MITIGATING KOALA THREATS FROM THE DESK · OEH. (2017). Saving Our Species Iconic Koala Project...
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MITIGATING KOALA THREATS FROM THE DESK: A QUANTITATIVE APPROACH TO IDENTIFYING AND MONITORING VEHICLE-STRIKE HOTSPOTS Kirsten Wallis, Amanda Lane, Stephen Phillips & Grant Brearley Photo: Harrison Warne
Transcript of MITIGATING KOALA THREATS FROM THE DESK · OEH. (2017). Saving Our Species Iconic Koala Project...
MITIGATING KOALA THREATS FROM THE DESK:
A QUANTITATIVE APPROACH TO IDENTIFYING AND MONITORING VEHICLE-STRIKE HOTSPOTS
Kirsten Wallis, Amanda Lane, Stephen Phillips & Grant Brearley
Photo: Harrison Warne
Vehicle-strike
• Known threat to koala populations (OEH, 2017 & 2018, DECC, 2008)
• Anthropogenic caused mortality of > 2% of koala populations will drive decline over time(Phillips et al., 2007)
- hubs
• Roads are a barrier to movement (NSW, 2006)
Photo: Paul O’Callaghan
Considerations
- Available data: carers and hospital records- Under-reporting (Biolink 2017 & 2018b)
- Direction provided to road authorities / councils / government
- clear, concise
- manageable
- within budget constraints
Photo: Paul O’Callaghan
Vehicle-strike / year – Ocean Drive
(DEE, 2012)
koalas/year
Ocean Road 10
Vehicle-strike / year – Port Stephens
(Biolink, 2018a)
Vehicle-strike / year
37(DEE, 2012)
koalas/year
Ocean Road 10
Port Stephens 27
(Biolink, 2018a)
Vehicle-strike / year
70(DEE, 2012)
koalas/year
Ocean Road 10
Port Stephens 27
Lismore 33
(Biolink, 2017)
Vehicle-strike / year
80(DEE, 2012)
koalas/year
Ocean Road 10
Port Stephens 27
Lismore 33
Gold Coast 10
(QLD Gov, 2017)
Vehicle-strike / year
184(DEE, 2012)
koalas/year
Ocean Road 10
Port Stephens 27
Lismore 33
Gold Coast 10
Redlands 94
(Biolink, 2018c)
Vehicle-strike / year
440(DEE, 2012)
koalas/year
Ocean Road 10
Port Stephens 27
Lismore 33
Gold Coast 10
Redlands 94
Gympie 22
South Burnett 17
Sunshine Coast 2
Moreton Bay 120
Brisbane City Council 42
Logan City Council 28
Ipswich City Council 14
Scenic Rim 5
Coffs Harbour 15
Clarence Valley 1
(Biolink 2018b, QLD Gov, 2018a)
koalas/year
Ocean Road 10
Port Stephens 27
Lismore 33
Gold Coast 10
Redlands 94
Gympie 22
South Burnett 17
Sunshine Coast 2
Moreton Bay 120
Brisbane 42
Logan 28
Ipswich 14
Scenic Rim 5
Coffs Harbour 15
Clarence Valley 1
Standardising the approach
• Euclidean-distance clustering
Standardising the approach
• Euclidean-distance clustering
• Distance of road segment: 1km
Standardising the approach
• Euclidean-distance clustering
• Distance of road segment: 1km
• Time frame: 1 generation (Phillips, 2000)
• Under-reporting
Metric
# koalas / km / generation
Case Study 1: Lismore
(Biolink, 2017)
Wyrallah Road
Case Study 1: Lismore
- 5 blackspots
- 50 km of road
- Worst segment = 12 koalas/km/generation
(Biolink, 2017)
Case Study 2: Clarence Valley
(Biolink, 2018b)
No
. of
veh
icle
str
ikes
Number of koalas reported to WIRES to due vehicle-strike
Case Study 2: Clarence Valley
(Biolink, 2018b)
Case Study 3: Redlands
(Biolink, 2018c)
Nu
mb
er
of
koal
asNumber of koalas in Redlands reported due
to vehicle strike
0
50
100
150
200
250
mortality sighting only survived unknown
Case Study 3: Redlands
• 1 generation (of 1,975 records)
• Major blackspot on Boundary Road & Taylor Road intersection
(Biolink, 2018c)
Case Study 3: Redlands• Vehicle-strike records over
time
• Baseline data
(Biolink, 2018c)
Buffering road ends
• Buffering mitigation solutions to avoid ‘end
of fence’ problems (Kassar, 2005)
(Biolink, 2017)
Management Options
(Photo: RMS, 2019)
Successful Vehicle-strike Mitigation: Skyline Road, Lismore
Site Koala radius (m) No. trees
A/Level (%) - Category
L02 50 26 57.69 - HUdL04 50 27 88.89 - HUdL05 30 30 28.57 – M(N)UL06 25 27 81.48 - HUdL07 50 26 50 - HUdL08 50 26 73.08 - HUdL12 50 14 100 - HUdL13 30 22 63.64 - HUdL14 30 26 65.38 - HUdL15 30 26 80.77 - HUdL16 30 26 48 - HUdL19 100 13 84.62 - HUdL29 65 22 63.64 - HUdL33 20 27 40.74 - HUdL34 20 30 10 - LUL36 30 30 33.33 - HUL38 40 27 74.07 - HUdL39 30 25 64 - HUdL42 50 27 62.96 - HUdL43 50 25 60 - HUdL44 30 25 80 - HUd
Baseline dataUnderpass usage
Spotlight monitoring data
(Biolink, 2010)
Biolink. (2010). Koala Monitoring Report No 6. Skyline Road Upgrade, Lismore NSW. Report prepared for Lismore City Council
Biolink. (2014). Ocean Drive Road Corridor Koala Management Framework. Report for Port Maquarie-Hastings council
Biolink. (2017). Koala Habitat & Population Assessment: Lismore Local Government Area. Final Report to Lismore Council
Biolink. (2018a). Managing koala populations for the future: consistent populations of the Central ARKS Port Stephens sub-area. Final Report to Port Stephens council
Biolink. (2018b) The Southern Clarence ARKS: aspects of distribution and abundance of koalas 1952-2017. Final report to Clarence Valley Council
DECC. (2008). Recovery plan for the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus)
Biolink.(2018c). Redlands Coast Koala Population and Habitat Assessment. Final Report to Redlands council
DEE. (2012). Koala Distribution Map (http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/species/pubs/phascolarctos-cinereus-distribution-map.pdf)
Environment and Science, Queensland Government (2017), Koala Hospital Data, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0sourced on 03 July 2019
KASSAR, C.A., (2005). Wildlife vehicle collisions in Utah: An analysis of wildlife road mortality hotspots, economic impacts, and implications for mitigation and management, Utah State University
NSW (2006) Koala population of Tweed and Brunswick Rivers Endangered Population Listing ( https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/animals-and-plants/threatened-species/nsw-threatened-species-scientific-committee/determinations/final-determinations/2016/koala-phascolarctos-cinereus-population-tweed-brunswick-rivers-endangered-population-listing)
OEH. (2017). Saving Our Species Iconic Koala Project 2017–21
OEH, (2018), NSW Koala Strategy 2016 Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) population between the Tweed and Brunswick Rivers east of the Pacific Highway - endangered population listing
Phillips, S. (2000). Population trends and the koala conservation debate. Conservation Biology 14: 650-659.
Phillips S, Hopkins M, Callaghan J (2007) Conserving koalas in the Coomera-Pimpama Koala Habitat Area – a view to the future. Report to Gold Coast City Council. Biolink Ecological Consultants, Uki.
QLD Gov, 2017.Koala hospital data. https://data.qld.gov.au/dataset/koala-hospital-data
RMS, 2019, https://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/projects/northern-nsw/koala-grids/index.html
References
Pat Edwards
Acknowlegements
