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