In golf course development there is frequently remnant vegetation on the areas unused for infrastructure. We propose that these areas, together with a whole range of other reserves including sporting fields, cemeteries, railway reserves and educational facilities may be the source of degraded remnant vegetation and associated open space that could be used to provide offsets for biodiversity. We followed the changes in vertebrate biodiversity with low key alteration to management of the Camden Lakeside Golf Course to assess if such areas had the potential for biodiversity banking offsets. Birds, bats, frogs and reptiles increased in species diversity over time. Frogs and reptiles tended to peak in species numbers during the observational period but bat and bird diversity continued to increase. We concluded that on this 'island' within a matrix of urbanisation and cleared agricultural lands without remnant vegetation, observed changes in diversity made such areas potential sites for biodiversity banking offsets.

No abstract

Vehicle collision resulting in animal mortality is a common daily occurrence, although few studies have considered the impact on herpetofauna in urban areas. Over a 7 year period (2003 -2010), 1.4 km of suburban streets of Falconbridge that interface with the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, west of Sydney, was surveyed on foot two to four days a week, typically soon after dawn. Over the period a total of 86 reptiles that represented 20 species: 38% of the lizard and 56% of snake species known from the area were collected as road kills due to collision with vehicles. This equated to approximately one individual per month that was collected across the 7 years. Representatives of six frog species were also identified as road kills (33% of the local frog fauna). In Faulconbridge, 20-30 km of 50 km/hr roadways interface with the national park and there are 26 towns within the World Heritage Area. Each of these towns has a network of streets that covers much more than just the perimeter of the town, and there are two major highways that bisect the World Heritage Area. Although an average death rate of one reptile per month may be considered negligible, the cumulative loss of reptiles due to vehicle collision in the region is an ecological disaster.

Despite international concern for biodiversity loss, as urban pressure increases on the Cumberland Plain of Western Sydney, the native vegetation continues to be lost despite being classified as an 'endangered ecological community' under both state and federal legislation. While substantial sized remnants may evoke public attention, small developments are often approved without adequate attention to the long term impact on even the threatened species of the Plain. In this paper we provide examples of the way in which remnants that may be only a single housing lot in size, can be habitat for protected species. The ongoing loss of these, often tiny reservoirs, is undoubtedly resulting in the loss of native biodiversity by '1000 cuts'.

Over time native vegetation remnants in urban areas are typically eroded in size and number due to pressures from urban expansion and consolidation. Such remnants, frequently neglected and invaded by weeds, may constitute the last remaining habitat for some species' populations in urban areas. In the restoration of remnants for biodiversity, weed removal is often a high priority but there is a dearth of information on the role that exotic vegetation plays as habitat for fauna such as small reptiles. We investigated the vegetation type preference of urban remnants at the edge of a Sydney golf course by Amphibolurus muricatus, the native jacky lizard. The three vegetation types present were Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub (an Endangered Ecological Community) with sparse groundcover, dense stands of the introduced Eragrostis curvula African love grass, and open fairways of lawn: three structurally different habitats. Captured jacky lizards were spooled and their movements traced by following the thread left as they moved through their home range. Jacky lizards preferred areas that afford them most cover. While they foraged throughout the stands of love grass, they tended to avoid the edge of native vegetation remnants. They also basked on the lawn close to the vegetation where they had recently foraged, or traversed it to enter natural vegetation or grass. We concluded that introduced love grass offered additional habitat because of the relatively dense vegetation cover, and that areas should not be managed with the assumption that invasive weeds are detrimental to native species without appropriate assessment.