2 Potential Impacts to SRE invertebrates .............................................................................. 8 3. Desktop SRE invertebrate Review ..................................................................................................... 9 3.1 SRE invertebrates of Swan Coastal Plain ............................................................................. 9 3.2 Conservation Significant Fauna in the Study Area ............................................................ 10 3.3 SRE Habitat in the Study Area ........................................................................................... 10 3.4 Potential occurrence of SRE Invertebrates within the Study Area ................................... 16 3.5 Distribution of Confirmed SRE species within the YRE Development Envelope ............... 19 3.6 Distribution of Likely SRE species within the YRE Development Envelope ....................... 22 4. SRE preliminary impact assessment ................................................................................................ 33 4.1 Local impacts during construction and operation ............................................................ 33 4.2 Regional significance and cumulative impacts ................................................................. 35 5. Conclusions and Recommendations ................................................................................................ 37 5.1 Recommendations ............................................................................................................ 38 6. References ....................................................................................................................................... 39 Appendix 1 Department of Parks and Wildlife Conservation Codes (November 2015) Appendix 2 Protected Matters Search Tool results Appendix 3 Components of the Yanchep Rail Extension Project Part 1 and 2 Page iii YRE Project SRE Invertebrate Desktop Review List of Figures Figure 1 Yanchep Rail Extension Project SRE fauna Study Area. 3 Figure 2 SRE Habitat suitability in the YRE Development Envelope and local area based on GHD 2018 vegetation mapping and aerial images 13 Figure 3 SRE Habitat suitability in the Desktop Study Area based on aerial images only 15 Figure 4 Distribution of the Confirmed SRE mollusc species. 25 Figure 5 Distribution of the Confirmed SRE mollusc species in relation to the YRE Development Envelope 26 Figure 6 Distribution of the Confirmed SRE mygalomorph spider, millipede and tree cricket species. 27 Figure 7 Distribution of the Confirmed SRE mygalomorph spider, millipede and tree cricket species in relation to the YRE Development Envelope 28 Figure 8 Distribution of the Likely SRE isopod, millipede and tree cricket species. 29 Figure 9 Distribution of the Likely SRE isopod, millipede and tree cricket species in relation to the YRE Development Envelope 30 Figure 10 Distribution of the Likely SRE mygalomorph species 31 Figure 11 Distribution of the Likely SRE mygalomorph species in relation to the YRE Development Envelope 32 List of Tables Table 1 Short Range Endemic Status of Species .............................................................................. 5 Table 2 SRE species likelihood of occurrence definitions ................................................................ 7 Table 3 Conservation significant SRE Invertebrates potentially within the Study Area. ............... 10 Table 4 Vegetation units in the YRE Development Envelope and SRE invertebrate habitat potential (after GHD 2018). .............................................................................................. 11 Table 5 SRE habitat availability in hectares at the local and regional scale .................................. 12 Table 6 SRE habitat availability in percent of area at the local and regional scale ....................... 12 Page iv YRE Project SRE Invertebrate Desktop Review Table 7 Potential SRE Invertebrates in WAM databases recorded from within the Study Area... 16 Table 8 SRE and conservation significant taxa within the YRE Development Envelope ............... 18 Table 9 Risk of direct impact to SRE invertebrates from the YRE Project ..................................... 34 Table 10 Risk of indirect impact to SRE invertebrates from the YRE Project .................................. 34 List of Plates Plate 1 The P4 listed Graceful Sun-moth from within the YRE Project Envelope (After GHD 2011.). ........................................................................................................................ 9 Plate 2 Pachysaga munggai/strobila from the YRE Development Envelope (Image after GHD 2012) ........................................................................................................................ 24 Page v YRE Project SRE Invertebrate Desktop Review Executive Summary The Yanchep Rail Extension (YRE) project is a 14.5 kilometre (km) extension of the Joondalup railway line, which includes new stations at 3 locations; Alkimos, Eglinton and Yanchep. The YRE project’s 143.11 hectare (ha) Development Envelope, which encompasses Part 1 and 2 development footprints (including railway extension and stations) and construction and access areas, generally lies between the suburbs of Butler and Yanchep and includes the suburbs of Alkimos and Eglinton. Part 1 of the project proposes to extend the existing Joondalup railway line by 7.3 kilometres from Butler Station to the suburb of Eglinton in the City of Wanneroo. Part 2 of the project proposes to extend the Joondalup railway line from Eglinton Station to Yanchep Station and includes a turnback facility to the north of the Yanchep Station to allow for the turning and stowage of trains. Following referral of Part 1 of the YRE project to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) under Section 38 of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (EP Act), the EPA decided on 13 March 2018 that the proposal would be assessed on referral and additional information. The EPA issued a Notice Requiring Information for Assessment under section 40(2)(a) of the EP Act, which included the requirement for a desktop short range endemic (SRE) fauna investigation. The desktop assessment for SRE invertebrates recorded nine Confirmed SRE species (three land snails, three mygalomorph trapdoor spiders, one bivalve, one millipede and one tree cricket), 10 Likely SRE species (five mygalomorph trapdoor spiders, two terrestrial slaters, two tree crickets and one millipede), and eight Possible SRE species (five pseudoscorpions, one springtail, one midge, and one harvestman).