2019 CITY OF ROCKINGHAM Tamworth Hill Swamp Management Plan Tamworth Hill Swamp Management Plan 1 2 Tamworth Hill Swamp Management Plan Table of contents 1 Introduction 7 1.1 Background 8 1.2 Vision 8 1.3 Purpose 8 1.4 Objectives 8 1.5 Study area 8 2 Methods 11 2.1 Desktop Assessment 13 2.1.1 Database Searches 13 2.1.2 Literature Review 13 2.1.3 Assessment of Likelihood of Occurrence 13 2.2 Field Surveys 14 2.2.1 Flora and Vegetation 14 2.2.2 Revegetation Performance Assessment 17 2.2.3 Weeds 17 2.2.4 Vertebrate Fauna 18 2.2.5 Invertebrate Fauna 18 2.2.6 Infrastructure 20 2.2.7 Field Survey Limitations 20 3 Biophysical Environment 21 3.1 Land Use 22 3.2 Bioregion 22 3.3 Climate 22 3.4 Landforms 22 3.5 Geology and Soils 22 3.6 Hydrology and Wetlands 23 3.6.1 Water Quality 25 3.7 Vegetation 26 3.7.1 Regional Vegetation 26 3.7.2 Plant Communities 27 3.7.3 Vegetation Condition 29 3.7.4 Floristic Community Type Assessment 31 3.7.5 Conservation Significant Vegetation 31 3.8 Flora 32 3.8.1 Flora Diversity 32 3.8.2 Weeds 32 3.8.3 Conservation Significant Flora 39 3.9 Revegetation Areas 39 3.9.1 Plant Survival and Density 41 3.9.2 Species Richness and Diversity 41 Tamworth Hill Swamp Management Plan 3 Table of contents (continued) 3.9.3 Weed Cover 41 3.9.4 Revegetation Success 41 3.10 Fauna 44 3.10.1 Vertebrate Fauna 44 3.10.2 Invertebrate Fauna 47 3.11 Conservation Areas 50 3.11.1 Regional Parks 50 3.11.2 Bush Forever 50 3.11.3 Environmentally sensitive areas 50 3.11.4 Ecological Linkages 50 3.12 Heritage Sites 52 4 Infrastructure Assessment 53 4.1 Fencing 55 4.2 Access Points 56 4.3 Paths 58 4.4 Signage 58 4.5 Other Infrastructure 59 5 Threatening Processes 61 5.1 Weed Invasion 62 5.2 Feral Animals 63 5.3 Inappropriate Access 63 5.4 Rubbish Dumping 64 5.5 Nutrient Runoff 64 6 Landscape Master Plan 69 7 Recommendations and Implementation 79 7.1 Weed Control 80 7.2 Revegetation 82 7.2.1 Planting Densities 82 7.2.2 Plant species selection 82 7.3 Infrastructure 85 7.4 Proposed Management Actions 85 7.4.1 Proposed Tamworth Hill Swamp Landscape Master Plan Implementation 89 7.5 Measuring Success 89 8 References 91 4 Tamworth Hill Swamp Management Plan Appendices Appendix A Legislation, Background Information and Conservation Codes 96 Appendix B Flora Species List for the Study Area 99 Appendix C Flora and Vegetation Survey Quadrat Data 101 Appendix D Weed Species List, Locations and Treatment Methods 112 Appendix E Conservation Significant Flora Likelihood of Occurrence 128 Appendix F Detailed Findings of the Environmental Offset Revegetation Performance 130 Appendix G List of Fauna Species Previously Recorded in the Study Area 141 Appendix H Bird and Volant Mammal Species Likely to Occur and Recorded in the Study Area 143 Appendix I Habitat Characterisation of Terrestrial and Aquatic Invertebrate Sampling Sites in the Study Area 150 Appendix J List of Terrestrial and Aquatic Invertebrate Taxa Recorded in the Study Area 153 Appendix K Representative Photos of the Infrastructure in the Study Area 160 Appendix L Existing Park Assessment within the City of Rockingham 164 Tamworth Hill Swamp Management Plan 5 6 Tamworth Hill Swamp Management Plan Introduction 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1 Introduction 1.1 Background 1.2 Vision The City of Rockingham is situated in the unique This Plan addresses the following aspiration contained in the biogeographic region of south-western Australia, which City’s Strategic Community Plan 2019-2029: is classed as one of the 35 global biodiversity hotspots Aspiration 3: Plan for Future Generations (Mittermeier et al., 2011). These hotspots are identified on the basis of containing large numbers of endemic species Strategic Objective - Preservation and found nowhere else on Earth, while also being vulnerable management of bushland and coastal reserves: to significant threats. The City manages 25 natural area Encourage the sustainable management and use reserves across 940 ha of diverse bushland, wetland and of the City’s bushland and coastal reserves. foreshore environments. In 2015, the City prepared a Reserve Prioritisation Report that provided a broad framework for the ongoing management of 1.3 Purpose the majority of reserves it manages, including Tamworth Hill The purpose of this Plan is to provide key directions for Swamp. Tamworth Hill Swamp is an offset site required under the protection and enhancement of conservation, recreation an Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act and landscape values within Tamworth Hill Swamp over next 1999 (EPBC Act) approval for sand and limestone extraction five years. near Millar Road in Baldivis. As part of the environmental offset, the reserve underwent extensive revegetation with black cockatoo foraging species between 2015 and 2017, in 1.4 Objectives accordance with the approved offset management plan. This Plan is driven by the following overarching objectives: Following endorsement of the City’s Community Plan Protect and enhance conservation values through Strategy: Natural Area Conservation in 2017, the majority the removal of threatening processes of the City’s natural area reserves now fall under combined management plans grouped according to their respective Encourage a range of sustainable recreational bushland, foreshore or wetland environments. The Community experiences through suitably located Plan Strategy: Natural Area Conservation also detailed that infrastructure and services reserve specific environmental management plans should only Ensure equity and safety be prepared where reserves have very unique conservation of all reserve users and recreation values. This Management Plan (the Plan) has been prepared for Tamworth Hill Swamp reserve, acknowledging its local 1.5 Study Area and regional environmental significance. This Plan includes a detailed assessment of the environmental values and Tamworth Hill Swamp (the study area) is one of the largest infrastructure within Tamworth Hill Swamp following the and most significant wetland reserves managed by the City. It completion of the revegetation undertaken as part of the is 66.3 hectares in size, situated within Baldivis, approximately environmental offset. 41 km to the south-west of the Perth central business district (CBD). The study area forms part of Rockingham Lakes This Plan has been prepared under the direction of Community Regional Park, an important ecological linkage that connects Plan Strategy: Natural Area Conservation, guided by the City’s a series of reserves and regionally significant bushland (Bush overarching Strategic Community Plan 2019-2029. Forever) across the City’s municipality. The location of the study area in relation to the Rockingham Lakes Regional Park is shown in Figure 1. The study area is shown at a closer scale is shown in Figure 2. Strategic Community Plan 2019-2029 Community Plan Strategy: Natural Area Conservation Tamworth Hill Swamp Management Plan 8 Tamworth Hill Swamp Management Plan FIGURE 1 - Rockingham Lakes Regional Park Tamworth Hill Swamp Management Plan 9 r a FIGURE 2 - Site Location c 387000 388000 389000 h e l . o m o d e i 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 Site Location 4 2 2 4 4 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 rd 3 2 va 2 4 le 4 6 ou 6 th B wor d Tam a o R N a y t i r h n g i D E r i v e S a fe ty B a y R o a Site boundary d Cadastral boundary 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 2 4 4 6 6 Site boundary Cadastral boundary 10 Tamworth Hill Swamp Management Plan 387000 388000 389000 Figure 1: Site Location Plan Number: 0 100 200 300 EP18-105(02)--F07 Drawn: RAO Date: 05/12/2018 Metres Project: Environmental Assessment Report Checked: TAA Scale: 1:12,000@A4 Tamworth Hill Swamp Reserve Approved: TAA ± GDA 1994 MGA Zone 50 Client: City of Rockingham Date: 07/12/2018 While Emerge Associates makes every attempt to ensure the accuracy and completeness of data, Emerge accepts no responsibility for externally sourced data used 2.0 Methods METHODS 2 Methods 2.1 Desktop Assessment A desktop assessment was undertaken to identify flora and 2.1.3 Assessment of Likelihood of Occurrence fauna (vertebrate and invertebrate) species that have the In order to determine which conservation significant species potential to occur within the study area. have the potential to occur in the study area, the results of the database, literature searches and survey records were examined in the context of species known distributions 2.1.1 Database Searches and habitat preferences and whether suitable habitat The following databases were searched for records of was considered to be present on site. Species with habitat conservation significant flora, fauna and ecological preferences that are not present within the study area were communities previously recorded within or in the locality of deemed unlikely to occur. the study area: Of the threatened ecological communities (TECs) and priority 1. Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions ecological communities (PECs) recorded within the City’s (DBCA) NatureMap database using a 10km buffer of the municipality, the likelihood of occurrence was determined survey area for vertebrate fauna and flora, and a 20 km for each community by comparing the known topography, buffer of the survey area for invertebrate fauna hydrology, geology and flora species composition of each 2. EPBC Act Protected Matters Search Tool (PMST) using a community to that present in the site.