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Common Planigale (Planigale maculata)

The Common Planigale is a very small, mainly nocturnal carnivorous marsupial of northern and eastern Australia. It uses ground cover, litter, logs, rocks, bark, grass tussocks and low vegetation, so clearing and construction can remove shelter and breeding sites even where the animal is difficult to detect. It is listed as Vulnerable in New South Wales and is not listed under the EPBC Act.

Conservation status

New South Wales, Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016: Vulnerable.

Breeding season

Timing varies across the range. The pattern below represents the eastern Australian population, where breeding is concentrated in late spring and summer. Northern populations may breed for longer, including year round in coastal Arnhem Land.

The seasonal pattern is based on eastern Australian information. Northern populations, especially in coastal Arnhem Land, may breed in all months.

  • Breeding, mating and births: Breeding is generally reported for late spring and summer in eastern Australia. Coastal Arnhem Land populations may breed throughout the year.
  • Young in nest and dependent: Females build spherical grass nests and raise litters of 4 to 12 young. Young remain together in the maternal nest for a period after leaving the pouch or nest.
  • Increased movement and dispersal: Brisbane records show increased sightings from November to January, suggesting increased mobility during this period. The supplied documents do not provide a defined dispersal distance.
  • Highest clearing risk: Clearing is most likely to harm the species when females are nesting or young are dependent in late spring and summer. Any occupied nest, shelter or dependent young requires species-specific fauna handling controls.

Identification

The Common Planigale is a mouse-sized dasyurid with a very flat head, an elongated snout, large ears and relatively small eyes. Its coat is usually cinnamon-washed grey and is only rarely spotted despite the species name.

The species has a small body, short broad hindfeet and a relatively conical head. The hindfeet are less than 11 mm long and have a length to width ratio of less than four. Pale claws, three upper premolars and three lower premolars are useful diagnostic features, but these characters generally require a close view or a specimen in the hand.

Head and body: Males 5.2 to 8.4 cm in the detailed account; the species reaches about 8 cm.

Hindfeet: Less than 11 mm long and relatively broad.

Claws: Pale coloured.

  • Look for a very small terrestrial marsupial with a flattened head, pointed snout, large ears and a thin tail.
  • Do not rely on spotting as a field character, because the coat is often unspotted.
  • Handle only under an approved fauna handling procedure, with identification confirmed from photographs or measurements where possible.

Identification: Similar small mammals

The Common Planigale should be separated from other small dasyurids by its combination of very small size, flat head, broad short hindfeet, pale claws and conical head. The source material does not provide a complete comparison with every Australian planigale or dunnart, so uncertain animals should be photographed and referred to a qualified mammal ecologist or museum specialist.

  • Check the head profile, hindfoot shape and overall proportions rather than coat colour alone.
  • Record the exact location, habitat, time, weather and any scale reference in photographs.
  • Do not identify a small mouse-like animal from eyeshine alone.

Identification: Field signs

Direct sightings are most likely at night when the animal is moving through leaf litter, dense grass or low vegetation. Daytime searches should focus on shelters and nesting material rather than expecting visible animals.

  • Search beneath rocks, fallen timber, bark, logs, termite mounds, corrugated iron, railway sleepers, sheet metal and other ground debris.
  • Look for a spherical nest made from thin-bladed grasses when young are present.
  • Treat small grass or leaf nests, animals flushed from cover and repeated nocturnal sightings as evidence requiring fauna spotter catcher controls.
  • Tracks, distinctive scats and calls are not described in the supplied documents and should not be used as primary identification features.

Distribution: National range

The Common Planigale has a disjunct northern population and a broad eastern population. The supplied sources describe two recognised populations, although taxonomy within the species complex remains under review.

The eastern population extends from the Archer River on Cape York Peninsula south through eastern Queensland to northern New South Wales, reaching the Upper Hunter River region and Gosford in the broader account. In Queensland it occurs from the Cape York region through coastal and subcoastal areas, including south-east Queensland, and westwards to about Charleville in the Brisbane City Council account.

A separate northern population occurs in the Northern Territory. The detailed taxonomic account also recognises the subspecies Planigale maculata sinualis in northern Western Australia, the Northern Territory and northern Australia, including the Kimberley, Top End and Groote Eylandt.

Recognised populations: Two populations are described by the Brisbane City Council account: one in the Northern Territory and one extending from Cape York to the Upper Hunter region.

Queensland stronghold examples: The species is described as widely distributed in south-east Queensland, with records from Rockhampton to the New South Wales border and west to about Charleville.

Survey record: It was recorded during surveys of the 1,026 hectare Colton Mine Project site approximately 11 km north of Maryborough, Queensland.

  • Queensland: Cape York Peninsula, eastern coastal and subcoastal districts, south-east Queensland, and inland records extending towards Charleville.
  • New South Wales: northern coastal and subcoastal areas south to the Upper Hunter River region and Gosford.
  • Northern Territory: the Top End and associated northern population.
  • Western Australia: the northern Kimberley and adjacent northern areas in the taxonomic account.

Distribution: Local records and population information

Brisbane records identify Brisbane Forest Park, adjacent bushland suburbs, and southern and eastern bushland suburbs as important local areas. Records include Enoggera, Ashgrove, Larapinta, Stretton, Ferny Grove and Burbank at Tingalpa.

The supplied documents do not provide a national population estimate, density estimate, generation length or quantified national trend. The Brisbane source reports local population declines across four of five small marsupial carnivores, but does not identify a quantified trend specifically for the Common Planigale.

National population size: Not reported in the supplied documents.

Home range: No published home range information is reported.

Population trend: No quantified national trend is reported; local declines are noted for small marsupial carnivores in Brisbane.

  • Use database records and targeted habitat assessment to define the local population because absence from a short survey does not demonstrate absence.
  • Map connected grassland, woodland, swamp, heath and forest patches, including retained ground debris and movement links.

Habitat: Habitat types

The Common Planigale occupies a wide range of coastal and subcoastal habitats. Habitat value depends strongly on dense ground structure and available shelter, not simply on the presence of mature trees.

Recorded or suitable habitats include grasslands, woodlands, wet and dry sclerophyll forests, swamps, vine forests, rainforest, heathland, marshlands, rocky areas and some suburban bushland. The species can occur in disturbed habitats when ground cover and shelter remain available.

The Colton Mine assessment identified wetter areas with trees, shrubs, grasses or sedges, and recorded the species on a site containing mixed eucalypt woodland, Melaleuca woodland and other vegetation communities.

  • Assess grassy and shrubby understorey, leaf litter, logs, rocks, bark and ground debris before clearing.
  • Retain connected patches of ground cover between woodland, forest, swamp, heath and riparian habitats.
  • Treat disturbed edges and suburban bushland as potential habitat where shelter and prey remain.

Habitat: Structural features

The species prefers Eucalyptus, Lophostemon and Casuarina habitats with a grassy or shrubby understorey for denning. Logs, bark, rocks, soil cracks, grass tussocks and accumulated litter provide cover and nesting opportunities.

  • Retain hollow stumps, rock crevices, fallen logs, bark, ground litter and dense tussocks wherever practicable.
  • Inspect corrugated iron, sheet metal, sleepers and building debris before moving or removing them.
  • Keep retained habitat connected and use buffers to reduce edge effects from roads, lighting, domestic animals and construction activity.

Habitat: Climate and elevation

The species occurs from cool mountain rainforest to monsoonal floodplains and coastal lowlands. The supplied documents do not define an elevation limit or a specific climatic threshold.

Elevation limit: Not reported in the supplied documents.

Climate range: Cool mountain rainforest, monsoonal floodplains, coastal and subcoastal habitats are included in the described range.

  • Do not exclude the species solely because a site is dry, disturbed, urban or outside rainforest.
  • Give particular attention to coastal and subcoastal sites containing grass, litter, swamp vegetation, woodland or dense low cover.

Foraging habitat: Diet

The Common Planigale is primarily a ground-foraging predator. It searches leaf litter, dense grass and low vegetation, but can climb through dense grass and onto low shrubs.

The diet is dominated by invertebrates and small vertebrates. Documented food includes grasshoppers, spiders, moths, phasmids, other insects, small skinks, small reptiles, small mammals and carrion.

Main prey: Insects and other terrestrial invertebrates, including grasshoppers, spiders, moths and phasmids.

Other food: Small skinks, small reptiles, small mammals and carrion.

  • Retain leaf litter, coarse woody debris, dense grass and low shrubs that support invertebrate prey.
  • Avoid assuming that cleared grass alone provides equivalent foraging habitat, because prey availability and shelter are linked to ground structure.
  • Manage construction waste and food sources so they do not attract cats, dogs, rats or other predators.

Foraging habitat: Foraging method and area

The animal forages mainly at night on the ground among litter and dense grass. It is an active predator and may repeatedly attack the back of the head of prey until it is killed or disabled.

No published foraging distance or home range is provided. Brisbane records show increased sightings from November to January, which may indicate increased mobility during that period.

Foraging period: Mainly nocturnal.

Foraging range: Not published.

Mobility indicator: Brisbane records increase from November to January.

  • Survey dense grass, litter and low shrubs after dark, while also checking likely daytime shelters.
  • Maintain movement links between shelter patches and productive ground cover rather than isolating small refuge sites.
  • Record prey-rich features such as wet grass, swamp margins, litter beds and decomposing logs during pre-clearance inspections.

Breeding habitat: Breeding biology

Breeding occurs in a grass nest built by the female. Suitable breeding habitat combines dense ground cover with secure shelter and low exposure to predators, fire and construction disturbance.

In eastern and north-eastern Australia, breeding is generally concentrated in late spring and summer. In coastal Arnhem Land, breeding may occur throughout the year. Females build a spherical nest from thin-bladed grasses and raise the young in or near the nest.

Breeding season: Late spring and summer in eastern Australia; year round in coastal Arnhem Land.

Litter size: 4 to 12 young, with an average of about 8.

Gestation: About 19 to 20 days.

Nest: A spherical nest made from thin-bladed grasses.

Age at maturity: Not reported in the supplied documents.

Lifespan: Not reported in the supplied documents.

  • Treat grass nests and dense grass tussocks as potential breeding habitat during clearing.
  • Stage inspections and clearing so that nest sites, litter beds, logs and sheltering debris are checked before disturbance.
  • Retain connected cover around known or potential nest sites and avoid leaving isolated shelter patches exposed to roads or domestic predators.

Breeding habitat: Breeding habitat features

Potential breeding and sheltering sites include grass tussocks, logs, bark, soil cracks, rocks, hollow stumps and building debris. Young remain together in the maternal nest for a period after leaving the pouch or nest and later disperse.

  • Retain dense grass, fallen timber, bark, litter and other low cover within potential breeding areas.
  • Inspect debris piles, construction materials and sheets of metal before removal because the species may use human debris as shelter.
  • Avoid broad disturbance of grassy habitat during late spring and summer where practicable, particularly when nests or dependent young are detected.

Sheltering habitat: Natural refuges

The Common Planigale shelters close to the ground during the day. It does not depend on one specialised den type and can use both natural cover and human-made debris.

Known daytime shelters include rocks, fallen timber, bark, termite mounds, hollow logs, grass tussocks, soil cracks and dense ground vegetation. The species also uses spherical grass nests when raising young.

Shelter height: Shelters are mainly at ground level.

Known shelter types: Rocks, fallen timber, bark, termite mounds, hollow logs, soil cracks, grass tussocks and dense ground cover.

  • Lift or move rocks, logs, bark and sheets slowly during pre-clearance searches, with a fauna spotter catcher present where required.
  • Search the underside of logs and bark, cavities in fallen timber, termite mounds, grass tussocks and litter accumulations.
  • Retain a range of shelter types rather than relying on artificial nest boxes, because no species-specific artificial shelter dimensions are provided.

Sheltering habitat: Artificial and construction debris

The species has been found under corrugated iron, railway sleepers, sheet iron and other human debris. Building debris can also provide nesting sites, so demolition, stockpiling and material relocation can cause direct mortality.

  • Inspect corrugated iron, sheet metal, sleepers, pallets, rubble and stored materials before removal.
  • Move debris only after inspection and provide a controlled relocation method where an animal or nest is found.
  • Do not use debris piles as a substitute for retained natural habitat after clearing.

Sheltering habitat: Refuge size and denning data

The supplied documents do not provide dimensions for individual shelters, nest chambers or home ranges. They also do not describe burrow systems or permanent dens for this species.

Refuge dimensions: Not reported.

Home range: No published information is reported.

  • Use the presence of suitable shelter structure, rather than a fixed refuge size, as the initial habitat assessment measure.
  • Record the type, extent and connectivity of ground cover and shelter features during ecological inspections.

Threats: Clearing and fragmentation

The main project risks are loss of ground habitat, fragmentation, direct mortality during clearing, predation and loss of shelter. The species can use disturbed areas, but disturbance still becomes harmful when it removes cover or increases edge exposure.

Clearing removes grass, litter, logs, rocks, bark, soil cracks and other shelter and foraging structures. Fragmentation increases exposure to predators, roads, fire, weeds and human activity, and can reduce movement between remaining habitat patches.

  • Avoid clearing known or potential habitat where practicable.
  • Delineate no-go areas around retained ground cover, wet areas, woodland, swamp, heath and forest remnants.
  • Maintain habitat linkages and use buffers between development areas and retained bushland.
  • Inspect all ground debris, logs, bark, rocks and grass tussocks before disturbance.

Threats: Predators and introduced animals

Domestic and feral cats and dogs are documented predators. Foxes, cane toads and other introduced animals also threaten small marsupial carnivores. Development can increase predator access through roads, edges, lighting, waste and loss of dense cover.

  • Exclude domestic animals from construction areas and retained habitat.
  • Control construction waste and food sources that attract cats, dogs, foxes, rats and other introduced animals.
  • Do not release or encourage domestic cats or dogs near retained habitat.
  • Manage cane toads and avoid creating artificial water sources that increase contact with predators or drowning hazards.

Threats: Fire and hydrology

Fire can alter the dense grassy habitat used by the species. The Brisbane account reports that Common Planigales may reach their highest abundance in grassy bushland during the first five years after burning, but this does not remove the risk from intense, poorly timed or extensive fire.

The species is associated with swamps, marshlands and habitats near water in the supplied assessments. Drainage or loss of wet ground cover may therefore reduce habitat quality, although species-specific hydrology thresholds are not provided.

  • Avoid broad, high-intensity burns across all available ground cover at once.
  • Use fire planning that retains unburnt refuge areas and allows fauna to move from burn zones into adjacent cover.
  • Protect swamp margins, wet grass, marsh habitat and drainage depressions from fill, sediment, altered flows and unnecessary vehicle access.

Threats: Roads, drowning and poisoning

Roads and development edges can increase mortality through vehicle strike, predator access and habitat isolation. Small marsupial carnivores are also prone to drowning in uncovered tanks, pools, toilet bowls and water troughs. Secondary poisoning can occur when animals consume poisoned rodents or contaminated carcasses.

  • Cover tanks, pits, pools and other vertical water-holding structures or provide escape ramps.
  • Inspect open trenches and construction holes daily and provide fauna escape points.
  • Use fauna-friendly drainage and avoid leaving deep, smooth-sided excavations open overnight.
  • Keep rodenticides and other poisons away from retained habitat and prevent access to poisoned carcasses.
  • Plan vehicle movements to avoid retained habitat and reduce night-time traffic through known habitat.

Survey methodology: 1. Nocturnal searches and spotlighting

Survey effort should target this small, nocturnal marsupial in ground cover, shelter sites and habitat edges. The documents do not provide a species-specific trapping effort, so the project ecologist should set effort from the area, habitat quality, season and approval conditions, and document the rationale.

Search after dark because Common Planigales are nocturnal and forage on the ground among leaf litter, dense grass and low vegetation.

Walk retained grassland, woodland, wet and dry sclerophyll forest, swamp margins, vine forest edges and areas close to water. Search beneath and around logs, rocks, bark, corrugated iron and other ground debris.

Use a slow, quiet search with sufficient light to detect a mouse-sized animal. The species is small, reaching about 8 centimetres in length and weighing about 10 to 12 grams in the field account.

Repeat searches in suitable weather after rain or when ground invertebrate activity is likely to be high, and include both habitat interiors and edges.

Record the start and finish time, route, weather, temperature, recent rainfall, habitat type, area searched and all detections or signs.

Survey methodology: 2. Daytime shelter and microhabitat searches

Inspect likely daytime shelters, including rock crevices, fallen timber, bark, dense grass, leaf litter, hollow logs, building debris and sheet iron, without destroying the shelter.

Search for spherical grass nests, which females build when carrying young, and for nests in logs, under bark, in soil cracks or in grass tussocks.

Lift movable objects slowly from one side, keep hands and feet clear, and replace each object immediately after inspection. Do not use this method where it could collapse a shelter or injure an animal.

Map shelter features and connect them to nearby feeding cover, including grassy or shrubby understorey and dense leaf litter.

Survey methodology: 3. Targeted live trapping, where authorised

Use live trapping only where it is permitted by the relevant state authority and approved in the fauna survey or management plan.

A qualified ecologist should select the trap type, spacing, number of traps, trapping nights, bait, weather limits and inspection interval for the site. The supplied documents do not specify a Common Planigale trap effort.

Place traps along ground-level movement routes and beside dense grass, logs, rocks, bark, leaf litter and other shelter features, rather than in exposed cleared areas.

Avoid trapping during heat, cold, heavy rain, flooding, smoke or other conditions that could expose this small marsupial to stress or hypothermia. Check traps at the interval required by the permit and release animals promptly at the capture location unless an approved relocation plan applies.

Record trap coordinates, trap effort, capture time, measurements, sex, breeding condition, identification method, release location and any injury.

Survey methodology: Minimum effort and reporting

  • Set survey effort to cover all suitable habitat and all proposed disturbance areas, with repeated visits where seasonal conditions or habitat complexity could affect detection.
  • Include nocturnal searches and daytime shelter searches in the survey design, and use live trapping only when the method is justified, authorised and safely managed.
  • The Colton Mine assessment used five site visits to capture seasonal variation, including surveys from 21 to 29 April 2008, 11 to 17 August 2008, 18 to 22 September 2008, 21 January 2010 and November 2010; use this as a documented example of seasonal coverage, not as a universal effort requirement.
  • Submit verified records to the relevant state wildlife database, and retain coordinates, photographs, voucher information, effort data and the name of the person who confirmed the identification.
  • Report non-detections with the area searched, search time, methods, weather and habitat condition, rather than reporting only that the species was absent.

Before habitat disturbance: Avoid and minimise habitat loss

Treat retained ground cover and shelter features as habitat, even where the site is partly cleared or disturbed. Common Planigales use a wide range of coastal and sub-coastal habitats and can occur in grasslands, woodlands, forests, swamps, vine forests and some suburban areas.

  • Keep all practicable areas of dense grass, shrub cover, leaf litter, logs, bark, rocks, rock crevices and hollow logs outside the disturbance footprint.
  • Retain Eucalyptus, Lophostemon and Casuarina vegetation with a grassy or shrubby understorey where it provides denning and foraging cover.
  • Retain habitat linkages between woodland, grassland, swamp, forest and vine forest patches, particularly along drainage lines and near water.
  • Keep construction compounds, access tracks, stockpiles, lighting and vehicle movements away from retained shelter and foraging areas.
  • Prevent avoidable fragmentation and edge effects, because habitat loss, cat predation, road mortality, drowning, trapping and poisoning can increase around disturbed edges.

Before habitat disturbance: Approvals and work planning

  • Check the current Commonwealth and state conservation status before works begin, because the supplied assessments describe the species as not nationally listed or common in some jurisdictions, while the project brief identifies a current vulnerable listing in New South Wales.
  • Obtain any state scientific, damage mitigation, fauna handling, relocation or clearing approvals required for the project location and proposed methods.
  • Refer the action under the EPBC Act if the current national listing or the project impact assessment triggers a referral requirement.
  • Prepare a fauna management plan that defines survey coverage, clearing limits, fauna spotter catcher authority, stop-work triggers, release sites, injured fauna procedures, weather limits and reporting requirements.
  • Schedule clearing to avoid the main eastern and south-eastern breeding period where practicable. The supplied sources identify late spring and summer breeding in Queensland and spring and summer breeding in eastern Australia, with a litter of 4 to 12 and a gestation period of 19 to 20 days.

Before habitat disturbance: Pre-clearance preparation

  • Complete a pre-clearance inspection shortly before works, with particular attention to grass tussocks, leaf litter, logs, bark, rocks, soil cracks, hollow logs, sheet iron and building debris.
  • Mark the approved clearing boundary, retained habitat, movement corridors, wet areas, shelter features and release habitat on plans and on the ground.
  • Install exclusion fencing where it can safely prevent entry into the work area without blocking movement corridors or trapping animals against the fence.
  • Remove or secure artificial hazards such as open pits, pipes, tanks, pools, troughs and uncovered holes before clearing starts.
  • Brief all machinery operators and contractors on the species appearance, shelter sites, stop-work rules and the requirement to follow the fauna spotter catcher's directions.

During habitat disturbance: Daily controls and machinery coordination

Clear in small, controlled stages and keep a fauna spotter catcher present where the approved plan requires one. The spotter catcher must have authority to stop machinery when an animal, nest or shelter feature is at risk.

  • Inspect the work area at the start of each day for animals, nests, open excavations, exposed shelter and changed site conditions.
  • Clear from retained habitat towards retained habitat or another safe escape area, where the site layout allows, so animals are not driven into machinery or isolated pockets.
  • Use a slow staged sequence for grass, litter, logs, rocks and debris, and pause before each item is moved or crushed.
  • Keep machinery outside the marked exclusion zones and require the operator to stop immediately when directed by the fauna spotter catcher.
  • Cover, ramp or fence excavations at the end of each shift, and inspect them before work resumes.

During habitat disturbance: Handling habitat features

  • Inspect logs, bark, rocks, dense grass, leaf litter, hollow logs, soil cracks, sheet iron and building debris before moving, rolling, crushing or loading them.
  • Move suitable logs, rocks and coarse woody debris to nearby retained habitat where this is safe and consistent with the approved management plan.
  • Do not burn, chip or bury a shelter feature until it has been inspected and cleared by the fauna spotter catcher.
  • Protect wetlands, swamps, drainage lines and wet ground from sediment, uncontrolled access, drainage changes and chemical spills.
  • Do not install artificial nest boxes as a substitute for retaining natural ground shelters unless the project ecologist has shown that the design and location are suitable. The supplied sources describe ground nests and shelters, not a tested nest-box design for this species.

During habitat disturbance: Animal found, injury and stop-work response

  • Stop the affected activity and establish a quiet exclusion zone if a Common Planigale, nest with young or occupied shelter is found.
  • Do not handle the animal unless the person is authorised under the project approval and trained in small marsupial capture and release.
  • Keep handling time short, use appropriate equipment and prevent overheating, chilling, crushing and escape into the active work area.
  • Release a healthy animal into nearby retained habitat that provides dense ground cover, leaf litter and shelter, at the location and time approved by the fauna management plan.
  • Transfer an injured animal to the nominated veterinarian or wildlife carer as soon as practicable, and record the injury, likely cause, treatment destination and chain of custody.
  • Stop work and obtain advice from the project ecologist or relevant authority if a dependent young animal, repeated captures, an occupied nest, mortality, an unapproved impact or an unsafe release situation is identified.

During habitat disturbance: Records and incident reporting

  • Record each detection, capture, handling event, release, injury, death, nest, shelter feature and stop-work event with date, time, coordinates, habitat, photographs and people involved.
  • Record the machinery activity, disturbance area, weather, search method, animal response and corrective action for every fauna interaction.
  • Notify the environmental officer and approval holder immediately of mortality, injury, unauthorised clearing, failed exclusion fencing or a breach of the fauna management plan.
  • Update the state wildlife database with verified records and submit statutory reports within the timeframes in the relevant approval.

After habitat disturbance: Post-clearance checks

Post-clearance work must confirm that animals and shelter features have not been left within the footprint and that retained habitat remains usable. Continue controls until excavations, traffic, lighting and construction activity no longer create the identified risks.

  • Inspect the cleared area, stockpiles, access tracks, exclusion fences, trenches, pits and retained edges after each clearing stage and after overnight shutdowns.
  • Search retained habitat and the disturbance boundary for displaced animals, nests, carcasses, tracks and newly exposed shelter features.
  • Remove or make safe remaining artificial traps, uncovered holes, water containers, pipes, tanks, pools and other drowning hazards.
  • Confirm that all habitat features nominated for retention remain undisturbed and that no spoil, waste, weeds or construction materials have entered retained habitat.

After habitat disturbance: Monitoring and corrective action

  • Monitor retained habitat during construction and after completion using repeat nocturnal searches and daytime shelter inspections where the risk assessment identifies ongoing impacts.
  • Target monitoring at habitat edges, movement corridors, wet areas and locations with records from the pre-clearance survey.
  • Review monitoring results after each construction stage and increase controls if animals are found in the work area, if shelter is being lost or if predation, road mortality or drowning is recorded.
  • Maintain exclusion fencing, pit covers, fauna escape ramps, speed controls and lighting limits until the environmental officer confirms that the relevant risk has ended.

After habitat disturbance: Close-out and offsets

  • Provide the regulator and approval holder with the final clearing area, survey effort, detections, handling events, injuries, mortalities, release locations, habitat retained and rehabilitation actions.
  • Assess whether residual impacts remain after avoidance and mitigation, and apply any offset or compensatory habitat requirement imposed by Commonwealth or state approvals.
  • Add verified records and survey results to the project environmental database so later maintenance or expansion work does not remove known shelter or movement habitat.

Rehabilitation actions: Rebuild shelter and foraging habitat

Rehabilitation should recreate the ground structure that Common Planigales use for shelter and foraging, not only replace canopy cover. The target is connected habitat with dense ground cover, leaf litter and natural shelter features.

  • Retain and reinstate logs, bark, rocks, coarse woody debris, leaf litter and dense grass in safe, connected patches.
  • Restore a grassy or shrubby understorey beneath suitable Eucalyptus, Lophostemon and Casuarina vegetation where these species match the local community.
  • Use local native plant species suited to the pre-clearing vegetation community, and include species that provide dense low cover rather than creating an open, weed-prone surface.
  • Recreate links between grassland, woodland, forest, swamp and vine forest patches, with safe crossings where roads or tracks divide habitat.
  • Do not rely on nest boxes as the primary rehabilitation measure, because the supplied sources identify natural ground shelters and grass nests as the relevant features.

Rehabilitation actions: Manage threats after works

  • Control weeds before they replace native grass, shrub and leaf-litter cover, and prevent weed material and soil from spreading into retained habitat.
  • Exclude domestic cats and dogs from rehabilitation areas and manage feral predators in accordance with approved wildlife and biosecurity requirements.
  • Cover or fence water tanks, pits, pools, drains and other drowning hazards, and provide fauna escape ramps where permanent hazards cannot be removed.
  • Manage fire to maintain the local ecological community and avoid uncontrolled burns through nest and shelter habitat. The Brisbane guidance notes that Common Planigales can be abundant in grassy bushland during the first five years after burning, but the appropriate fire interval depends on the local vegetation community.
  • Prevent unnecessary baiting and rodenticide exposure, and control access, traffic and lighting along habitat edges.

Rehabilitation actions: Monitoring and success measures

  • Inspect rehabilitation after the first wet season and then at intervals set by the approval or fauna management plan, recording plant cover, weed cover, shelter features, connectivity and erosion.
  • Repeat nocturnal searches and daytime shelter inspections using the same routes and recording methods as the pre-clearance survey so detection results can be compared.
  • Treat rehabilitation as successful only when the approved area has stable native ground cover, retained or reinstated shelters, no active erosion or major weed invasion, safe connections to retained habitat and no unresolved artificial drowning hazards.
  • Investigate and rectify declining ground cover, repeated predator records, road mortality, drowning, animal displacement or failure to establish shelter before the next monitoring review.
  • Submit rehabilitation monitoring results and any Common Planigale records to the relevant state wildlife database and include them in the project close-out report.

Sources