Action item 8.1
Progress
Complete.
Approved by decision makers.
Recommendation implemented.
That:
- strategic regional terrestrial biodiversity assessments be conducted as part of a SREBA prior to the granting of any further production approvals;
- any onshore shale gas development be excluded from areas considered to be of high conservation value; and
- the results of the SREBA must inform any decision to release land for exploration permits as specified in Recommendation 14.2 and, upon completion, must be considered by the decision-maker in the granting of any future exploration approvals.
Completed
Action item update
Implementation
The Terrestrial Ecosystems baseline studies of the Beetaloo Strategic Regional Environmental and Baseline Assessment (SREBA) have been completed and are on the DEPWS website. Regional vegetation mapping and systematic flora and fauna surveys have greatly increased knowledge of the terrestrial ecosystems in the Beetaloo region.
Flora surveys contributed 15,419 new plant records for the study area. The number of plant taxa (described at least to species level) known from the study area is 1,818, with 1,093 plant taxa recorded in the Sub-basin.
Based on analysis of floristic data, plus interpretation by botanical experts, 51 vegetation communities have been described in the study region. These have been aggregated into 21 broad vegetation groups that have been mapped across the study area from remote imagery, other spatial data and data from nearly 13,000 on-ground sites.
Despite the size of the study area and the relatively high total richness of plant species occurring within it, no plants are endemic to the region, and only two threatened plant species were recorded in the study area. No geographic areas of high conservation value were identified in the region on the basis of plant biodiversity.
Five broad vegetation groups (comprising 25 vegetation communities) were identified as having high ecological value. Seven of the vegetation communities were identified as potential groundwater-dependent ecosystems, at varying levels of certainty.
A total of 354 vertebrate species were recorded from all surveys and incidental observations during the SREBA and Geological and Bioregional Assessment Program, including 14 amphibian species, 202 bird species, 39 mammal species and 99 reptile species. Including other sources, a total of 512 vertebrate species have been recorded in the study area. The ant fauna in the region is extraordinarily diverse, with 748 ant species recorded, a high proportion of which have not been previously collected.
At a regional scale, the study area has relatively high total vertebrate species richness. However, no terrestrial vertebrate species are endemic to the study area.
Riparian and swamp habitats have high value for bird diversity, facilitating the occurrence of more tropical bird assemblages into lower rainfall areas and the maintenance of bird diversity in the study area during dry periods. No other broad vegetation groups were identified has having notably high value for terrestrial faunal biodiversity.
Over 7,000 records of 81 waterbird species from the study area were collated, and a total of 55 wetland sites was surveyed for waterbirds. All large-scale waterbird breeding events recorded from the study area, and the largest congregation of waterbirds, were from Lake Woods and nearby waterholes on Newcastle Creek. This area also has the highest concentrations of records of migratory shorebirds. Smaller persistent wetlands in the Newcastle Creek drainage system and on the Sturt Plateau support small-scale waterbird breeding events and are likely to be refuges for waterbird persistence during dry periods.