Fauna Spotters logo

Beech Skink (Harrisoniascincus zia)

The Beech Skink is a small, secretive skink restricted to cool, damp, high elevation rainforest in south-east Queensland and north-east New South Wales. It shelters in deep leaf litter under rocks and logs, so clearing, track works, fire and loss of continuous rainforest cover can affect individuals and prevent recolonisation of isolated habitat patches.

Conservation status

Commonwealth, EPBC Act 1999: Vulnerable.

Queensland, Nature Conservation Act 1992: Vulnerable.

New South Wales, Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016: Vulnerable.

Breeding season

Beech Skinks lay eggs in shallow depressions beneath moss or bark. Male reproductive condition is strongest in late spring and early summer, and eggs are deposited by early January. Plan for increased risk from late spring through summer, while checking shelters year round because cool animals may remain under cover.

Reproductive mode: Egg laying.

Clutch size: 3 to 6 eggs.

Incubation: Not recorded.

Size at hatching: Not recorded.

Age at maturity: Not recorded.

Nest or egg sites: Shallow depressions beneath a surface structure of moss or bark. Three captive females used these sites.

Breeding frequency: Not recorded.

Confirm timing locally before works, especially across elevation and after changes in rainfall or temperature, because these conditions may alter activity and breeding timing.

  • Mating: No mating dates are recorded. For planning, use the late spring and early summer reproductive window, with mating most likely before eggs are deposited by early January.
  • Gravid females: Gravid females are not specifically documented. Females may carry eggs during the period leading to deposition by early January, particularly November and December, with January retained as a possible laying month.
  • Egg laying: Eggs are deposited by early January. Male testes are well-developed in late spring and early summer, supporting a breeding window from November to January, with January the clearest documented deposition month.
  • Incubation: Incubation length and hatching dates are not recorded. Treat eggs deposited by early January as potentially present beneath moss, bark or other surface cover until the nest is checked and cleared under an approved procedure.
  • Hatchlings: Hatchling emergence is not recorded. As general planning guidance for an egg-laying skink in a subtropical rainforest, check for young after the summer laying period, particularly from January to March, but do not treat these months as confirmed for this species.
  • Active period: The species is not active during cool conditions, and summer is identified as the breeding or young-rearing period. Surface activity is therefore most likely in the warmer months, approximately September to April, although exact temperature thresholds are not recorded.
  • Winter inactivity: Cool conditions reduce activity. From May to August, assume animals may remain beneath flat rocks, logs or deep leaf litter and may not escape machinery, especially during cool weather.
  • Highest clearing risk: Risk is highest from November to January because males are reproductively active and eggs are deposited by early January. Clearing during cooler months can also harm inactive animals sheltering beneath rocks, logs and deep leaf litter.

Identification

The Beech Skink is a small, long-tailed skink with well-developed limbs and five toes on each foot. It is most likely to be encountered basking on leaf litter or along the edge of a cleared track in cool rainforest.

Adults grow to 55 mm snout to vent length and have a long tail. The body is light to dark brown, becoming more copper coloured towards the snout, with scattered dark and pale specks on the back.

A dark line starts at the snout and breaks up after the back leg. The chin, throat and neck are black-speckled, the belly is bright yellow, and the end of the tail is red-brown, becoming brighter towards the tip.

Limbs: Five toes on each limb.

Snout to vent length: Up to 55 mm.

Identification: Distinguishing features

The species is the sole member of its genus and is a small basking skink of montane rainforest. Identification should rely on the combination of small size, brown to copper colouration, yellow belly, broken dark lateral line, speckled throat and red-brown tail tip.

The supplied sources do not provide a formal comparison key with all other rainforest skinks. Record clear photographs of the dorsal, lateral and ventral surfaces, together with elevation, vegetation type and substrate, when identification is uncertain.

Identification: Field signs and handling

No species-specific tracks, scats, calls, sloughs or eyeshine are described in the supplied sources. The most useful field indication is a live skink moving or basking among deep leaf litter, under or beside flat rocks and logs, or at the edge of a cleared track.

The species is secretive and may be missed during searches. Avoid unnecessary disturbance of leaf litter, rocks, logs and moss or bark cover, and use photographs and precise location data for verification.

Distribution: National range

The Beech Skink has a restricted, discontinuous range in montane rainforest along the Great Dividing Range. Its recorded distribution is entirely within the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area.

In Queensland, the northern region extends from Main Range and Yabbra National Parks in the west to Springbrook and Nightcap National Parks in the east.

In New South Wales, the recorded range includes north-east NSW from Guy Fawkes River and Cunnawarra National Parks in the west to Dorrigo National Park in the east.

States: Queensland and New South Wales.

Elevation records: All records are above 500 m; most are above 700 m.

  • Queensland: south-east Queensland, including the Main Range, Lamington Plateau, Springbrook and Nightcap areas.
  • New South Wales: north-east NSW, including the Yabbra, Guy Fawkes River, Cunnawarra, Dorrigo Plateau and New England areas.

Distribution: Strongholds and subpopulations

At least five discrete subpopulations are considered likely: the Lamington Plateau, Springbrook and Main Range in the northern region, and Guy Fawkes River National Park and the Dorrigo Plateau to New England National Park area in the southern region.

Modelling indicates that suitable areas may occur between the northern and southern regions around Washpool, Gibraltar Range and Nymboida National Parks, but these areas require confirmation by survey.

Distribution: Population status

A total population estimate is not available in the supplied sources. The species is inferred to be declining in area of occupancy, habitat area and quality, and number of mature individuals because of fire and climate change.

The species has a highly restricted distribution. Reported area of occupancy estimates range from 44 to 2,272 square kilometres, with the most plausible values given as 250 to 2,000 square kilometres. Extent of occurrence estimates range from 1,121 to 19,499 square kilometres.

Threat-defined locations: Most likely 5 to 10.

Area of occupancy: 44 to 2,272 km²; most plausible estimates are 250 to 2,000 km².

Extent of occurrence: 1,121 to 19,499 km².

Projected climatic niche loss: 99 to 100 percent from 2020 to 2050 under conservative climate change estimates; an earlier study projected 79 percent loss.

Habitat: Rainforest habitat

The Beech Skink occupies cool, damp, high elevation rainforest with extensive canopy cover and deep leaf litter. It occurs in both undisturbed closed-canopy forest and small clearings within rainforest.

Habitat includes cool high elevation rainforest, including rainforest with Antarctic beech, Lothozonia moorei, formerly Nothofagus moorei. In Lamington National Park, the species has been associated with complex notophyll vine forest and simple microphyll fern forest dominated by Antarctic beech.

The species depends on moist conditions produced by continuous rainforest canopy and deep leaf litter. It may bask among leaf litter and at the edges of cleared tracks, but these open areas do not replace the surrounding rainforest habitat.

Key vegetation: Cool high elevation rainforest, including Antarctic beech forest, complex notophyll vine forest and simple microphyll fern forest.

Elevation: All known records are above 500 m, with most above 700 m.

Habitat: Habitat structure

Retain continuous damp rainforest cover, deep leaf litter, flat rocks, logs and other surface structures. Small clearings may be used for basking, but the species requires connected rainforest to disperse.

The species is unable to recolonise disturbed areas that are separated from occupied rainforest by non-rainforest habitat. During project planning, assess the continuity of rainforest cover beyond the immediate disturbance footprint.

  • Map all cool, damp rainforest above 500 m within and beside the work area.
  • Mark deep leaf-litter areas, flat rocks, logs, moss and bark cover as habitat features.
  • Maintain connected rainforest cover between occupied or potentially suitable patches.
  • Avoid treating a small trackside clearing as isolated habitat without checking the surrounding rainforest.

Foraging habitat: Diet

The Beech Skink feeds on small animals in leaf litter and soil. It is closely associated with damp litter rather than open ground.

Recorded prey includes small litter and soil invertebrates, insects, oligochaete earthworms and smooth-skin caterpillars. No particular food plant is identified in the supplied sources.

The species is a basking skink and was overwhelmingly associated with leaf litter in surveys, with 107 observations on leaf litter compared with 7 on open ground and 5 on rocks.

Recorded prey: Insects, earthworms, other small litter and soil invertebrates, and smooth-skin caterpillars.

Observed substrates in one survey: Leaf litter, 107 observations; open ground, 7; rocks, 5.

Foraging habitat: Foraging conditions

Foraging habitat is likely to be concentrated in moist, deep leaf litter under closed rainforest canopy and around logs and flat rocks. The species may move to track edges or small clearings to bask before returning to cover.

The supplied sources do not provide a measured foraging range or home range. Do not use the visible basking point alone to define the habitat area.

  • Retain deep, damp leaf litter and woody ground cover around any observation.
  • Keep exposed soil, machinery movement and removal of logs or rocks out of retained litter habitat where practicable.
  • Inspect leaf-litter habitat before clearing, including beside tracks, drainage lines and small rainforest clearings.

Breeding habitat: Breeding biology

Breeding occurs in the same cool, damp rainforest floor habitat used for shelter and foraging. Available information indicates egg laying in shallow depressions beneath surface cover.

Breeding period: Male testes are well-developed in late spring and early summer. Eggs are deposited by early January.

Clutch size: Three to six eggs.

Egg size: Approximately 10 by 8.5 mm.

Egg placement: Shallow depressions under a surface structure of moss or bark were used by three captive females.

Incubation: Not provided in the supplied sources.

Age at maturity: Not provided in the supplied sources.

Lifespan: Not provided in the supplied sources.

Breeding habitat: Breeding habitat features

Potential egg-laying sites include shallow depressions beneath moss, bark or other surface cover within moist rainforest floor habitat. Retain undisturbed leaf litter, moss, bark, rocks and logs during the late spring and early summer breeding period.

The sources do not establish whether females guard eggs or whether communal egg-laying occurs. Do not disturb suspected cover objects unless required by an approved fauna management procedure.

  • Search and inspect potential breeding cover before clearing in late spring and early summer.
  • Retain damp surface cover and avoid exposing the forest floor to drying, direct sun and repeated vehicle traffic.
  • Have a fauna spotter catcher inspect displaced rocks, logs, bark and moss for eggs or skinks before relocation or removal.

Sheltering habitat: Known refuges

The Beech Skink shelters in moist ground cover on the rainforest floor. Its known refuges are shallow and exposed to disturbance from clearing, fire and machinery.

The species shelters under flat rocks and logs in deep, moist leaf litter. Captive females deposited eggs beneath moss or bark on the surface.

The supplied sources do not give refuge dimensions, burrow depths, hollow use or den sizes. It should not be assumed to use tree hollows or deep burrows.

  • Check beneath flat rocks and logs before moving them.
  • Check moss, bark and deep leaf litter in damp rainforest before ground disturbance.
  • Keep displaced cover objects available for immediate replacement where safe and authorised.

Sheltering habitat: Project handling

The species is secretive and is most likely to be detected when basking among leaf litter or beside a track. Cool conditions reduce activity, so lack of sightings during a cold inspection does not demonstrate absence.

If a skink is captured during clearing, retain it in a suitable secure container and follow the project fauna handling and release procedure. Release should be into connected, damp rainforest habitat close to the capture location unless the approved management plan specifies otherwise.

Threats: Clearing and fragmentation

The main risks to the Beech Skink are loss of cool, damp climatic conditions, severe or frequent fire, rainforest clearing and fragmentation. Its limited ability to cross non-rainforest habitat increases the effect of local disturbance.

Removing rainforest canopy, deep leaf litter, logs, rocks or other ground cover can directly remove shelter, breeding sites and foraging habitat. Disturbed patches separated from occupied rainforest may not be recolonised.

Roads, access tracks, utility corridors and construction compounds can create breaks in rainforest cover. Keep disturbance footprints narrow and retain continuous damp rainforest links wherever practicable.

  • Avoid clearing cool, high elevation rainforest and associated deep leaf litter, especially above 500 m.
  • Locate laydown areas, access routes and spoil outside retained rainforest and away from damp litter habitat.
  • Do not use a cleared track edge as a substitute for connected rainforest habitat.

Threats: Fire

The species is strongly associated with cool, damp conditions created by extensive rainforest canopy and deep leaf litter. Severe fire can remove both features and permanently degrade highland rainforest.

Expert elicitation estimated more than 60 percent mortality after severe fire and approximately 20 percent mortality after mild fire. Recolonisation after local extinction depends on a source population in adjacent unburnt rainforest.

Estimated mortality after severe fire: More than 60 percent.

Estimated mortality after mild fire: Approximately 20 percent.

  • Prevent construction activities from introducing ignition sources into or beside high elevation rainforest.
  • Maintain unburnt rainforest refuges and avoid unnecessary removal of canopy and litter that increase drying and fire penetration.
  • After fire, inspect unburnt edges and retained damp rainforest before commencing salvage or clearing.

Threats: Climate, hydrology and other pressures

Projected warmer and drier conditions, reduced moisture availability, rising cloud bases and more frequent, severe and extensive fire are expected to reduce suitable climatic conditions. Severe drought and higher temperatures may increase drying of rainforest habitat.

The supplied sources do not identify a species-specific disease, predator or road mortality rate. Hydrology change is relevant where it dries damp rainforest floor habitat, alters creekline moisture or increases erosion and sediment movement.

  • Protect damp rainforest microclimates by retaining canopy, litter and connected forest cover.
  • Avoid diverting runoff, draining wet ground or concentrating flows through retained rainforest.
  • Treat roads and construction corridors as potential fragmentation features even where direct mortality has not been measured.

Survey methodology: 1. Visual searches

Survey this species in cool, high elevation rainforest where it can shelter in damp leaf litter beneath logs and flat rocks. Use searches that target basking skinks and record the habitat and weather conditions that affect detection.

Conduct daytime searches when conditions allow the skink to be active and bask, because the species is not active during cool conditions.

Search damp, deep leaf litter, the edges of tracks and small rainforest clearings, and beneath or beside flat rocks and logs.

Inspect leaf litter carefully and replace rocks, logs and other cover immediately after searching to retain shelter conditions.

Record the start and finish time, weather, air temperature, rainfall, cloud cover, searchers, search area and all survey effort.

Adult size: Up to 55 mm snout to vent length

Recorded elevation: All records are above 500 m, with most above 700 m

Key detection substrates: Leaf litter, logs and rocks

Survey methodology: 2. Transect searches

For larger sites, establish repeatable walking routes and 200 m transects across the proposed disturbance area and adjacent retained rainforest.

Use the route design to cover the full elevational range and include both ridges and gullies where they occur, because local topography can affect the lower elevation distribution of montane lizards.

Repeat transects under comparable conditions where monitoring or a detection estimate is required, and map every observation with the transect, distance, elevation, substrate and behaviour.

Published route examples: Approximately 4 km along a ridge and 8 km along a creekline in Lamington National Park

Published transect length: 200 m

Published elevation coverage: 935 to 1170 m on the ridge route and 785 to 1155 m on the creekline transects

  • Use a full-site walking route to identify the contemporary distribution of the species, then use 200 m transects as repeatable sampling units where occupancy or count comparisons are required.
  • Do not treat a failure to detect the species as evidence of absence when survey effort is limited or conditions are cool, dry or otherwise unsuitable.

Survey methodology: 3. Habitat-led searches and records

Give priority to continuous damp rainforest with closed canopy, deep leaf litter and abundant logs or flat rocks, including rainforest with Antarctic beech where present.

Search both undisturbed closed-canopy areas and small clearings, including track edges, because both are recorded habitat types.

Treat gullies and creeklines as high-priority search areas because the published study found that montane specialists can occur at lower elevations in these cooler, sheltered settings.

Photograph the animal and its microhabitat where this can be done without handling it, and submit a verified record with coordinates, date, elevation, habitat, effort and observer details.

Survey methodology: Minimum effort and reporting

  • Prepare a site-specific survey design that covers all mapped high elevation rainforest within and beside the disturbance footprint, rather than relying on a single incidental search.
  • State the number and length of routes and transects, the area searched, search time, weather, temperature, rainfall and the number of observers.
  • Use a suitably experienced reptile ecologist for identification and interpretation of non-detection results.
  • Record all individuals, including animals found during pre-clearance, clearing supervision, habitat handling and rehabilitation works.
  • Submit confirmed records to the relevant state wildlife database and provide records and survey limitations to the project environmental officer and approval authority.
  • Check the current state survey and threatened species requirements before fieldwork, because the documents supplied do not provide a national survey guideline or a prescribed trap, spotlighting or night-search effort.

Before habitat disturbance: Avoid and minimise

Avoid clearing this species' habitat wherever practicable. The species has a restricted, disjunct distribution and depends on damp rainforest cover that it cannot readily recolonise when separated from occupied rainforest.

Retain continuous areas of cool, damp, high elevation rainforest, including closed canopy, deep leaf litter, logs and flat rocks.

Avoid breaking the connection between occupied or potentially occupied rainforest patches, because the species has poor dispersal across non-rainforest areas and is unable to recolonise disjunct disturbed areas readily.

Keep disturbance out of gullies, creeklines and other cool, sheltered sites where montane skinks may extend to lower elevations.

Avoid fire, soil exposure, canopy removal, drainage changes and activities that dry the rainforest or remove leaf litter and ground cover.

Use the smallest practicable disturbance footprint and place access tracks, stockpiles and machinery laydown areas outside retained rainforest.

Likely subpopulations: At least five discrete subpopulations are likely across the northern and southern regions

Threat-defined locations: Approximately 5 to 10

Projected climatic niche loss: 99 to 100 percent from 2020 to 2050 under conservative climate change estimates

Before habitat disturbance: Approvals and planning

Check whether the proposed action requires referral under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 because the species is nationally listed as Vulnerable.

Check the relevant Queensland or New South Wales threatened species, vegetation clearing and wildlife handling requirements before work starts, because the species is listed as Vulnerable in both states.

Obtain any required scientific, wildlife rehabilitation, relocation or animal ethics approvals before survey, capture or translocation activities.

Prepare a fauna management plan that identifies retained rainforest, access controls, search methods, handling authority, release sites, injury response, stop-work triggers, records and reporting.

Stage works so that the smallest area is opened at one time and retained rainforest remains connected to potential source habitat.

Before habitat disturbance: Site preparation

Complete a pre-clearance survey of the entire disturbance footprint and any areas where machinery, access or spoil placement could affect damp rainforest.

Mark retained rainforest, deep leaf-litter areas, logs, flat rocks, track-edge clearings, gullies and creeklines on the ground and in the contractor plans.

Install exclusion fencing around retained habitat where it will prevent machinery entry, soil disturbance, material storage and unnecessary foot traffic.

Brief machinery operators and spotter catchers on the species' small size, brown and copper colouring, yellow belly, leaf-litter association and low detectability.

Confirm a nearby retained rainforest release area before clearing, subject to approval and suitability assessment.

During habitat disturbance: Daily controls

Maintain a slow, supervised clearing process. The species is small, secretive and strongly associated with leaf litter, so uncontrolled machinery movement can kill animals without a reliable sighting.

Inspect exclusion fencing and retained habitat before work each day and repair breaches immediately.

Keep machinery, vehicles, workers and stored materials within approved work limits.

Clear progressively in small sections, with the fauna spotter catcher ahead of machinery and able to stop the operator safely.

Avoid unnecessary removal of leaf litter, logs and rocks from retained rainforest.

Suspend work during conditions that prevent effective searching, including cool conditions or other conditions specified in the fauna management plan.

  • Use a pre-start briefing each day to confirm the approved clearing boundary, search sequence, communication method and animal response procedure.
  • Maintain a clear stop-work signal that the operator understands and must follow immediately.

During habitat disturbance: Fauna spotter catcher procedure

Have the authorised fauna spotter catcher inspect leaf litter, logs, rocks and other ground cover immediately before it is disturbed.

Work closely with the operator so that machinery moves only after the spotter catcher has released the area for that stage of clearing.

Do not overturn or relocate a log or rock rapidly when an animal may be sheltering beneath it.

Limit handling to trained and authorised personnel, and follow the approved state and project fauna procedure.

If the skink is found, stop nearby work, allow the animal to settle, photograph and identify it where practicable, and move it only when authorised.

  • Release a captured animal into nearby retained damp rainforest with continuous ground cover, away from active machinery and outside the immediate disturbance area.
  • Do not move the animal to an isolated or substantially different habitat, and do not undertake a long-distance translocation unless specifically approved.
  • Place an injured animal in a secure, ventilated container and arrange prompt assessment by an approved wildlife carer or veterinarian.
  • Record the animal's location, condition, action taken, release location, time, habitat and names of the people involved.

During habitat disturbance: Habitat features and stop-work triggers

Treat deep leaf litter, flat rocks and logs as occupied or potentially occupied shelter until they have been inspected by the spotter catcher.

Retain or carefully relocate suitable logs, rocks and leaf litter within approved retained rainforest where the project plan requires habitat salvage.

Apply the project's fauna procedure to any burrow, nest, injured animal, unexpected threatened species or other fauna feature encountered during clearing.

Stop work immediately if the species is found and the authorised response cannot be completed safely, if exclusion fencing fails, or if clearing moves outside the approved footprint.

Stop work and seek advice if fire enters or threatens high elevation rainforest, because severe fire can remove canopy and deep leaf litter and may permanently degrade habitat.

Estimated mortality after severe fire: More than 60 percent

Estimated mortality after mild fire: Approximately 20 percent

After habitat disturbance: Post-clearance checks

Confirm that clearing controls worked and that retained rainforest remains suitable and connected. Use the results to update the fauna management plan and any approval reporting.

Inspect the completed footprint, retained edges, access routes and exclusion fencing for trapped, injured or displaced skinks.

Search disturbed edges and retained rainforest for animals, damaged shelter features, exposed soil, canopy loss, drying leaf litter and accidental encroachment.

Check that salvaged logs, rocks and leaf litter remain in the approved retained habitat and have not been removed, buried or compacted.

  • Complete a documented final fauna inspection before demobilising the spotter catcher.
  • Report all captures, injuries, deaths, releases, unexpected habitat damage and breaches of the clearing boundary to the project environmental officer.

After habitat disturbance: Monitoring and reporting

Monitor retained rainforest and any rehabilitation areas using repeatable visual routes or 200 m transects where the approval or fauna management plan requires post-work monitoring.

Repeat searches under comparable activity conditions and record effort, temperature, rainfall, route, transect, elevation, substrate and detections.

Use results cautiously because the species is secretive, small and inactive during cool conditions, and the available documents identify substantial survey gaps.

Submit verified post-work records to the relevant state wildlife database and complete all Commonwealth and state reporting required by the approvals.

  • Maintain exclusion fencing and access controls until the environmental officer confirms that the risk from construction activity has ended.
  • Review monitoring results with the project ecologist and change access, drainage, fire or rehabilitation controls if retained habitat is drying or becoming fragmented.

After habitat disturbance: Offsets and residual impacts

Assess residual impacts against the EPBC Act approval, state approval and project offset requirements rather than assuming rehabilitation will replace lost high elevation rainforest.

Document the area and condition of rainforest cleared, the connectivity lost, the habitat features affected and the number and condition of animals encountered.

Escalate unavoidable loss of occupied or potentially occupied habitat to the approval authority and project environmental officer before further disturbance proceeds.

Rehabilitation actions: Restore rainforest structure

Rehabilitation should recreate cool, damp, connected rainforest ground conditions, not just replace canopy plants. The species relies on continuous rainforest cover, deep leaf litter and shelter beneath logs and flat rocks.

Replant locally appropriate rainforest canopy and understorey species suited to the site's elevation, moisture and regional vegetation community.

Include Antarctic beech where it is a natural component of the retained rainforest community and is appropriate to the site.

Re-establish continuous canopy cover and understorey structure to reduce drying and provide shaded, damp ground conditions.

Spread suitable leaf litter across rehabilitation areas without introducing weeds, contaminated soil or material from unsuitable sites.

Do not create isolated planted patches that remain separated from retained rainforest.

Rehabilitation actions: Replace shelter features

Retain existing logs and flat rocks wherever possible and reinstate suitable features within connected rehabilitation areas.

Place logs and rocks so they provide stable shelter over damp leaf litter without creating erosion, access or machinery hazards.

Do not install nest boxes as a substitute for this species' recorded shelter, because the supplied documents describe leaf litter, logs and flat rocks rather than tree hollows or nest boxes as its shelter sites.

Protect rehabilitated ground from compaction, repeated slashing, stock access and unnecessary pedestrian traffic.

Rehabilitation actions: Manage fire, weeds and drying

Protect rehabilitation and retained rainforest from high frequency, severe or extensive fire, which can remove canopy and deep leaf litter.

Develop fire controls with the relevant land manager so that fuel treatment does not clear or dry occupied rainforest and does not disconnect habitat.

Control weeds and prevent weed invasion from access tracks, stockpiles and disturbed edges using methods suited to the rainforest community.

Manage drainage and runoff so rehabilitation remains damp without causing erosion, sedimentation or prolonged waterlogging.

Rehabilitation actions: Monitor success

Set success measures for surviving canopy and understorey plants, continuous canopy development, stable deep leaf litter, retained logs and rocks, weed cover, fire damage and connectivity to retained rainforest.

Inspect rehabilitation after construction, after major fire or drought, and at the intervals required by the approval or rehabilitation plan.

Use repeatable daytime visual searches or 200 m transects where monitoring of skink use is required, and report search conditions and effort with every result.

Treat continued absence of detections cautiously and investigate drying, fragmentation, fire damage or poor search conditions before concluding that rehabilitation has failed.

Sources