2. BIODIVERSITY ADDENDUM BIODIVERSITY 2 ADDENDUM Proposed development of Stage 1, Silverton Wind Farm, far western New South Wales Biodiversity Addendum Final November 2008 Acknowledgements nghenvironmental acknowledges the assistance and contribution of the following people in the preparation of this addendum: • Jim Reside and Nina Trikojus (Wildlife Unlimited) for fauna surveys and specialist Yellow-footed Rock Wallaby advice • Dr Ian Sluiter (Ogyris) for flora surveys • Barbara Triggs for scat identification • Dr Graham Medlin, Honorary Research Associate, Subfossils, Mammal section, South Australian Museum for identification of subfossils • Gerry Swan (Research Associate, Australian Museum and Director, Cygnet Consulting) for specialist advice relating to herpetofauna • Peter Ewin, Regional Biodiversity Conservation Officer (DECC) for advice on threatened species • Barrier Range Field Naturalists for information on local sightings and the flora species DVD provided in the original assessment • Lessees for site access, orientation and local information nghenvironmental Suite1 216 Carp Street (PO Box 470) Bega NSW 2550 phone (02) 6492 8333 fax (02) 6492 8399 email [email protected] a division of Nicholas Graham Higgs Pty Ltd abn 38 711 349 561 Document Verification Job title: Biodiversity Addendum, Silverton Wind Farm, Stage 1 File Name DRAFT_Silverton_Biodiversity_Addendum_Stage_1 Revision Date Prepared by Checked by Approved by Draft Sep name Steven Sass (Senior name Brooke Marshall name Nick Graham-Higgs 2008 Ecologist) (Manager, Projects) (Director) Kelly Simpson (Botanist) Final Nov name Steven Sass (Senior name Brooke Marshall name Nick Graham-Higgs 2008 Ecologist) CEnvP (Manager, Projects) (Director) Cover photos: Bynoes Prickly Gecko, feral goats and general view of study area Proposed development of Stage 1, Silverton Wind Farm, western NSW Biodiversity Addendum CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 1 1.1 Description of the site ................................................................................... 1 1.2 Proposed works ............................................................................................. 2 2 METHODOLOGY .................................................................................. 4 2.1 Overview ......................................................................................................... 4 2.1.1 Analysis, assessment and report compilation ............................................ 4 2.1.2 Fieldwork ......................................................................................................... 4 2.2 Flora and vegetation communities .............................................................. 6 2.2.1 Preliminary assessments .............................................................................. 6 2.2.2 Field survey and mapping ............................................................................. 6 2.2.3 Survey limitations ........................................................................................... 7 2.3 Fauna and fauna habitat ............................................................................... 7 2.3.1 Preliminary assessments .............................................................................. 7 2.3.2 Field surveys and mapping ........................................................................... 7 2.3.3 Threatened and other significant species .................................................... 8 2.3.4 Survey limitations ........................................................................................... 9 3 RESULTS ............................................................................................ 13 3.1 Flora and vegetation communities ............................................................ 14 3.1.1 Vegetation communities .............................................................................. 14 3.1.2 Conservation status of vegetation communities ...................................... 20 3.1.3 Species recorded at the subject site .......................................................... 20 3.1.4 Species of conservation significance ........................................................ 21 3.1.5 Disturbance and weeds ............................................................................... 22 3.2 Fauna and fauna habitat ............................................................................. 22 3.2.1 Fauna survey results .................................................................................... 22 3.2.2 Fauna habitats in the study area ................................................................. 24 3.2.3 Effects of grazing on fauna habitat by feral goats .................................... 28 3.2.4 Profile of potential bird usage ..................................................................... 29 3.2.5 Threatened and significant species ............................................................ 30 4 IMPACT ASSESSMENT ..................................................................... 38 4.1 Flora and vegetation communities ............................................................ 38 4.1.1 Construction impacts ................................................................................... 38 4.1.2 Operational impacts ..................................................................................... 46 4.1.3 Decommissioning impacts .......................................................................... 46 4.2 Fauna and fauna habitat ............................................................................. 47 4.2.1 Construction impacts ................................................................................... 47 4.2.2 Operational impacts ..................................................................................... 48 4.2.3 Decommissioning impacts .......................................................................... 51 5 Conclusions ....................................................................................... 52 Final November 2008 i nghenvironmental Proposed development of Stage 1, Silverton Wind Farm, western NSW Biodiversity Addendum 6 Assessment personnel ..................................................................... 53 7 References ......................................................................................... 57 Appendix A: Flora survey results ............................................................. I Appendix B: Fauna survey results .......................................................... V Appendix C: Threatened species evaluation ......................................... IX C.1 Flora .................................................................................................................. X C.2 Fauna ............................................................................................................. XIII Appendix D: Assessment of Significance ...................................... XXVIII D.1 NSW listed species .................................................................................. XXVIII D.2 Commonwealth listed species ............................................................... XXXIX D2.1 Vulnerable species ................................................................................... XXXIX D2.2 Migratory species .......................................................................................... XLI D.3 Conclusion of assessments of significance ............................................. XLII Appendix E: Bird and bat risk assessment ...................................... XLIV Appendix F: Photographs of the site ................................................... LIV Final November 2008 ii nghenvironmental Proposed development of Stage 1, Silverton Wind Farm, western NSW Biodiversity Addendum Figures Figure 1: Examples of vegetation communities found across the study area. ........................... 16 Figure 2: Examples of fauna habitat types present in the study area. ........................................ 28 Tables Table 1: Relative abundance ranking employed during the survey .............................................. 6 Table 2: Summary of fauna survey effort during this survey ...................................................... 10 Table 3: Conservation status of natural vegetation types in the study area ............................... 20 Table 4: Estimated extent of vegetation loss .............................................................................. 40 Table 5: Overall impact risk for bird and bats (bladestrike and avoidance impacts) .................. 49 Table C-6: Threatened flora evaluation. ...................................................................................... X Table C-7: Threatened fauna evaluation. ................................................................................. XIII Maps Map 1: Proposed additional areas of the Stage 1 development. .................................................. 3 Map 2: The spatial distribution of 2007 and 2008 survey locations across the study area .......... 5 Map 3.2: Locations of fauna and flora survey sites during this study. ........................................ 12 Map 3.3: Locations of fauna and flora survey sites during this study. ........................................ 13 Map 4.1: Extent of vegetation communities of the additional Stage 1b and 1c study areas ...... 17 Map 5.1: Threatened and significant biodiversity of