Eyre Peninsula Transmission Line Malleefowl Management Plan Eyre Peninsula Transmission Line Malleefowl Management Plan Eyre Peninsula Transmission Line Malleefowl Management Plan 12 February 2021 Version 5.0 Prepared by EBS Ecology for ElectraNet Document Control Revision No. Date issued Authors Reviewed by Date Reviewed Revision type 1 23/09/2020 J. Carpenter A. Derry 23/09/2020 Draft 2 09/10/2020 J. Carpenter ElectraNet 06/10/2020 Draft 3 13/10/2020 J. Carpenter ElectraNet 13/10/2020 FINAL 4 19/11/2020 E. Tremain ElectraNet 19/11/2020 FINAL 5 12/02/2021 J. Carpenter ElectraNet 12/02/2021 FINAL Distribution of Copies Revision No. Date issued Media Issued to 1 25/09/2020 Electronic Alecia Wright, ElectraNet 2 09/10/2020 Electronic Alecia Wright, ElectraNet 3 13/10/2020 Electronic Alecia Wright, ElectraNet 4 19/11/2020 Electronic Alecia Wright, ElectraNet 5 12/02/2021 Electronic Alecia Wright, ElectraNet EBS Ecology Project Number: E90106D COPYRIGHT: Use or copying of this document in whole or in part (including photographs) without the written permission of EBS Ecology’s client and EBS Ecology constitutes an infringement of copyright. LIMITATION: This report has been prepared on behalf of and for the exclusive use of EBS Ecology’s client, and is subject to and issued in connection with the provisions of the agreement between EBS Ecology and its client. EBS Ecology accepts no liability or responsibility whatsoever for or in respect of any use of or reliance upon this report by any third party. CITATION: EBS Ecology (2020) Eyre Peninsula Transmission Line Malleefowl Management Plan. Report to ElectraNet. EBS Ecology, Adelaide. Cover photograph: Inactive Malleefowl mound in the Project Area (photograph by EBS Ecology). EBS Ecology 125 Hayward Avenue Torrensville, South Australia 5031 t: 08 7127 5607 http://www.ebsecology.com.au email: [email protected] ii Eyre Peninsula Transmission Line Malleefowl Management Plan GLOSSARY AND ABBREVIATION OF TERMS BAM Bushland Assessment Methodology CEMP Construction Environmental Management Plan DAWE Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment DEM Digital Elevation Model EBS Ecology Environmental and Biodiversity Services Pty Ltd – trading as EBS Ecology EPBC Act Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 ha hectare(s) IBRA Interim Bioregionalisation of Australia km kilometre(s) kV kilovolt LiDAR Light Detection and Ranging – a remote sensing method that uses light to measure elevation. m Metre(s) mm millimetres NVC Native Vegetation Council OPGW Optical Ground Wire Project ElectraNet Eyre Peninsula Transmission Line Project Project Area The impact footprint of the Project. sp. Species spp. Species plural ssp. Subspecies VA Vegetation Association(s) iii Eyre Peninsula Transmission Line Malleefowl Management Plan Table of Contents 1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Project background ................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Project Area........................................................................................................................... 1 1.3 Objectives ............................................................................................................................. 1 2 BACKGROUND INFORMATION ............................................................................. 3 2.1 Species Information ............................................................................................................... 3 2.2 Status .................................................................................................................................... 5 3 SURVEY EFFORT IN THE PROJECT AREA.......................................................... 7 3.1 Desktop assessments ............................................................................................................ 7 3.2 Fauna, Flora and Vegetation surveys ..................................................................................... 9 3.2.1 Methodology ............................................................................................................. 9 3.2.2 Results ...................................................................................................................... 9 3.3 LiDAR Malleefowl mound and ground-truthing surveys ........................................................ 11 3.3.1 Methodology ........................................................................................................... 11 3.3.2 Environmental Buffer ............................................................................................... 11 3.3.3 Results .................................................................................................................... 12 4 IMPACT ASSESSMENT ........................................................................................ 15 4.1 Direct impact to Malleefowl Mounds ..................................................................................... 15 4.2 Direct impact to Malleefowl habitat ....................................................................................... 27 4.3 Indirect impacts to Malleefowl and Malleefowl habitat........................................................... 28 4.4 Cumulative impacts ............................................................................................................. 29 5 IMPACT MANAGEMENT....................................................................................... 31 5.1 Avoiding impacts to Malleefowl and habitat .......................................................................... 31 5.2 Minimising and mitigating impacts to Malleefowl and habitat ................................................ 31 6 REFERENCES ....................................................................................................... 40 7 APPENDICES ........................................................................................................ 41 List of Tables Table 1. The regional status and population trends of Malleefowl on Eyre Peninsula listed by IBRA subregion. ......................................................................................................... 5 Table 2. Summary of previous survey work on Malleefowl within the Project Area. .................... 9 Table 3. Location of Malleefowl track records in the Project Area (EBS Ecology 2019 and 2014). ........................................................................................................................ 9 iv Eyre Peninsula Transmission Line Malleefowl Management Plan Table 4. Location of Malleefowl track records in the Project Area (EBS Ecology 2019 and 2014). ...................................................................................................................... 10 Table 5. LiDAR ratings for potential Malleefowl mounds (Ecological Horizons, 2020). .............. 11 Table 6. Malleefowl records by Vegetation Association............................................................ 14 Table 7. Ground-truthed Malleefowl mounds within 75 m and 100 m of the impact footprint. .... 17 Table 8. Impact to Malleefowl habitat in the Project Area. Figures exclude impact to agricultural land (cropping and grazing). ..................................................................................... 27 Table 9. Estimated total area of Malleefowl habitat within 50 km of the transmission line and approximate proportion impacted. ............................................................................ 29 Table 10. Disturbance of active nest mounds avoidance measures. ........................................ 31 Table 11. Direct and cumulative impacts and mitigation measures. ......................................... 32 Table 12. Potential indirect impacts and mitigation measures. ................................................. 37 List of Figures Figure 1. Location of the Project Area. ...................................................................................... 2 Figure 2. Malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata), photographed attending a nest mound. .......................... 4 Figure 3. A typical Malleefowl nest mound in sandy substrate in a Mallee over Triodia Vegetation Association. .............................................................................................. 5 Figure 4. Malleefowl records collected since 1995 on the Eyre Peninsula (Department for Environment and Water, 2020a). ................................................................................ 6 Figure 5. Extent of the Project Area where Malleefowl are highly likely to occur. ........................ 8 Figure 6. Proximity of Malleefowl mounds to the impact footprint, Map 1 of 9. .......................... 18 Figure 7. Proximity of Malleefowl mounds to the impact footprint, Map 2 of 9. .......................... 19 Figure 8. Proximity of Malleefowl mounds to the impact footprint, Map 3 of 9. .......................... 20 Figure 9. Proximity of Malleefowl mounds to the impact footprint, Map 4 of 9. .......................... 21 Figure 10. Proximity of Malleefowl mounds to the impact footprint, Map 5 of 9. ........................ 22 Figure 11. Proximity of Malleefowl mounds to the impact footprint, Map 6 of 9. ........................ 23 Figure 12. Proximity of Malleefowl mounds to the impact footprint, Map 7 of 9. ........................ 24 Figure 13. Proximity of Malleefowl mounds to the