ARROW BOWEN PIPELINE Terrestrial Fauna Assessment Arrow Bowen Pipeline Pty Ltd October 2011 Disclaimer The preparation of this report has been in accordance with the brief provided by the Client and relies upon data collected under limitations, as specified within the report. All findings, conclusions or recommendations contained within the report are based on the aforementioned circumstances and represent the professional opinions of Ecological Survey & Management. The report has been prepared for use by the Client and no responsibility for its use by other parties is accepted by Ecological Survey & Management. If a third party relies upon the facts, content, opinions or subject matter contained in this report without the prior consent of Ecological Survey & Management, the third party assumes all risk and releases and indemnifies Ecological Survey & Management from any loss, damage, claim or liability arising directly or indirectly from the use of or reliance upon this report. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this report, its attachments or appendices may be reproduced by any process without the prior written consent of Ecological Survey & Management. Document History and Status Document version: Revision 2_171011 Author(s): Jason Richard/Ben Nottidge Reviewed by: Steve Marston Approved by: Jason Richard Signed : Date issued: 19/10/2011 i Frontispiece – The Vulnerable Squatter Pigeon (Geophaps scripta scripta), recorded commonly on the ABP project site. CONTENTS CONTENTS ..................................................................................... ii LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................ iv LIST OF APPENDICES ................................................................... iv LIST OF PLATES ............................................................................. v Definitions .................................................................................... vi Abbreviations ................................................................................ x Executive Summary ....................................................................... 1 1 Introduction .............................................................................. 5 1.1 Background ........................................................................ 5 1.2 Scope of Works ................................................................... 5 1.3 Assumptions and Limitations ................................................. 6 2 Assessment Methodology .......................................................... 8 2.1 Assessment Team ............................................................... 8 2.2 Project area ........................................................................ 8 2.3 Taxonomic Nomenclature ..................................................... 8 2.4 Determination of Significance Level for Fauna.......................... 9 2.5 Fauna Desktop Assessment .................................................. 9 2.6 Fauna Field Survey ............................................................. 10 2.6.1 Timing of Field Surveys ................................................. 10 2.6.2 Survey Site Locations ................................................... 13 2.6.3 Sampling Methodology .................................................. 21 2.7 Likelihood Assessment ........................................................ 27 3 Description of Environmental Values of Terrestrial Fauna ....... 29 3.1 Fauna Habitat Diversity ....................................................... 29 3.1.1 Woodland and open forest on alluvial soils/sand plains ...... 29 3.1.2 Woodland and open forest on non-alluvial soils ................. 30 3.1.3 Brigalow communities ................................................... 30 3.1.4 Rivers and creeks, (permanent or ephemeral) .................. 31 3.1.5 Grasslands .................................................................. 32 3.1.6 Estuarine Habitats ........................................................ 32 3.1.7 Acacia Woodlands on Rocky Substrates ........................... 32 3.2 Habitat Values by Regional Ecosystem ................................... 33 3.3 Fauna Habitat Condition ...................................................... 39 ii 3.4 Environmentally Sensitive Areas ........................................... 41 3.4.1 Essential Habitat ......................................................... 41 3.4.2 Protected Area Estates ................................................. 43 3.4.3 Vegetation Communities and Regional Ecosystems ............ 43 3.5 EVNT Fauna ....................................................................... 44 3.5.1 Results of previous studies ........................................... 44 3.5.2 Database Records ........................................................ 45 3.5.3 Field Survey Records .................................................... 47 3.5.4 Likelihood Assessment ................................................. 49 3.6 Migratory Fauna ................................................................. 54 3.7 Non-EVNT Fauna Species..................................................... 56 3.7.1 Database Searches ....................................................... 56 3.7.2 Field Survey Results ..................................................... 56 3.9 Corridor Values .................................................................. 68 3.9.1 Mapped Corridor Values ............................................... 68 3.9.2 Observed Corridor Values ............................................. 69 3.10 Critical Habitat ................................................................ 69 4 Potential Impacts ................................................................... 70 4.1 Key Fauna Issues and Constraints ........................................ 70 4.2 Potential Impacts on fauna habitat ........................................ 70 4.3 Impacts on Connectivity ...................................................... 74 4.4 Potential Impacts associated with Trenchfall ........................... 75 4.5 Potential Impacts on EVNT and Migratory Fauna Species .......... 76 3.6 Potential Impacts Associated with exotic fauna ....................... 80 5 Impact Mitigation Measures .................................................... 82 5.1 Vegetation Removal ............................................................ 82 5.2 Reduction of Fragmentation Impacts ..................................... 83 5.2 Riparian Crossings .............................................................. 83 5.3 Trenchfall .......................................................................... 88 5.4 Pest Management ............................................................... 88 5.5 Summary of Key Fauna Constraints and Mitigation .................. 88 5.6 Mitigation Measures for EVNT Fauna...................................... 90 5 Conclusion .............................................................................. 92 7 References .............................................................................. 94 iii LIST OF TABLES Table 1 - Meteorological Conditions at Moranbah during fauna surveys .. 11 Table 2 - Fauna Survey Assessment Sites, Winter 2011 ....................... 14 Table 3 - Fauna Survey Assessment Sites, Spring 2011 ....................... 18 Table 4 – Standard Survey Effort at Systematic Sites .......................... 23 Table 5: Criteria to assess potential for species to occur within the project site ........................................................................................ 28 Table 6: Fauna Habitat Values, listed by Regional Ecosystem ................ 34 Table 7 – Summary of condition assessment results ............................ 39 Table 8 - Protected Area Estate within the Pipeline Buffer..................... 43 Table 9: Threatened Species Recorded in Database Search Area ........... 46 Table 10 - Records of significant fauna species, Winter Survey ............. 47 Table 11 - Records of significant fauna species, Spring survey .............. 48 Table 12: Assessment of Likelihood of occurrence, EVNT Fauna species . 49 Table 13: Migratory Species Records - EPBC Act Protected Matters Search Tool ....................................................................................... 54 Table 14: Assessment of Likelihood of occurrence, Migratory Fauna Species ................................................................................... 55 Table 15 – Amphibians recorded during winter and spring surveys (17) . 57 Table 16 – Reptiles recorded during winter and spring surveys (31) ...... 57 Table 17 – Birds recorded during winter and spring surveys (144) ......... 59 Table 18 – Mammals recorded during winter survey (43) ..................... 65 Table 19: Introduced Fauna recorded from the project area ................. 67 Table 20: Impacts on Fauna Habitat ................................................. 71 Table 21: Potential Impact on EVNT fauna species .............................. 76 Table 22: Migratory fauna species potentially impacted by the proposed ABP ........................................................................................ 79 Table 23: Proposed Mitigation - major waterways impacted by the proposed ABP .......................................................................... 84 Table 24: Proposed Mitigation, Key Fauna Habitat Areas