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Moritz's Leaf-tailed Gecko (Saltuarius moritzi)

Moritz's leaf-tailed gecko is a nocturnal, mainly arboreal gecko of northeastern New South Wales. It uses rainforest, wet sclerophyll forest, gorges and wetter drainage lines, particularly where large trees, fallen logs, hollows, crevices and connected forest are retained. Clearing, removal of hollow-bearing trees, fragmentation, fire and introduced predators are relevant risks on development and infrastructure sites.

Conservation status

Commonwealth, EPBC Act 1999: Endangered.

New South Wales, Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016: Endangered.

Breeding season

Moritz’s Leaf-tailed Gecko is an egg-laying, nocturnal reptile. Available group-level evidence places wild breeding from October to January, but eggs and hatchlings may be present for several months after laying. Clearing controls should therefore apply year round, with particular attention to humid nest substrates, logs, hollows, crevices and other shelters.

Reproductive mode: Oviparous

Clutch size: Mean of 2 eggs

Incubation: Not recorded for this species. General Saltuarius guidance gives 65 to 90 days.

Size at hatching: 38.3 mm snout to vent

Age at maturity: At least 3 years, based on Saltuarius group information

Nest or egg sites: Humid substrates. Wild nest sites are not recorded for this species; general leaf-tailed gecko guidance also refers to sites under a leaf or log.

Breeding frequency: Not recorded for this species. General Saltuarius group information reports 3 to 4 clutches per year in captivity.

Confirm timing locally before works, because rainfall, temperature and site conditions may alter breeding and incubation timing, particularly across different elevations and habitats in the species’ range.

  • Mating: Species-specific mating months are not recorded. Group-level information places wild breeding from October to January, with mating occurring at night.
  • Gravid females: Months for gravid females are not recorded for this species. October to January is the best-supported general breeding window, so females carrying eggs may occur during these months.
  • Egg laying: Wild breeding and egg laying for the Saltuarius group generally occur from October to January. The species lays a mean clutch of 2 eggs; wild nest sites are not recorded.
  • Incubation: Incubation duration is not recorded for Moritz’s Leaf-tailed Gecko. General Saltuarius guidance gives 65 to 90 days, so eggs laid from October to January may remain in nests or humid substrates into the following months.
  • Hatchlings: Hatchling months are not recorded for this species. A 65 to 90 day general incubation period indicates that hatchlings from October to January laying may emerge mainly from December to April, depending on laying date and temperature.
  • Active period: The species is nocturnal, and no seasonal activity limits are recorded. Adults may therefore be surface active in every month, particularly at night.
  • Highest clearing risk: No peak clearing-risk months are established. Risk applies year round because the species uses tree hollows, fallen logs, rock crevices and connected forest for shelter, while breeding from October to January can add eggs, gravid females and later hatchlings.

Identification

This is a medium-sized, flat-bodied leaf-tailed gecko with a broad head, long thin toes and a broad, leaf-like tail. Identification in the field should consider location as well as appearance because several Saltuarius species have similar body shapes and variable colour patterns.

The body is flat and thin, with a head broader than the body, long limbs, long thin toes and claws, and a broad leaf-like tail. Colour and pattern vary widely, but the back is usually finely marbled in grey and light to dark brown, with a narrow dark-edged vertebral stripe, 3 to 6 pale bands and a prominent V-shaped marking between the eyes.

The original tail has continuous pale bands and a slender tip without tubercles. The underside is cream to pale grey and heavily peppered with fine brown specks. The gecko is nocturnal, so daytime searches should concentrate on likely shelters rather than exposed surfaces.

Maximum snout to vent length: 112.4 mm

Recorded adult female mean snout to vent length: 109.3 mm

Hatchling snout to vent length: 38.3 mm

Computed maximum body mass: 28.21 g, not a weighed value

Identification: Separating similar species

Moritz's leaf-tailed gecko is most similar to the granite leaf-tailed gecko, Saltuarius wyberba. Moritz's leaf-tailed gecko usually has two clearly defined narrow pale bands across the flared part of the original tail, a relatively narrow and deep V-shaped marking between the eyes, and less strongly contrasting dark head markings.

It can be distinguished from Kate's leaf-tailed gecko, Saltuarius kateae, by the rostral scale usually contacting the nostril and by large spinose tubercles usually being present on the upper surfaces of the toes. Kate's leaf-tailed gecko usually lacks these toe tubercles and the rostral scale is usually excluded from the nostril.

It is smaller than Saltuarius swaini, with a maximum snout to vent length of about 109 mm compared with 134 mm for S. swaini. S. moritzi also has narrower pale tail bands and a different snout-scale arrangement. Location remains important, particularly near the ranges of S. wyberba and S. kateae.

  • Do not identify a gecko from colour alone because colour and pattern are variable.
  • Photograph the head, nostril, toes, tail and dorsal pattern where this can be done without handling.
  • Seek specialist confirmation for records near known areas of overlap or where the toe tubercles and rostral scale cannot be resolved.

Identification: Field signs

No species-specific information is provided for tracks, scats, calls, sloughs or eyeshine. As a gecko that is mainly arboreal and nocturnal, direct observation, careful examination of hollow-bearing trees and targeted night searches are more reliable than searches for ground signs.

Daytime shelter records may occur on larger trees and fallen logs with hollows and crevices. Individuals may also be found on rock outcrops, boulders, escarpments and in gorges.

  • Record the exact tree, log, rock feature or crevice used by the animal.
  • Photograph the animal in place before considering capture.
  • Use an authorised fauna spotter catcher for handling, removal or relocation.

Distribution: Range and bioregional setting

Moritz's leaf-tailed gecko is restricted to New South Wales. Its known range extends from the Hunter River in the south to the Clarence River in the north, and from coastal areas west through gorge systems onto the New England Tableland.

The species is patchily distributed in northeastern New South Wales, including the coastal forests and ranges between the Hunter and Clarence Rivers and the New England Tableland. Documented localities include areas around Bulahdelah, the Manning and Nambucca river systems, Coffs Harbour, Dorrigo, Ebor Falls, New England National Park, Armidale, Comboyne Plateau and the Clarence River hinterland.

The range includes wet forest on the coast and tablelands, gorge systems and wetter drainage lines in drier forest. The species is not documented from another Australian state in the supplied sources.

State range: New South Wales only

Southern limit: Hunter River area

Northern limit: Clarence River area

Extent of occurrence: 34,866 km²

Area of occupancy: 408 km², calculated using 2 by 2 km grid cells

Elevation records: 187 to 1,032 m above sea level

Distribution: Subpopulations and strongholds

Four subpopulations are estimated from the available distribution and genetic information. The northwestern subpopulation is patchily distributed between Dorrigo, Armidale and Washpool National Park.

The coastal component comprises three geographically distinct clusters: Nambucca Heads north to the Clarence River, Taree north to Port Macquarie, and Bulahdelah north to around Gloucester. The northwestern and northernmost coastal subpopulations occur close together on the Dorrigo Plateau and are treated as one threat-defined location, leaving three threat-defined locations overall.

Known records occur in reserves and state forest areas, but reserve occurrence does not remove the need to retain habitat outside reserves because forest continuity supports dispersal.

  • Treat records from the Dorrigo Plateau, New England Tableland, Coffs Harbour and the mid-north coast as potentially significant for subpopulation connectivity.
  • Map the location of all records against the three threat-defined locations used in the NSW assessment.
  • Retain connected forest between occupied or potentially occupied habitat wherever a project design allows.

Distribution: Population status

No population survey has produced an estimate of mature individuals. The NSW assessment infers continuing decline in geographic distribution, habitat area and quality, and mature individuals from fire, clearing and drought-related climate change.

The 2019 to 2020 fires affected about 44% of the known distribution. An expert elicitation estimated a median population decline of 12% one year after fire, with a plausible range of 3% to 26%, although effects could be greater where habitat and fire conditions resemble those affecting the related S. kateae.

Estimated mature population: Not known

Population trend: Continuing decline is inferred, but there is no direct population estimate

Fire-affected known distribution: Approximately 44%

Estimated decline one year after the 2019 to 2020 fires: 12%, with a plausible range of 3% to 26%

Habitat: Forest types

Moritz's leaf-tailed gecko occupies moist forest settings from the coast to the New England Tableland. It is primarily arboreal but also uses rocks, gorges and other hard surfaces.

Recorded habitat includes rainforest, wet sclerophyll forest, gorges and wetter drainage lines within dry sclerophyll forest. The original species account recorded animals on the trunks of flooded gums, at the bases of hollow dead trees, in closed forest on emergent Tristania trees, and on rock outcrops, escarpments and gorges.

The species occurs across a broad elevational range, but its distribution is patchy and depends on suitable forest structure and connections between habitat patches.

Recorded elevation: 187 to 1,032 m above sea level

Recorded forest settings: Rainforest, wet sclerophyll forest, gorges and wetter drainage lines in dry sclerophyll forest

  • Assess both living and dead trees in wet forest, rainforest margins, riparian forest and wetter drainage lines.
  • Include gorge margins, escarpments, boulder fields and rock outcrops in habitat assessments.
  • Treat connected forest as habitat even when no gecko is detected during a survey.

Habitat: Structural features

Large old trees with hollows are important because the species is primarily arboreal. Larger trees and fallen logs containing crevices and hollows are used as daytime shelter and may also provide foraging surfaces.

Forest continuity has been identified as necessary for individual dispersal. Clearing that removes isolated large trees, fallen hollow logs or connecting vegetation can therefore affect both occupied habitat and movement between patches.

  • Locate, mark and retain large hollow-bearing trees wherever practicable.
  • Retain fallen hollow logs, connected canopy and vegetation around drainage lines and forest edges.
  • Inspect trees, logs and adjoining crevices before felling, demolition or ground disturbance.

Foraging habitat: Diet

The species is a nocturnal generalist predator. It forages in trees and on other hard surfaces within forest habitat, although the supplied documents do not provide a measured foraging distance or home range.

Leaf-tailed geckos of the genus Saltuarius feed mainly on arthropods. Recorded prey groups include spiders, bugs, moths, grasshoppers, cockroaches and beetles.

No species-specific information is supplied on prey plants, prey densities, feeding frequency or the distance travelled during foraging.

Feeding period: Nocturnal

Prey: Arthropods, including spiders, bugs, moths, grasshoppers, cockroaches and beetles

Measured foraging range: Not reported

  • Retain vegetation and coarse woody debris that support nocturnal arthropod prey.
  • Avoid unnecessary removal of hollow-bearing trees, fallen logs and connected canopy near known records.
  • Limit night lighting and night-time activity around retained habitat where practicable because the species is nocturnal.

Foraging habitat: Foraging structures

Individuals have been observed on larger trees and fallen logs and may forage on rock outcrops and boulders. This indicates that both arboreal surfaces and nearby rocky features can contribute to foraging habitat.

Retaining only the tree where an animal is found may not retain the surrounding foraging area. Assess adjoining trees, logs, rocks, drainage lines and connected forest.

  • Include trees, fallen logs, boulders, rock outcrops and gorge edges in the habitat retained around a record.
  • Keep lighting, machinery and access tracks away from retained foraging structures where practicable.
  • Record whether a detection was on a tree, log, rock, boulder or other surface.

Breeding habitat: Breeding biology

The species lays eggs, but the supplied documents provide little information on breeding timing, incubation, maturity or lifespan. Breeding habitat should be protected wherever suitable trees, logs, hollows, crevices and connected forest occur.

Moritz's leaf-tailed gecko is oviparous and the mean clutch is 2 eggs. The documents do not state the breeding months, incubation period, age at maturity or lifespan.

No species-specific nest site description is provided. Retention of hollow-bearing trees, fallen logs, crevices and forest continuity is the best-supported habitat approach for protecting breeding and recruitment habitat.

Breeding mode: Oviparous

Clutch size: Mean of 2 eggs

Breeding season: Not reported in the supplied sources

Incubation period: Not reported

Age at maturity: Not reported

Lifespan: Not reported

Breeding habitat: Breeding habitat protection

Large old trees with hollows, hollow dead trees, fallen logs with crevices and connected forest are the main habitat features identified for the species. These features should be retained through project planning and clearing supervision because a breeding site may not be visible from the ground.

Where removal cannot be avoided, a qualified fauna spotter catcher should inspect the feature and apply the relevant approval conditions before disturbance.

  • Inspect hollow-bearing trees and large fallen logs before disturbance.
  • Retain connected vegetation around drainage lines, gorges and forest patches.
  • Avoid disturbing occupied or potentially occupied shelter features during night-time activity.

Sheltering habitat: Tree and log refuges

Daytime shelter is associated with trees, logs and rock features that provide hollows, crevices and concealed surfaces. Exact refuge dimensions have not been reported.

The species is most frequently observed on larger trees and fallen logs containing crevices and hollows, where it presumably shelters during the day. Large old trees with hollows are particularly important because the species is primarily arboreal.

The supplied sources do not provide minimum hollow diameter, cavity depth, tree diameter or log dimensions.

Known tree refuge size: Not specified

Known log refuge size: Not specified

  • Retain large old trees with hollows, including dead hollow-bearing trees where safe to do so.
  • Retain fallen logs with hollows and deep crevices.
  • Inspect cavities, bark fissures and log crevices before felling, relocation or removal.

Sheltering habitat: Rock refuges

Individuals occasionally forage on rock outcrops and boulders, and the species has been recorded on rocks at escarpments and in gorges. These features may also provide shelter, particularly where cracks and crevices are present.

The species is more arboreal than the related Kate's leaf-tailed gecko, and the supplied assessment notes that trees may provide less protection from fire than rock structures.

  • Retain rock outcrops, boulders, gorge walls and associated crevices near forest habitat.
  • Do not assume that an apparently unoccupied rock feature is unused during daylight.
  • Manage fire, machinery and access around retained rock and tree refuges.

Threats: Clearing and fragmentation

The main threats are adverse fire regimes, clearing and fragmentation, drought and climate change, and predation by introduced cats and foxes. These threats can act together, especially where fire or clearing removes cover and isolates forest patches.

Clearing removes suitable forest, hollow-bearing trees, fallen logs and connecting habitat. The NSW assessment infers continuing decline in habitat area, extent and quality from land clearing and fragmentation.

Loss of forest continuity can restrict dispersal between subpopulations and degrade the habitat matrix between occupied sites. Forestry and infrastructure works should therefore assess the wider retained forest connection, not only the footprint containing a record.

Area of occupancy: 408 km²

Threat-defined locations: Three

  • Avoid clearing large old trees, hollow-bearing trees, fallen hollow logs and riparian or drainage-line forest.
  • Minimise the width of linear clearings and maintain vegetated connections between retained forest patches.
  • Use pre-clearing inspections and staged clearing where habitat removal is approved.
  • Record and protect all gecko observations, including animals found outside mapped high-quality habitat.

Threats: Fire and drought

The 2019 to 2020 bushfires affected about 44% of the known distribution. High frequency fire can remove vegetation structure and composition, and fire frequency and intensity are expected to increase with climate change.

Drought can increase fire vulnerability, reduce canopy cover through dieback, alter forest structure and promote weed invasion. Fire scars may also increase exposure to introduced predators.

Known distribution affected by the 2019 to 2020 fires: Approximately 44%

Estimated one-year post-fire decline: 12%, with a plausible range of 3% to 26%

  • Protect unburnt forest, hollow-bearing trees, fallen logs and connected moist habitat during fire planning and recovery works.
  • Avoid unnecessary removal of standing and fallen woody habitat after fire.
  • Include drought, canopy loss and future fire exposure in the assessment of retained habitat.

Threats: Predators and other pressures

Feral cats and European red foxes prey on small reptiles, including arboreal geckos. Both predators can exploit fire scars and target vulnerable survivors. Fire and fragmentation can therefore increase predation pressure at the same time as they reduce habitat.

Climate change may make some currently occupied habitat unsuitable through increased temperatures, altered rainfall and longer droughts. The supplied documents do not identify a species-specific disease or hydrology-impact study.

  • Control or avoid attracting feral cats and foxes around construction compounds, access tracks and fire-affected habitat.
  • Keep food waste, shelter and artificial water sources that may support introduced predators away from retained habitat.
  • Treat clearing near wetter drainage lines and gorges as a potential habitat impact even where the work area is not classified as rainforest.
  • Do not assume that the absence of disease records means disease risk has been assessed for this species.

Survey methodology: 1. Habitat assessment and diurnal searches

Survey the retained habitat before clearing, with emphasis on nocturnal searches of trees, logs, rock features and forest edges. The supplied documents do not provide a species-specific survey guideline or minimum survey effort, so the project ecologist must apply the current relevant state survey guideline and document the basis for any variation.

Map rainforest, wet sclerophyll forest, gorges, wetter drainage lines in dry sclerophyll forest, rock outcrops, boulders, large trees, fallen logs, tree hollows, crevices and continuous forest connections.

Prioritise habitat between the Hunter River and Clarence River in northern New South Wales, including the eastern Great Dividing Range, and assess sites from about 187 to 1,032 metres elevation where applicable.

Inspect large trees and fallen logs with hollows or crevices, tree bases, rock outcrops, escarpments, gorges and connected forest because these are recorded sheltering, foraging or dispersal features for the species.

Known extent of occurrence: 34,866 km²

Estimated area of occupancy: 408 km²

Recorded elevation: 187 to 1,032 metres above sea level

  • Record the location, condition and connectivity of each habitat feature using project spatial data and photographs.
  • Do not treat an absence during a daytime inspection as evidence that the species is absent, because the gecko is nocturnal and may shelter in hollows or crevices during the day.

Survey methodology: 2. Nocturnal spotlighting

Conduct nocturnal spotlighting in suitable retained habitat because Moritz’s leaf-tailed gecko is nocturnal and primarily arboreal.

Search the trunks and bases of large trees, fallen logs, hollow-bearing trees, rock faces, boulders, gorge margins and forest along wetter drainage lines.

Search after dark under suitable safe conditions, and record the start and finish time, personnel, weather, route, area covered, visibility, wind, rainfall and any limitations to detection.

Use a repeatable transect or search-area design selected under the applicable state survey guideline; the supplied documents do not specify a required number of nights, hours, transects or search area for this species.

Activity period: Nocturnal

Recorded habitat use: Arboreal and saxicolous

  • Move slowly and scan tree trunks, branches, logs and rock surfaces at different heights rather than searching only at ground level.
  • Record every detection with coordinates, observation time, height above ground, substrate, behaviour, photograph and identification confidence.
  • Avoid touching or removing bark, disturbing hollows or climbing trees during a survey unless authorised by the project method and safety system.

Survey methodology: 3. Targeted feature searches and trapping decisions

Search likely shelter sites during daylight only where this can be done without damaging hollow-bearing trees, logs, rocks or crevices.

Use photographs and independent review for uncertain detections because the species can vary greatly in colour and pattern and may resemble related leaf-tailed geckos.

Do not install pitfall, funnel or cage traps solely on the basis of the supplied documents, because they provide no species-specific trapping design, trap nights, trap spacing or trap success information.

If trapping is proposed, obtain approval from the relevant wildlife authority and set out trap type, spacing, checking frequency, weather limits, shade, shelter, escape measures and release procedures in the approved survey plan.

  • Distinguish the species from related Saltuarius by location and morphology, including the usual large spinose tubercles on the upper surface of the toes, the usual rostral and nostril contact, and the narrow V-shaped marking between the eyes.
  • Treat records near the Clarence River, Dorrigo Plateau, Armidale, Washpool National Park, Coffs Harbour, Comboyne, Bulahdelah and the New England Tableland as requiring careful taxonomic checking because several related taxa occur in the region.

Survey methodology: Minimum effort and reporting

  • Use the current state or territory survey guideline for the final number of survey nights, search hours, transects, area and seasonal coverage, because no species-specific effort is given in the supplied documents.
  • Survey all habitat proposed for clearing and a suitable retained-habitat control area where the design allows comparison.
  • Report negative results with the surveyed area, effort, dates, conditions, observers, detection constraints and habitat description.
  • Submit confirmed records, photographs and coordinates to the relevant state wildlife database and the Atlas of Living Australia where appropriate.
  • Retain all raw survey data, spatial files, photographs, weather observations, incidental records and taxonomic advice with the project environmental records.

Before habitat disturbance: Avoid and minimise habitat loss

Avoid clearing the species’ shelter and movement habitat wherever practicable. The principal planning risks are loss of hollow-bearing trees, forest fragmentation, fire, drought and increased exposure to introduced predators.

  • Retain large old trees with hollows, fallen logs, connected forest, riparian or drainage-line vegetation, rock outcrops, boulders, escarpments, gorges and crevices.
  • Redesign the disturbance footprint to avoid removing continuous forest connections, because continuity of forest habitat supports dispersal.
  • Retain habitat around each known record and maintain connections between retained patches, with the buffer dimensions set by the relevant approval, survey guideline and site risk assessment rather than an invented species-specific distance.
  • Avoid clearing during periods of severe dryness or elevated fire risk where the work could increase fire exposure or remove shelter before the species can be located.

Before habitat disturbance: Approvals and project controls

Estimated subpopulations: Four

NSW threat-defined locations: Three

  • Check the current EPBC Act listing and refer the action if the project may have a significant impact on this nationally listed species or its habitat.
  • Obtain all required state or territory threatened-species, wildlife handling, clearing and animal ethics approvals before survey, capture, relocation or clearing.
  • Prepare a fauna management plan that identifies habitat, survey effort, authorised personnel, stop-work triggers, handling limits, release sites, injury response, weather limits, reporting and post-clearance checks.
  • Confirm whether the work affects one of the four estimated subpopulations or the three threat-defined locations identified in the NSW determination.

Before habitat disturbance: Site preparation and staging

  • Complete the approved pre-clearance survey shortly before works begin and repeat it if the footprint, timing or habitat condition changes.
  • Mark all retained trees, logs, rocks, hollows, crevices, drainage-line vegetation and exclusion areas before machinery enters the site.
  • Stage clearing so that retained forest and shelter features remain connected while fauna searches and any authorised relocation are completed.
  • Install exclusion fencing where it can safely prevent machinery entry without blocking the species’ movement between retained forest patches.
  • Brief all operators and spotters on the species’ nocturnal habits, arboreal habitat, identification features, exclusion zones and stop-work procedure.

During habitat disturbance: Daily controls and spotter coordination

Keep the fauna spotter catcher integrated with the clearing crew, not working behind the machinery. Stop work when an animal, occupied shelter feature or unexpected habitat risk is identified.

  • Conduct the daily pre-start inspection with the spotter catcher, supervisor and machine operator before disturbance begins.
  • Recheck marked trees, logs, rocks, hollows, crevices, drainage lines, exclusion fencing and access routes each day.
  • Use a defined exclusion zone around the active clearing area and give the spotter catcher enough time to inspect each feature before machinery moves it.
  • Clear progressively from the disturbed area towards retained habitat so animals have an unobstructed path to safe retained forest, unless the approved fauna plan specifies another method.
  • Use low-speed, controlled machinery movements near hollow-bearing trees, fallen logs, rock features and dense vegetation.

During habitat disturbance: Habitat feature handling

  • Do not fell or remove hollow-bearing trees, large logs, rocks or boulders until the spotter catcher has inspected them and the approved method allows their disturbance.
  • Where an occupied or potentially occupied tree must be removed, use the approved staged-felling method and place the tree or suitable sections in retained habitat if directed by the fauna plan.
  • Keep retained logs, hollow sections, rocks and bark in a position and orientation that preserves shelter, crevices and access for arboreal and saxicolous fauna.
  • Protect wetter drainage lines, riparian vegetation, gorges and connected forest from machinery wash, sediment, fire and unnecessary access.
  • Do not burn felled habitat material before it has been inspected and cleared under the approved fauna procedure.

During habitat disturbance: Animal encounters, injury and stop-work

  • Stop the machine and establish an exclusion zone immediately if a Moritz’s leaf-tailed gecko is seen, injured, trapped or suspected to be inside a tree, log, rock feature or crevice being disturbed.
  • Allow only an appropriately authorised fauna handler to capture, handle, examine or relocate the animal.
  • Minimise handling and keep the animal cool, shaded and secure in a suitable ventilated container while the authorised handler confirms the release decision.
  • Relocate a healthy animal only under the approved fauna plan, to nearby suitable retained habitat with connected forest, shelter features and conditions appropriate to the capture site.
  • Take an injured animal to an appropriately qualified veterinarian or authorised wildlife carer as soon as practicable, and record the transfer.
  • Stop work and obtain ecological advice if the animal cannot be safely removed, if a second animal is found, if occupied habitat features are discovered, or if fire, heat, drought, smoke or machinery conditions make the approved method unsafe.
  • Record the date, time, coordinates, habitat feature, observer, photographs, action taken, release location, condition and any mortality or injury.

After habitat disturbance: Post-clearance checks

Confirm that clearing has not left animals or hazardous habitat features in the work area. Continue controls after construction because fire, predators, fragmentation and loss of tree hollows can affect the species after the machinery has left.

  • Complete a systematic inspection of the cleared footprint, retained edges, felled tree sections, log piles, rock piles, excavations, drainage structures and exclusion fencing.
  • Undertake additional nocturnal searches where the pre-clearance assessment identified suitable arboreal, saxicolous or hollow-bearing habitat that could not be fully inspected before clearing.
  • Secure or remove artificial pits, trenches, pipes and other fauna hazards, and check them at the frequency required by the fauna management plan until they are closed.
  • Confirm that retained trees, logs, rocks, drainage-line vegetation and forest connections remain undamaged and accessible.

After habitat disturbance: Monitoring and reporting

Estimated one-year decline after the 2019 to 2020 fires: 12%, with a plausible range of 3% to 26%

Known distribution affected by the 2019 to 2020 fires: Approximately 44%

  • Monitor retained habitat and restoration areas using repeatable nocturnal searches and the same route, effort and conditions recorded during baseline surveys.
  • Investigate any decline in detections, fire damage, new clearing, drought stress, weed invasion, predator activity or loss of hollow-bearing trees.
  • Report all sightings, injuries, deaths, relocations, habitat damage, non-compliance and corrective actions to the project environmental officer and the relevant authority where required.
  • Update the project risk assessment if monitoring shows that retained patches are isolated or that animals are using construction areas or fire scars.

After habitat disturbance: Ongoing approvals and offsets

  • Maintain all approval conditions, fauna controls, exclusion fencing, habitat protection measures and reporting commitments for the period specified in the approval.
  • Apply the approved offset or biodiversity conservation measures where residual impacts cannot be avoided or minimised.
  • Ensure any offset or conservation action protects suitable forest, hollow-bearing trees, connected habitat and the relevant genetic or subpopulation values rather than only recording area.

Rehabilitation actions: Rebuild habitat structure

Rehabilitation should rebuild connected forest structure and shelter features used by a nocturnal, mainly arboreal gecko. It should address the species’ exposure to fire, drought, clearing, fragmentation and introduced predators.

  • Replant locally appropriate rainforest and wet sclerophyll forest species, and species suitable for wetter drainage lines and dry sclerophyll forest edges, using the pre-clearing vegetation community as the planting reference.
  • Restore continuous vegetation links between retained forest patches and avoid creating narrow isolated strips where a wider connected route can be provided.
  • Retain and protect naturally occurring large trees, hollow-bearing trees, fallen logs, boulders, rock outcrops, escarpments, gorges and crevices.
  • Place salvaged logs and suitable hollow sections in stable, shaded locations connected to retained forest, and use nest boxes only where approved habitat works identify a need and specify a design suitable for this gecko.
  • Do not assume that nest boxes replace mature hollow-bearing trees, because the species is recorded using large old trees with hollows for shelter and foraging.

Rehabilitation actions: Fire, weeds and predators

  • Prepare a site-specific fire management plan that protects retained and rehabilitated forest from high-frequency or high-intensity fire while complying with lawful ecological burning requirements.
  • Manage weeds and canopy loss so that drought-related dieback does not reduce shelter or increase fire exposure and weed invasion.
  • Control feral cats and European red foxes in accordance with approved pest management programs, particularly around fire scars, retained habitat and rehabilitation areas.
  • Prevent construction activities from increasing fragmentation, soil disturbance, artificial shelter for predators or access into retained forest.

Rehabilitation actions: Monitoring and success measures

Species range described in the NSW determination: From the Hunter River south to the Clarence River north

Recognised genetic or evolutionary significant units: Two

  • Monitor plant survival, canopy development, forest connectivity, retained and installed shelter features, weed cover, fire impacts and predator activity against measurable project targets.
  • Repeat nocturnal surveys in rehabilitation and retained control areas using the same search method, effort, timing and weather records so changes in detection can be assessed.
  • Treat successful rehabilitation as more than plant establishment: confirm that connected forest, large-tree recruitment, shelter features and safe movement routes are being maintained.
  • Review the rehabilitation method if monitoring records continuing habitat decline, loss of mature trees, reduced connectivity, predator concentration or repeated fire damage.

Sources