Giles' Planigale (Planigale gilesi)

Conservation status

Victoria, Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988: Vulnerable.

Breeding season

The breeding period runs from mid July to late January. Activity, movement and torpor can occur in every season, with most above-ground activity concentrated after sunset and before sunrise.

The season pattern is based on the supplied breeding, development, movement and torpor information. Exact birth dates, juvenile dispersal dates and regional differences are not provided.

• Breeding: Mating and breeding occur from mid July to late January. The source does not identify peak months within that period.
• Young: Young develop in the pouch and remain dependent after birth. Independence occurs at about 65 days, so dependent young may be present from late winter through summer and into early autumn, depending on mating and birth timing.
• Movement and foraging: Individuals have shifting home ranges and some travel more than 1 km in a few days. Above-ground activity is mainly in the three hours after sunset and the hour before sunrise.
• Torpor and basking: Torpor and basking are documented responses to cold and limited food or water. Winter basking is specifically reported, and torpor was recorded daily in one field study.
• Highest clearing risk: Risk is highest from mid July through late January, when mating, pouch young and dependent juveniles may be present in crack systems. January remains a breeding month, and dependent young can continue into early autumn. Clearing at other times can still destroy reused refuges and habitat.

Identification

Giles' Planigale is a tiny marsupial with a distinctive flattened, triangular head and very short legs. It usually moves close to the ground and can climb through grass and shrubs as well as move through soil cracks and litter.

The upperparts are brindled cinnamon-grey and the underparts are olive-buff. The eyes are small and bead-like, the nose is pointed, and the small rounded ears lie close to the head. The head is broad and flattened compared with the body.

The species has two upper and two lower premolar teeth. This is fewer than in other planigales and is a useful feature for examination of a captured animal, but teeth are not a practical field identification feature.

Head and body: Males 6 to 8 cm; females 6 to 7 cm.

Tail: Males 5.5 to 7 cm; females 5.5 to 6.5 cm.

Weight: Males 9.5 to 16 g; females 5 to 9 g.

Identification: Distinguishing features

Giles' Planigale is generally larger than the Long-tailed Planigale and Narrow-nosed Planigale. It has black claws, whereas the claws of the Narrow-nosed Planigale are pale or caramel and those of the Long-tailed Planigale are mostly pale with grey-brown at the base.

Size, head shape, habitat and a confirmed identification by an experienced person should be considered together. The species can occur with Narrow-nosed Planigales, especially on drier gibber plains, so habitat alone is not sufficient for identification.

Identification: Signs and behaviour

The characteristic refuge sign is a narrow opening into a deep system of cracks in dry clay soil. Individuals may rest deep in the cracks, where transmitter signals in one study were reduced to less than 3 m. Resting sites were reused two to four times, sometimes up to nine days apart.

Calls include a loud 'chh, chh' or sharp 'ca, ca' during aggressive or defensive behaviour. Frightened animals give a high-pitched, bird-like twitter. Females in oestrus and interested males use high-pitched clicking sounds during the breeding season.

The supplied documents do not describe diagnostic tracks, scats, eyeshine or separate nest structures. Do not rely on these signs alone for identification.

• Inspect deep clay cracks beneath or beside lignum and other dense cover before soil disturbance.
• Treat a small, fast-moving mammal that scurries close to the ground, climbs through grass or shrubs, or makes short leaps as requiring confirmation rather than assuming it is a mouse or another dasyurid.

Distribution: National range

Giles' Planigale has a broad but patchy inland distribution across eastern and central Australia. The supplied material identifies records in Queensland, South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and the Northern Territory, but does not provide a formal bioregion list or a national population estimate.

The range extends from Boulia in south-west Queensland south to extreme north-west Victoria along the Murray River. It extends west to the Stuart Highway in the Northern Territory and central South Australia, and east to near Moree in northern New South Wales.

The documents describe the species as occurring in arid and semi-arid inland areas. Bioregion names, elevation limits and mapped subpopulation boundaries are not provided in the supplied sources.

Queensland: From Boulia southwards.

Northern Territory: Around the Stuart Highway in the southern part of the Territory.

South Australia: Central South Australia and eastward across inland areas.

New South Wales: Western and northern inland areas, extending to near Moree.

Victoria: Extreme north-west Victoria along the Murray River.

Distribution: Population information

Population density is generally low and can fluctuate markedly between seasons and years. The species is nevertheless often recorded during fauna surveys, including in national parks, conservation reserves and areas grazed by sheep or cattle.

No national population size, density estimate, confirmed stronghold list or quantified population trend is given. One source states that fewer than 20 per cent of individuals may survive beyond two years in the wild, but this is presented as a possibility rather than a measured national estimate.

Known national population size: Not stated in the supplied documents.

Population density: Generally low and strongly variable between seasons and years.

Reported survival: Possibly fewer than 20 per cent survive beyond two years in the wild.

Habitat: Habitat types

The species is associated with inland habitats where deep cracking clay provides shelter and nearby vegetation supports invertebrate prey. Flooding, drying and cracking of clay soils appear to shape habitat quality.

Giles' Planigale occurs on floodplains of creeks and rivers, grassy plains away from creeks, clay interdune areas in sandhill country, stony plains, flood-outs, clay plains and ephemeral swamps.

It is strongly associated with drainage depressions, dry lakes and creek lines containing deep cracking clay. It can occur in grazed areas and across several vegetation communities, but records are associated with dense vegetation near water.

Habitat: Vegetation and structure

Suitable vegetation includes dwarf chenopod shrubs, herbs, grasses, tussock grassland, low shrubland and lignum. Queensland bluebush may also be present. More regularly flooded areas can contain an open coolibah woodland over shrub cover.

The depth and density of soil cracks are important. The species is less abundant where cracks are shallow. Vegetation cover and prey availability can decline when the normal wetting and drying cycle is interrupted.

• Map deep cracking clay, drainage depressions, dry wetland beds, flood-outs and creek lines before clearing or earthworks.
• Retain dense lignum, chenopod, tussock and grass cover where it occurs over or beside cracking clay.
• Consider the condition of cracks after flooding and drying, because drying after floods induces clay cracking and creates refuge.

Habitat: Climate and elevation

The species occupies arid and semi-arid inland Australia and is adapted to strongly variable conditions. The supplied documents do not give an elevation range.

Deep cracks provide a less extreme microclimate than exposed ground. Torpor and basking help individuals cope with cold, heat, food shortage and water limitation.

Foraging habitat: Diet

Giles' Planigale is a generalist predator that hunts at the interface between the ground surface, litter, vegetation and soil cracks. It can forage above ground and within cracks, allowing it to use prey in both sheltered and exposed microsites.

The diet includes beetles, locusts, spiders, centipedes, ants, crickets, slaters and other arthropods. Small lizards and mammals are taken occasionally.

In one western New South Wales study, spiders made up 32 per cent of the volume of invertebrate prey. Hymenoptera, mainly ants, Orthoptera, mainly crickets, and slaters were also heavily represented.

Main prey: Beetles, locusts, spiders, centipedes and other arthropods.

Recorded prey composition: Spiders comprised 32 per cent of invertebrate prey volume in one western New South Wales study.

Occasional prey: Small lizards and mammals.

Foraging habitat: Foraging method and sites

The species actively hunts and can attack relatively large prey by biting, hanging on and chewing. Smaller prey are crushed rapidly and repeatedly.

It forages above ground among grass, shrubs and litter, and below ground or at the crack entrance. Rain can increase captures, probably because prey become more available on wet nights.

• Retain litter, grass, low shrubs and lignum around cracking clay so prey and foraging cover remain connected.
• Check crack systems, dense ground cover and wetland margins before placing machinery access or spoil.
• Avoid assuming that open ground is unused, because individuals may move between cracks and above-ground foraging sites.

Foraging habitat: Foraging range

No fixed foraging range is provided. Individual home ranges shift, and some animals travel more than 1 km in a few days. Radio-tracked nesting ranges were 0.07 to 0.15 ha, with maximum distances between recorded locations of 78 to 126 m in that study.

Recorded movement: Some individuals travelled more than 1 km in a few days.

Radio-tracked nesting range: 0.07 to 0.15 ha.

Maximum recorded distance between locations: 78 to 126 m in one study.

Breeding habitat: Breeding biology

Breeding occurs through the warmer and wetter part of the annual cycle, from mid winter into summer. Females need sheltered crack systems and nearby prey-rich vegetation to support pouch young and rapidly growing juveniles.

Mating can last more than two hours. The gestation period is short, and females can produce one to two litters in a season. Young remain dependent after birth and are independent at about 65 days.

The supplied documents do not state an age at first maturity or a confirmed wild lifespan. Some captive individuals have lived to five years.

Breeding season: Mid July to late January.

Litters per female: One to two litters in a season.

Gestation: 16 days.

Usual litter size: 6 to 8 young.

Pouch: Rear-opening pouch with 12 teats.

Young independent: About 65 days.

Recorded captive longevity: Some individuals reached five years; wild lifespan is not stated.

Breeding habitat: Breeding habitat

Breeding and rearing require a secure refuge close to food. Radio-tracked animals rested in deep soil cracks under lignum bushes, and narrow crack openings led to deeper resting sites.

Dense lignum, chenopod, grass, tussock and low shrub cover around cracking clay is therefore important during the breeding season. The supplied documents do not describe a separate above-ground nest structure.

• Protect deep crack systems and their dense vegetation cover from clearing, grading, ripping and compaction during mid July to late January.
• Inspect likely refuge habitat before disturbance, particularly under lignum and around drainage depressions, dry lake margins and creek lines.

Sheltering habitat: Crack refuges

Deep, narrow cracks in dry clay are the primary documented refuge. They provide protection from heat and cold and are used for resting, nesting and short-term energy conservation.

Individuals rest in extensive systems of cracks formed in dry clay soil, often beneath lignum bushes. Resting sites have narrow openings and can be deep enough that radio signals are reduced to less than 3 m.

Nesting ranges recorded in one study were 0.07 to 0.15 ha. Resting sites were reused two to four times and could be used up to nine days apart. One animal alternated between two sites 16 m apart for six days.

Crack depth indicator: Transmitter signals were often reduced to less than 3 m at deep resting sites.

Resting-site reuse: Two to four uses, up to nine days apart.

Distance between alternate sites: 16 m in one recorded case.

• Treat connected crack systems, not only individual openings, as potential fauna habitat.
• Keep machinery, vehicle movements, trenching and spoil stockpiles away from crack systems where practicable.
• Use a fauna spotter catcher during ground disturbance in suitable clay habitat, particularly when cracks are occupied or vegetation is dense.

Sheltering habitat: Thermal refuge

The microclimate within cracks and holes is less extreme than conditions above ground. Individuals may become torpid for short periods in winter and can use torpor daily in some studies.

Maximum recorded torpor duration was 18.2 hours and minimum body temperature was 10.5°C. Basking occurred while animals rewarmed from torpor.

Maximum recorded torpor duration: 18.2 hours.

Minimum recorded body temperature during torpor: 10.5°C.

Threats: Clearing and earthworks

The main project risk is loss or collapse of deep cracking clay refuge and adjacent prey-producing vegetation. The species can persist in some grazed areas, but prolonged drying, altered flooding and loss of crack habitat can reduce cover and food.

Clearing lignum, chenopod, tussock, grass and low shrub cover can remove foraging habitat and expose crack systems. Grading, excavation, trenching, filling and vehicle compaction can destroy or block the narrow openings used for shelter.

Disturbance to drainage depressions, dry lakes, flood-outs, creek lines and clay plains can remove the soil conditions needed to form deep cracks.

• Avoid clearing deep cracking clay and associated dense vegetation where project design allows.
• Fence no-go areas around identified crack systems and prevent spoil, access tracks and laydown areas from covering openings.
• Have a fauna spotter catcher inspect suitable habitat immediately before clearing and remain available during ground disturbance.

Threats: Hydrology and drought

Reduced flooding and increased drought can reduce vegetation cover and prey availability over time. Salinisation may alter soil type and reduce the availability of deep cracking clay.

Short-term drying may expose dry wetland beds for colonisation, but interruption of the natural wetting and drying cycle is not expected to benefit the species in the long term.

• Avoid changing runoff, floodplain flow paths or wetland inundation patterns where they maintain cracking clay and dense vegetation.
• Manage sediment, spoil and drainage so clay depressions and creek-line habitats are not filled or permanently waterlogged.

Threats: Fire, roads and other pressures

The supplied documents do not provide a species-specific assessment of fire, road mortality, fragmentation, introduced predators or disease. These pressures should still be considered where they remove dense ground cover, sever movement between refuge patches or increase mortality during construction.

Individuals have shifting home ranges and can travel more than 1 km in a few days, so isolated retained patches may not provide all required shelter and foraging habitat.

• Plan vehicle routes to avoid repeated travel across cracking clay and dense refuge habitat.
• Inspect work areas after rain and before clearing, because prey activity and planigale captures can increase on wet nights.
• Record and report captures, relocations, injuries and any occupied crack systems during project works.

Survey methodology: 1. Habitat assessment and daytime searches

Giles' Planigale is a small, mostly nocturnal dasyurid associated with deep cracking clay, drainage depressions, dry lake beds, creek lines and densely vegetated wet areas. Surveys should focus on soil cracks and adjoining tussock, chenopod, lignum and low shrub habitats, particularly where works may interrupt wetting and drying cycles.

Map deep cracking clay, drainage depressions, creek lines, dry wetland beds, ephemeral swamps, flood-outs, stony plains and clay interdune areas across the impact footprint and retained habitat.

Inspect soil cracks, litter, the bases of lignum and other dense shrubs, and vegetated margins for tracks, scats, carcasses, prey remains and active refuge sites.

Record crack depth and density, vegetation structure, recent flooding or drying, grazing, salinity and other disturbance because abundance is associated with the depth and density of soil cracks.

Typical habitat: Deep cracking clay on floodplains, creek and river margins, grassy plains, clay interdune areas, dry lakes, drainage depressions and ephemeral swamps.

Key refuge feature: Deep soil cracks, which provide shelter from heat and cold.

• Survey the full disturbance footprint and the adjoining retained habitat that could receive displaced animals.
• Give priority to areas with deep cracks beneath or near lignum, Queensland bluebush, chenopods, tussock grass and other dense low vegetation.
• Do not treat an absence of daytime sightings as evidence that the species is absent.

Survey methodology: 2. Spotlighting and nocturnal searching

Conduct searches from dusk, when the species is active above ground and in the crepuscular period.

Prioritise the first three hours after sunset and the hour before sunrise, when activity is concentrated.

Walk slowly along crack systems, drainage lines, dense grass, shrub margins and wetland edges, checking both the ground surface and low vegetation.

Activity period: Most activity occurs in the three hours after sunset and the hour before sunrise.

Daily activity: Individuals are active for about five hours per day on average.

Detection note: The species may climb in grass and shrubs or move through litter, as well as travelling through soil cracks.

• Use a consistent spotlighting route and record the route length, start and finish times, weather, moon phase, recent rain, habitat searched and number of observers.
• Repeat searches when conditions change, particularly after rain when prey availability and captures may increase.
• Use quiet approaches and avoid collapsing cracks or trampling dense refuge habitat during searches.

Survey methodology: 3. Trapping and targeted refuge checks

Use live trapping only where it is authorised, justified by the impact risk and undertaken by suitably experienced personnel under the relevant animal ethics and wildlife permit requirements.

Place traps along crack systems, beneath or beside lignum and other dense shrubs, and at the interface between soil cracks and the ground surface because the species forages both above and below ground.

Use weather-appropriate trap protection and inspect traps at the frequency required by the permit and animal welfare procedures, with particular care during hot, cold, wet or resource-poor conditions.

Body size: Head and body length is 6 to 8 cm in males and 6 to 7 cm in females; recorded weight is about 9.5 to 16 g in males and 5 to 9 g in females.

Refuge behaviour: Individuals rest deep in narrow soil cracks, often under lignum bushes.

• Do not trap during conditions that could expose this small mammal to overheating, chilling, flooding or prolonged food and water stress.
• Record trap locations, trap nights, bait, weather, checks, captures, non-target fauna and release locations.
• The supplied documents do not provide a species-specific number of trap nights, transect length or spotlighting nights, so set effort through the applicable state survey guidance and a documented project risk assessment.

Survey methodology: 4. Minimum effort and reporting

• Survey all potential Giles' Planigale habitat within the proposed disturbance area and inspect the retained habitat immediately beside the works.
• Use nocturnal searches in the principal activity periods and repeat searches after suitable rain or other material changes in conditions.
• Use live trapping only where the risk assessment shows that spotlighting and habitat searches are insufficient and all required approvals are in place.
• Document the area searched, effort, conditions, habitat, detection methods, results, photographs and spatial coordinates.
• Submit confirmed records, including records from pre-clearance, construction and incidental observations, to the relevant state wildlife database and provide records to the project environmental officer.
• Report the survey limitations, including inaccessible cracks, flooded areas, unsuitable weather and any gaps in trapping or spotlighting effort.

Before habitat disturbance: Avoid and minimise habitat loss

Plan works around the species' dependence on deep cracking clay and vegetated wet and dry areas. The main avoidance objective is to retain functioning crack systems, refuge vegetation and nearby habitat that supports its invertebrate prey.

Redesign the footprint where practicable to retain deep cracking clay, drainage depressions, creek lines, dry lake margins, ephemeral swamps, flood-outs and vegetated wetland beds.

Retain dense lignum, Queensland bluebush, chenopod, tussock grass, herb and low shrub cover associated with cracks.

Maintain connected areas of suitable refuge habitat between the disturbance footprint and nearby creek, floodplain and wetland areas.

Do not specify a generic buffer width where the supplied documents provide no distance; set exclusion distances from the mapped crack systems and the construction risk assessment.

• Fence and clearly mark no-go habitat before machinery enters the site.
• Keep stockpiles, access tracks, compounds, drainage works and spoil out of deep cracking clay and dense refuge vegetation where practicable.
• Prevent changes to natural runoff, flooding, drying and drainage that could remove cracking or reduce vegetation and prey availability.

Before habitat disturbance: Approvals and project controls

Confirm the current Commonwealth and state conservation status before works begin, including whether the project requires an EPBC Act referral, a Victorian approval or permit, or approvals in another state or territory.

Prepare a fauna management plan that identifies Giles' Planigale habitat, survey results, exclusion areas, fauna handling authority, stop-work triggers, release sites, incident contacts and reporting requirements.

Use the relevant state survey, animal welfare and wildlife handling requirements to set any trapping, spotlighting, relocation and monitoring procedures.

• Obtain written approval for fauna handling, trapping, relocation and rehabilitation before disturbance starts.
• Make the fauna management plan available to the project manager, supervisor, machinery operators and fauna spotter catcher.
• Brief all workers that a small animal found in a crack, grass tussock or shrub may be a Giles' Planigale even if it is not readily visible.

Before habitat disturbance: Timing and site preparation

Schedule clearing outside the breeding period where practicable, noting that breeding extends from mid-July to late January and that young may remain dependent until about 65 days.

Stage works so that undisturbed refuge habitat remains available while each work area is cleared and checked.

Complete a pre-clearance survey close to the clearing date because individuals have shifting home ranges and densities fluctuate between seasons and years.

Mark mapped crack systems, dense vegetation, wetland edges, animal refuge sites and proposed relocation habitat before machinery mobilisation.

Breeding period: Mid-July to late January.

Young: Young are independent at about 65 days; usual litter size is 6 to 8.

• Install exclusion fencing where it can prevent entry into the active work area without trapping animals against the fence or cutting off access to retained habitat.
• Remove hazards that could attract or trap fauna, such as open trenches, unsecured pipes and uncovered pits, before work starts.
• Confirm that the spotter catcher has safe access, communications and authority to pause machinery.

During habitat disturbance: Daily controls and spotter catcher procedure

Treat every deep crack and dense vegetated patch as potential refuge habitat during clearing. The fauna spotter catcher must have a direct line of communication with operators and enough time to inspect each work area before machinery advances.

Conduct a daily pre-start inspection of the active work area, exclusion fencing, trenches, stockpiles, drainage controls and mapped refuge features.

The fauna spotter catcher should walk the next work section before machinery enters, inspect cracks and dense vegetation, and maintain radio or visual contact with the operator.

Clear in short, controlled stages so the spotter catcher can inspect exposed soil, vegetation bases, cracks and debris before the next section is disturbed.

• Set a stop-work signal that every operator understands before work begins.
• Keep machinery speed low enough for the spotter catcher to identify and safely approach small animals.
• Keep open trenches, pits and pipes covered or ramped when unattended, and inspect them before work resumes.
• Suspend works when heat, cold, flooding, rain, smoke, dust or other conditions prevent safe fauna detection or handling.

During habitat disturbance: Handling habitat features

Retain deep cracking clay in place wherever possible rather than grading, compacting or filling it.

Move logs, rocks, dense vegetation and spoil only after they have been checked by the fauna spotter catcher, and place retained material in nearby suitable habitat if approved by the fauna management plan.

Protect creek lines, wetland beds, lignum stands, chenopod patches and tussock grass from unnecessary vehicle movements and sediment or drainage impacts.

Treat hollows, nest boxes and tree features as general fauna habitat; the supplied documents identify soil cracks and dense low vegetation, not tree hollows, as the main Giles' Planigale refuges.

• Do not use nest boxes or hollow-bearing tree management as a substitute for retaining cracking clay and associated ground cover.
• Do not collapse, burn or seal occupied cracks until the fauna spotter catcher has checked them and the authorised person has approved the action.
• Keep relocation habitat close to the impact area and within suitable retained habitat, rather than moving animals long distances.

During habitat disturbance: If an animal is found

Stop the relevant plant immediately and give the animal, spotter catcher and handler a safe working area.

Confirm identification where practicable, photograph the animal without delaying safe handling, and record the exact location, habitat and activity.

Only an appropriately authorised and experienced person should capture, handle or relocate the animal.

Release a healthy animal into nearby retained habitat with deep cracks, dense vegetation and suitable cover, following the approved fauna management plan.

• Do not handle the animal unnecessarily, expose it to direct sun, or place it in an unsuitable container.
• Do not relocate an animal across roads, waterways or unsuitable open ground unless this is specifically approved by the relevant authority.
• Take an injured, heat-stressed, cold-stressed or otherwise compromised animal to an authorised wildlife carer or veterinarian as soon as practicable.
• Stop work and seek specialist advice if the animal cannot be safely captured, if dependent young are suspected, or if repeated animals are found in the work area.

During habitat disturbance: Stop-work triggers and records

• Stop work if a Giles' Planigale is found in the active work area, if a refuge crack cannot be inspected, or if machinery would destroy an occupied or potentially occupied refuge before checking.
• Stop work if exclusion fencing fails, an animal enters the work area, a trench or pit traps fauna, or the approved release habitat is unavailable.
• Record every detection, capture, injury, death, relocation, release site, treatment, stop-work event, habitat feature affected and corrective action.
• Notify the project environmental officer and relevant authority in accordance with the approval conditions and fauna management plan.

After habitat disturbance: Post-clearance checks

Post-clearance checks should confirm that no animals remain in the disturbed area and that retained habitat has not been isolated, drained, compacted or buried. Monitoring should focus on whether crack systems, vegetation cover and wetting and drying processes remain functional.

Inspect the cleared area, retained edges, spoil areas, trenches, drains and exclusion fencing at the end of each clearing stage and before handover to construction.

Search exposed cracks, vegetation bases, litter, logs and rocks for animals or signs that were missed during staged clearing.

Check that retained lignum, chenopod, tussock and low shrub habitat has not been damaged by machinery, dust, sediment, fire or altered drainage.

• Keep fauna controls in place until the environmental officer confirms that the area is safe and no further clearing is planned.
• Repair damaged fencing and close or ramp fauna traps immediately.
• Repeat targeted searches if rain, flooding, drying or construction changes create new cracks, wetland beds or refuge habitat.

After habitat disturbance: Monitoring and reporting

Monitor retained and rehabilitated habitat for Giles' Planigales using consistent nocturnal searches and, where approved, live trapping or other methods selected by the ecologist.

Compare records with the pre-clearance baseline, while recognising that densities can fluctuate substantially between seasons and years.

Report habitat loss, animal incidents, relocation outcomes, monitoring effort, weather, methods, limitations and corrective actions to the project environmental officer and approval authorities.

Population pattern: Densities are generally low and can fluctuate between seasons and years.

Movement: Some individuals travel more than 1 kilometre in a few days and have shifting home ranges.

• Submit confirmed records and incidental observations to the relevant state wildlife database.
• Retain spatial data for all detections, release sites, retained crack systems, wetland areas and rehabilitation plots.
• Escalate repeated detections, population decline, failed rehabilitation or loss of cracking clay to the project ecologist and relevant regulator.

After habitat disturbance: Offsets and residual impacts

Assess residual loss of suitable cracking clay and associated wetland or floodplain habitat after avoidance, minimisation and rehabilitation measures are applied.

Use an approved offset or conservation measure where required by the relevant Commonwealth, state or territory approval.

Do not count temporary bare ground or artificial shelters as equivalent replacement habitat unless monitoring demonstrates that they support the required cracks, vegetation, prey and wetting and drying processes.

• Document the area, condition and tenure of any proposed offset or retained habitat.
• Link offset and rehabilitation commitments to measurable habitat outcomes and reporting dates.

Rehabilitation actions: Restore soil and hydrology

Rehabilitation should restore the physical and vegetation features used by Giles' Planigale, rather than relying on artificial shelters alone. The priority is functioning cracking clay with dense low cover, suitable prey and natural wetting and drying.

Replace or decompact suitable clay soil where the project has compacted or removed it, using methods that allow natural cracking to reform as the soil dries.

Reinstate natural drainage patterns and avoid permanent waterlogging, rapid drainage or erosion that would prevent the normal wetting and drying cycle.

Design wetland, flood-out and drainage rehabilitation to retain dry beds and vegetated margins as well as periods of inundation.

• Do not fill or seal existing deep cracks in retained habitat.
• Prevent salinity, sediment deposition and construction runoff from changing the soil conditions that support deep cracks.
• Use locally appropriate methods and confirm the final design with the project ecologist and relevant land manager.

Rehabilitation actions: Re-establish vegetation and cover

Plant or encourage native dwarf chenopod shrubs, herbs and grasses in and around rehabilitated cracking clay.

Re-establish lignum, Muehlenbeckia florulenta, and Queensland bluebush, Chenopodium auricomum, where they are appropriate to the local soil and water regime.

Retain or restore low shrubland, tussock grassland and open coolibah woodland where these communities form part of the local floodplain habitat.

• Use local provenance plants where available and protect new plantings from grazing until established.
• Retain fallen timber, rocks and litter where they provide general ground cover, but do not place them over cracks or drainage paths in a way that prevents access or inspection.
• Treat hollows and nest boxes as measures for other fauna where needed, not as replacement habitat for the species' primary crack refuges.

Rehabilitation actions: Weeds, predators, fire and success measures

Control weeds that reduce native tussock, shrub and herb cover or alter soil moisture and cracking.

Manage grazing and fire under the site fire plan so that dense refuge vegetation and soil structure are retained; the supplied documents do not provide a Giles' Planigale-specific fire interval.

Assess predator management only where a project-specific assessment identifies a demonstrated risk and an approved control method.

Relevant vegetation: Dwarf chenopods, herbs, grasses, lignum, Queensland bluebush, low shrubland and tussock grassland.

Habitat indicator: Presence, depth and density of soil cracks, with associated dense vegetation and suitable prey habitat.

• Monitor rehabilitation after suitable rain and during the species' activity period using the same search areas and methods used for the baseline.
• Measure crack presence, crack depth and density, native vegetation cover, lignum and chenopod establishment, wetland function, weed cover, grazing or fire impacts, and Giles' Planigale detections.
• Set success criteria before works finish, including the area of functioning cracking clay restored, the condition of associated vegetation and the number and trend of confirmed records over the agreed monitoring period.
• Repair erosion, failed plantings, altered drainage, weed outbreaks or damaged exclusion fencing when monitoring shows that rehabilitation is not progressing.

Sources

• Planigale gilesi, Aitken, 1972, tb.plazi.org: https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/html/EA7087C1FF83246FFFD0F7BC0C4902F5
• [PDF] Amphibian, Reptile & Mammal Vulnerability Assessments, South Australian Government: https://data.environment.sa.gov.au/Content/Publications/amph_rep_mam_vulnerabl_2011.pdf