VEGETATION MANAGEMENT PLAN for Bidjigal Reserve - Land

Vegetation Management Plan - Bidjigal Reserve• It has poor recovery potential.The Powerful Owl is the largest owl in Australasia (DECC 2008b). As a result of its size and ecology,the Powerful Owl requires large tracts of forest or woodland habitat; however, it is known to occurin fragmented landscapes as well. The species typically breeds and hunts in open or closedsclerophyll forest or woodlands mainly on medium-sized arboreal marsupials, particularly theGreater Glider, Common Ringtail Possum and Sugar Glider. Powerful Owls nest in large tree hollows(at least 0.5 m deep), and in large eucalypts that are at least 150 years old. They are monogamousand mate for life. Nesting occurs from late autumn to mid-winter.DECC (2008b) have listed a number of threats known to the Powerful Owl, and provides a list ofmeasures land owners with Powerful Owl populations can employ to assist in the recovery of thisspecies. This information has been summarised in Table 4.4.Table 4.4: Threats and Recovery Strategies for the Powerful Owl known to Occur within BidjigalReserve, Baulkham Hills LGA (Sourced from DECC 2008b)THREATS• Loss and fragmentation of suitable forest andwoodland habitat from land clearing forresidential and agricultural development. This lossalso affects the populations of arboreal preyspecies which reduces food availability for thePowerful Owl.• Loss of hollow-bearing trees reduces theavailability of suitable nest sites and prey habitat.• Sensitive to disturbance around the nest site,particularly during pre-laying, laying and downychick stages. Disturbance during the breedingperiod may affect breeding success.• High frequency hazard reduction burning mayalso reduce the longevity of individuals byaffecting prey availability.• Road kills.• Secondary poisoning.• Predation of fledglings by foxes, dogs and cats.RECOVERY• Retain large stands of native vegetation,especially those containing hollow-bearing trees.• Protect hollow-bearing trees for nest sites.Younger recruitment trees should also be retainedto replace older trees in the long-term.• Minimise visits to nests and other disturbances,including surveys using call playback, when owlsare breeding.• Apply low-intensity, mosaic pattern fuel reductionregimes.• Retain at least a 200 metre buffer of nativevegetation around known nesting sites.• Protect riparian vegetation to preserve roostingareas.Eastern Bentwing-bat (Miniopterus schreibersii oceanensis)Although the Eastern Bentwing-bat (Miniopterus schreibersii oceanensis) was not recorded in thecurrent field investigations, a population is known to roost in a tunnel along Banksia Creek, underthe M2 Motorway (Caragh Threlfall, pers. comm.). According to data collected in a separate studyundertaken by UNSW (2008), the roost is 600 individuals strong, and has been recently (winter 2008)used as an over wintering habitatWhen re-visited in September (2008), only a few individuals were present, as the population hadmoved to the maternity roost, most likely located in the Blue Mountains (Caragh Threlfall, pers.comm.). No individuals were observed in the current field investigations (October/early November).The Eastern Bentwing-bat is listed as ‘vulnerable’ on the schedules of the NSW TSC Act.UBM Ecological Consultants Pty Ltd 61