Fauna Survey Methods
This proposal is for a comprehensive single-season terrestrial and avian fauna survey (Excluding Short Range Endemics and Subterranean fauna but including crabs).
Fauna surveys will be consistent with standard protocols and relevant Federal and EPA Guidance Statements. These surveys will delineate and characterise fauna species and fauna assemblages present in the project area and identify any potential impacts from the proposal. The method technique/s employed during field surveys will constitute best practice for relevant fauna species or faunal groups and will be consistent with published technical survey guidelines.
Flora surveys will be required to map vegetation types, assess vegetation condition and do adequate searching for threatened flora where these species could be found. Flora surveys will be consistent with standard protocols and relevant Federal and EPA Guidance Statements.
Scope of Works
The general scope of work is to conduct “level 2” fauna and flora assessments within mining lease 70/10, portions of land adjoining 70/1a and nominated sections of VCL during 2016 in accordance with best practice. More specifically the assessment will include:
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Desktop assessment
A desktop assessment will be conducted for the study area. This will involve a review of all available related information relevant to the study area. The databases and literature reviewed will provide information relating to fauna and flora species, including those of conservation significance. A review of previous surveys carried out in the vicinity of the survey area will also be conducted.
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Level 2 Fauna Survey
Field fauna survey conducted as a Level 2 fauna survey in accordance with the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) Guidance Statement 56 relating to terrestrial vertebrate fauna surveys, EPA/DEC Technical Guide Terrestrial Vertebrate Fauna Surveys for Environmental Impact Assessment (EPA and DEC 2010) and EPA Position Statement 3 relating to biological surveys; and with reference to Federal Government Guidelines for Survey of Australia’s Threatened Birds, Reptiles and Mammals (EPBC Act).
Field Survey Methodology
A desktop assessment will be conducted for the study area. This will involve a review of all available related information relevant to the study area including Australian Government Department of Environment databases, including the protected matters search tool and species profiles and threats (SPRAT) database.
The databases and literature reviewed will provide information relating to fauna species, including those of conservation significance. A review of previous surveys carried out in the vicinity of the survey area will also be conducted.
The Level 2 fauna component of the survey will be undertaken by establishing trapping and search sites and by traversing the survey area on foot. Survey sites will be selected to be representative of the main habitat types present within each area of proposed activity with the number of sites to be appropriate to the spatial area being surveyed.
An investigation of vegetation mapping and site location has indicated that, as a minimum, eleven trapping sites should be established within 70/10 and areas adjoining 70/1a. With the more numerous and larger areas of proposed mining lease within the current VCL tenure it is proposed that 31 such sites should be established based on the above criteria.
A review of the known fauna present on Christmas Island suggest that a comprehensive range of detection techniques should be concurrently utilised to increase the chance of encountering all species.
This proposed Level 2 survey consists of:
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Systematic trapping for ground-dwelling mammals and reptiles at all sites over 7 consecutive days/nights,
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Opportunisitic survey of all major fauna habitats found throughout the study area.
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Avifauna surveys at systematic and opportunistic sites
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Recording of bat echolocation calls using Song Meter devices at systematic trapping sites
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Spotlighting for nocturnal species at systematic trapping and opportunistic sites
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Infrared motion camera trapping at selected sites in areas that may provide potential habitat for conservation significant species
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Targeted searching for species of conservation significance
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Survey for all fauna including conservation significant species identified in previous reports and in the desktop assessment that may inhabit the study area
Specifically each systematic trapping site will consist of:
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Two sets of pit traps each consisting of three PVC pipes (15 cm diameter x 40cm depth) spaced at approximately 8 m intervals along a 30cm high x 30 m long aluminium flyscreen fence bisecting each pit and installed flush with the substrate. One drift fence with associated traps is referred to as a ‘trapline’. These pits are left open overnight (7 nights) and checked within three hours of sunrise and again each afternoon. Wire crab “excluders” and ant deterrents will be utilised to limit interference.
Target groups: Skink and gecko species, small mammals.
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Ten aluminium box traps (Elliotts) spaced at 20 metre intervals in a grid adjacent to, or overlying, the traplines. Wire cage traps will also be positioned to capture robber crabs that may otherwise interfere with these traps.
Target groups: Small mammals including introduced rodents
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Remote cameras will also be deployed within each site to increase the chance of collecting evidence of animals that are not likely to be captured or sighted using the regular surveying techniques. They are particularly useful for detecting species that are difficult to trap or detect due to their shy or cryptic nature. The cameras contain no-glow infrared sensors and flash units to minimise disturbance to nocturnal species.
Target groups: All fauna
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Bat echolocation call recordings will be collected by Song Meter recording devices at each trapping site. Detectors will be aimed at a 45° angle to the ground and set to record overnight. Recordings will be analysed by a bat specialist familiar with local species.
Target groups: Pipistrelle bat
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Spotlighting will be undertaken at all systematic trapping sites and additional opportunistic sites to detect the presence of any nocturnal vertebrate species. Nocturnal searches are undertaken between sunset and 2200 hours when activity levels are generally at the highest for most nocturnal species. Each nocturnal survey consisted of searches using head torches to detect animal movement, eye shine, or other evidence of species presence. These searches particularly targeted reptiles such as geckos, but also nocturnal birds. In addition playback calls to record the presence of nocturnal birds such as Christmas Island Hawk-Owls will also be undertaken at each site.
Target groups: Geckos, flying foxes, Hawk-owl, mammals
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Active searching surveys primarily targeted diurnal herpetofauna and mammals from direct sightings and secondary evidence of species occurrence. Active searching will be undertaken at all systematic trapping and opportunistic sites. This comprised searches of any observable microhabitats likely to support fauna. Techniques included: raking leaf and bark litter, overturning logs and rocks, searching beneath the bark of trees, investigating dead trees and logs, investigating overhangs and crevices, investigating burrows, and recording tracks, diggings, scats and other secondary evidence.
Target groups: All reptiles, mammals
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Avifauna surveys will be undertaken within all sites and surrounding areas. These surveys are conducted in set time blocks to obtain sufficient records as some species’ return to a site is often delayed after initial disturbance. Surveys were confined to the habitat type represented by each trapping site in order to collect assemblage data for each habitat type. The surveys will be conducted from sunrise to 11 am and again late in the day, which are generally periods of high activity for birds. Surveys consisted of bird recordings from either visual sightings or call recognition. Additional opportunistic observations will also be recorded while other field work is being completed, including observations made during spotlighting, active searches and images captured by camera trapping.
Target groups: All birds including Abbotts Booby
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Crab observations and burrow counts will be undertaken as per Island Wide Survey methods.
Target groups: Crabs
Flora Surveys Methods
Available literature with relevance to the vegetation and flora values of the project area will be accessed and reviewed as an initial phase of study. The objective of this phase is to identify mapping and floristic datasets produced over the project area, and to assess the capacity of each to contribute to the compilation of a vegetation map. It further seeks to identify known locations of existing field survey sites and threatened flora species. The review will include all available mapping, terrestrial flora survey reports, flora data sets, and any previous impact assessment, research and land management reports.
Whilst all spatial products useful to vegetation mapping will be sourced and their usefulness and relevance to the study area assessed, it is envisaged that the mapping of Geoscience Australia (2014) will form the baseline resource for mapping purposes. Review of any historical aerial photography held in state and commonwealth photographic libraries, as well as any additional privately sourced aerial photography held by CIP will also be useful if available, together with disturbance patterns based on mine history.
Imagery Analysis & Mapping Approach
A fundamental task of the project will be to identify unique and consistent structural and floristic units (polygons) and recognise repetition of these units across the project area through similarity of imagery signature. As a foundation to this process will be the use of the Geoscience Australia vegetation and clearing map developed through a collaborative project by Geoscience Australia, Christmas Island Phosphates, and Christmas Island National Park during the 2013/2014 (Geoscience Australia (2014).
The project aimed to create an improved vegetation map for Christmas Island. The resultant vegetation mapping classification derived eight Level 1 Vegetation Classes and 13 Level 2 classes with indicator species. The Level 1 classes are essentially Broad Vegetation Groups based on vegetation structure and landscape position. Level 2 classifications incorporate some degree of floristic influence through recognition of dominant species assemblages in Perennial Wetland Forest (i.e. Inocarpus, Hibiscus and Bruguiera); separation of coastal herbland and shrubland within coastal fringe vegetation; and separation of Leucaena, fern field and mixed pioneer regrowth within Weed Dominated vegetation and Pioneer Regrowth.
The Geoscience process used a Trimble eCognition segmentation and classification workflow classification supported by ESRI ArcMap. The input layers included 2011 canopy height model (2m cell size), 2011 foliage cover model (2m cell size), 2011 digital elevation model (1m cell size) and 2011 orthophotography (15cm cell size). Following the application of a rule set the resulting segmentation tiles were merged into ArcMap. Each of the segments contained a variety of attributes such as mean canopy height, which formed part of the basis for the resultant classification. Attributes from additional data layers were attached to segments and spatially joined. Segments were then assigned to a series of classes using rules which included clearing history, rehabilitation history, bare ground class attributes (e.g. roads, airport, infrastructure) previous classification on a vegetation classes (e.g. Coastal vegetation class, semi deciduous area etc.). Following segment classification which applied the 19 class rules, each segment was then assigned a mean tree height class based upon 5-meter height increments. Polygons with an area of less than 50 square metres were merged into the neighbouring polygon with which they shared the longest boundary. Given a minimum polygon size of 0.025 ha the mapping product is consistent to an approximate mapping scale of 1:5,000 and considered as high intensity mapping scale (Neldner et al. 2105)
Previous field work by Range to Reef Environmental between 2013-2015 assessing vegetation, flora and fauna in part of the project area, tested the mapping product by ground truthing using a site and transect based data collection method where structural and floristics were recorded. Minor discrepancies were encountered. These included some areas of lower stature primary forest mapped out as regrowth and minor differences in canopy height. The majority of the mapping was however found to be consistent with field survey data. The Level 1 and Level 2 Class descriptions are likewise considered applicable for Impact Assessment purposes.
The addition of a ‘Level 3’ floristic classification is however proposed to recognise for variations in canopy floristics. An example of the classification is provided below:
Level 1 – Structure (e.g. Closed canopy evergreen forest)
Level 2- Structure with height - Closed canopy evergreen forest (tall or moderate).
Level 3 – Floristic association based on dominance (e.g. Syzigium nervosum, Hernandia ovigera, Planchonella nitida, Barringtonia racemosa)
The imagery analysis phase will review the Geoscience mapping and analyze site based field data from previous surveys. Locations for field survey sites and threatened species transects will be positioned within polygons. A preliminary estimation of survey sites within each of the Mining Blocks is provided in Appendix A. Each polygon will be attributed with a descriptor of geology/landform, vegetation structure and floristic composition.
Vegetation and Terrestrial Flora Survey Technique
The aim of the field survey will be to collect data in a systematic manner to explain and characterize all patterns in vegetation within the project areas. The intensity and duration of the field survey will be determined by the desktop study and the imagery review. Representative sites will be selected during the initial analysis of imagery and Geoscience mapping within each of the survey blocks to sample vegetation communities. The desired outcomes are:
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To describe landform and geological characteristics;
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To describe vegetation structure;
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To describe the floristic composition of vegetation communities;
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To identify the spatial extent and populations of any threatened flora species and regionally and locally significant species;
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To identify threatening processes particularly weeds and other land management issues;
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To establish sufficient site data to satisfy any future EIS requirements and to fulfill the desired mapping scale;
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To establish sufficient reference site data fully describe variations to vegetation types and the condition of vegetation.
The flora assessment methods will be compatible with those defined by the Environmental Protection Authority and Department of Parks and Wildlife (2015) and will adopt some aspects of Neldner et al. (2015) as applicable to tropical ecosystems in Queensland. For vegetation mapping and condition assessment purposes, sites will be plot based. The intensity of survey at each site will be at two levels.
Secondary (detailed) sites
These will utilize a standard 50x10m plot area (500m2 plot area) and be used for classification and deriving detailed technical descriptions of vegetation communities. The data collected will include all location, environmental and structural and floristic information (refer Appendix B). Structural information will consists of the following:
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Height measurements of various layers
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Basal area of woody stems (using the Bitterlich stick method)
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Percentage cover (using handheld densitometer)
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Stem density measures of abundance
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Groundcover and seedling density using 5 x 1m subplots
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A list of all species present within the plot area including threatened and significant flora and weeds.
Given the density of some regrowth and primary vegetation on the island, secondary sites will generally take between 60 minutes and 90 minutes per site. A minimum of one secondary site will be collected for each structural vegetation type in a project area. Additional secondary sites will established opportunistically throughout the survey in representative locations.
Quaternary sites
Quaternary level sites will used as the primary method and to verify vegetation mapping patterns on field traverses. These sites will be collected throughout the field survey at regular intervals along a traverse, and/or made where vegetation communities change. Data on vegetation structure, canopy height, dominant floristics and condition and presence of threatened or significant species will be recorded on a proforma, or in field notebooks and/or tape recorder dependant on weather conditions. A minimum of two quaternary sites will be collected for each vegetation structural type in a project area. Additional sites may be established opportunistically throughout the survey in representative locations.
Data will be collected on standard proformas (Appendix B) suitable to be transferred to an integrated dataset of site information which will also be incorporated into the projects GIS data base. A digital photographic still and video record of each vegetation community surveyed on the ground will be gathered together with photographs of threatened and significant flora species, weeds, land management issues and significant habitats. Floristic information on phenology, fruit and flower type, dispersal and pollination and conservation status will also be collated within the flora dataset.
Threatened and Significant Species Flora Surveys
Targeted surveys will enable compilation of additional data on the occurrence and distribution of significant flora species. These data will complement the survey effort of the plot-based sites and will utilize the results of previous field surveys carried out by Range to Reef Environmental during November 2015.
The highest priority will be the detection of the EPBC listed species in Table 2 below. An understanding of potential habitat and environmental requirements of these species will be gained from analysis of known populations based on existing literature data. Habitats where populations are known to occur will be subject to detailed searches utilizing walking traverses by two field botanists. Habitats deemed as potential habitat will be identified and searches focused as required. Search effort will be quantified based upon the search effort (time and area) within each mine area.
The assessment of significance of other flora species will recognise endemic and locally rarity with reference to previous reporting (Du Poy 1993, Holmes & Homes 2012; EWS 2003, Expert Working Group 2009) and any available recovery plans (Butz 2015). Records of these flora will be captured during plot based sites and traverses to contribute to an understanding of occurrence and abundance within the project area.
Table 2. Priority Flora Species
Priority EPBC listed Flora
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Potential habitat
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Asplenium listeri
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Terrace primary and semi deciduous forests with limestone rock outcrops including cliffs;
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Tectaria devexa var. minor
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Primary evergreen forest
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Pneumatopteris truncata
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Unlikely to be within the project area given specialized habitat on lower terraces with groundwater seepage (Du Poy 1993, EWS 2003)
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Botanical Collection
There will be a requirement to collect botanical specimens in order to correctly identify the characteristic species of vegetation types (in particular for the lesser known herbs, orchids and ferns). Specimens unable to be accurately identified in the field will be collected and cross-referenced to site collection numbers for identification in the lab. An DAFF permit will be acquired to allow plant specimens to be transported back to the mainland and specimens will be pressed and preserved in ethanol before being sealed in bags prior to transportation. Identifications will be carried out by non-government botanical experts and specialists from State Herbarium (costs identified in budget). Triplicate vouchers of all specimens including known rare and or threatened flora and distribution extension records will be lodged with the State Herbarium with duplicates identified for the Australian Botanical Gardens Herbarium in Canberra. The existing CIP field reference collection will be used to assist identification and added to where gaps are identified. Additionally a photographic library of plants will be collated.
Timing and Resources
Fauna
A team of two highly experienced zoologists (including a specialist ornithologist) will undertake the initial site selection and part survey of ML 70/10 and 70/1a over a 12 days sampling session (including mobilization/demobilization) in February 2016. Selection of systematic trapping sites for these areas and those proposed in the larger VCL areas will also be undertaken at this time. Logistical and ethical considerations dictate an additional two fauna specialists will be required to complete the final survey components of 70/10 and 70/1a in March 2016. The establishment of a further 31 trapping sites within VCL will commence during this field session.
A full team complement of 5 personnel will be required to undertake the complete and comprehensive sampling of the 31 VCL sites in June. It is anticipated that this will required 21 days to complete (note: 12 hour days due to night work)
Flora
A team of two (Dave Fell plus one) will undertake flora surveys consisting of an adequate number of sample sites in representative vegetation types. The surveys will aim to verify the current vegetation mapping (by Geoscience Australia) and build more detailed florisitic types. The surveys will assess vegetation condition which is a requirement of clearing permit applications. There will also be searches for threatened flora in habitats where these species may be expected. It is anticipated that the surveys of MCI 70/10 and the areas adjoining MCI 70/1a will take 10 days. The surveys for the VCL areas in June is expected to take 21 days.
References
EPA, 2002, EPA Position Statement No. 3 Terrestrial Biological Surveys as an Element of Biodiversity Protection, EPA, Perth.
EPA, 2004, EPA Guidance Statement No. 56 Terrestrial Fauna Surveys for Environmental Impact Assessment in Western Australia, EPA, Perth.
EPA and DEC, 2010, Technical Guide Terrestrial Vertebrate Fauna Surveys for Environmental Impact Assessment, EPA and DEC, Perth.
Survey guidelines for Australia’s threatened reptiles, Guidelines for detecting reptiles listed as threatened under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
Survey guidelines for Australia’s threatened birds, Guidelines for detecting birds listed as threatened under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
Survey guidelines for Australia’s threatened mammals, Guidelines for detecting mammals listed as threatened under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
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