In addition to the above population, approximately 34.17 ha of suitable habit was mapped for the species within the project area. Suitable habitat for the species, within the project area, has been described as both remnant, HVR and non-remnant vegetation on steep slopes and hill crests with shallow, well drained, sandy loam soils derived from sandstone or basalt volcanic rocks. Remnant/HVR suitable habitat is defined as woodland to open forests dominated by of Blakella citriodora, Corymbia trachyphloia, Syncarpia glomulifera and/or Acacia spp.. Non- remnant suitable habitat is defined as young Acacia spp . regrowth with mixed native and exotic grassy ground cover.
Representative photos of C. megacarpa specimens observed in the project area are presented in Plate 3-2.
3.5.1.2 Koala – likely to occur
The koala ( Phascolarctos cinereus ) is listed as endangered under the EPBC Act and NC Act.
Koala habitat is generally defined as coastal and inland areas supporting Eucalyptus forests and woodlands (DAWE, 2022b). Koala habitat includes places that contain resources necessary for foraging, survival, growth, reproduction and movement. This includes forests or woodlands, road-side and rail vegetation and paddock trees, safe intervening ground matrix for travelling between trees, and patches to forage, shelter and reproduce, and access to vegetated corridors or paddock trees to facilitate movement between patches (DAWE, 2022b). The species has a specialist diet, feeding on the leaves of select species of Eucalyptus, Lophostemon, Corymbia , Angophora and occasionally Melaleuca and Leptospermum (Martin and Handasyde, 1999; Moore and Foley, 2000). Consequently, koalas are reliant on access to stands of forest and woodland that support key food-tree species. Koalas move distances of up to 10 km in urban south-east Queensland (DAWE 2022b) and 16 km in rural south-east Queensland (DAWE, 2022b). For the rest of the year, koalas move relatively little within home ranges that vary between 8 ha and 135 ha (DAWE, 2022b). In semi-arid areas on the western fringe of the species’ distribution, habitat selectivity is high, and occupancy is generally restricted to riparian/drainage line habitats (DAWE, 2022b). The nearest historical records of koalas are from Taunton National Park, located approximately 117 km west of the project area, with the most recent record dated 2011 (KoalaTracker, 2023). Although no koalas or signs of their presence were observed during field surveys, the species is considered likely to occur at low densities within the project area and the surrounding landscape. Locally important koala food tree (LIKT) species named for the Brigalow Belt Bioregion in Youngentob et al (2021), (i.e. Eucalyptus crebra, E. melanophloia, E. microcarpa, E. moluccana and E. saligna ) were dominant in two of the REs present within the project area as shown in bold below: – RE11.12.6 Blakella (syn. Corymbia) citriodora, Eucalyptus crebra, E. microcarpa/E. moluccana, Angophora leiocarpa and E. melanophloia open forest to woodland – RE 11.10.2 Eucalyptus saligna , Syncarpia glomulifera subsp. glomulifera open forest. Both REs represent koala foraging habitat critical to the survival of the species. The other RE present (11.10.4) supports ancillary tree species named for the Brigalow Belt Bioregion in Youngentob et al (2021) including Eucalyptus decorticans and Blakella (syn. Corymbia ) citriodora and may represent koala shelter habitat critical to the survival of the species. Areas of cleared non-remnant at the east of the project area provide potential koala dispersal habitat. These observations may indicate habitat critical to the survival of the species.
Suitable koala habitat within the survey area is shown below in Plate 3-9 and Figure 3-7.
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