Prioritising locations for investment based on threats to reptiles and ecosystems within the Condamine Catchment

Abstract

[Abstract]: The biodiversity of the Condamine Catchment is constantly under threat from various sources and with varying impact. Site and road maintenance, inappropriate grazing and fire regimes, clearing of vegetation, weeds and feral animals present threats to reptiles. In the past 200 years 60% or 13 million hectares of the original vegetation has been cleared. To ensure no further loss of biodiversity, priority locations for investment need to be identified for identification and abatement of threats. This project aims to locate and quantify such places within the Condamine Catchment, as they relate to threatened reptile colonies. Representing less than 2% of total sightings, reptiles account for 13% of the species identified as threatened. The methods in this study represented an effective way of taking point data, in this case sightings of threatened reptiles, in a catchment and by applying Boolean logic in a GIS, mapping polygon locations of interest. Available data was in the form of shapefiles in format useable by ArcGIS and Excel tables. The selected vegetation communities relating to reptile sightings totalled 40,887 hectares in area, of which 27,889 hectares also contained other non-reptile endangered, vulnerable or rare species. These vegetation communities are recommended to be priority locations for future investment in threat abatement.