Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2016L01082:reg:1:p13
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2016L01082
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 1 (pt 13/30)
Character Range: 48360–51443

potential for inbreeding depression (Caughley, 1994).

4.2.4 Predation by feral species
European foxes (Vulpes vulpes), feral cats (Felis catus) and native birds of prey, such as the spotted harrier (Circus assimilis) and black falcon (Falco subniger) are all potential predators of the plains-wanderer (Baker-Gabb, 2002b; Llewellyn, 1975; NPWS, 2002). Predation by foxes is considered a major threat to the species in New South Wales (Llewellyn, 1975), although it is unclear as to the relative importance of this threat (Harrington et al., 1988). It is also possible that predators could pose an increased threat to the plains-wanderer around cultivated land where greater numbers of mice might attract and sustain larger populations of the potential predators (Baker-Gabb, 1998, 2002b; NPWS, 2002). Feral cats are also likely to kill plains-wanderers, although cats, unlike foxes, are not regularly recorded in open grassland habitats where plains-wanderers occur. As plains-wanderer nests are located on the ground their eggs may also be vulnerable to predation, however the occurrence and/or extent of this threat are unknown.

4.2.5 Pesticide use
In the 1990s and prior, broad-spectrum pesticides such as fenitrothion [and fipronil] were periodically sprayed from the air over a large proportion of plains-wanderer habitat (Baker-Gabb, 1993; Story & Cox, 2001; Symmons, 1985), in particular to control the Australian plague locust (Chortoicetes terminifera). However, since 2004 the Australian Plague Locust Commission (APLC) has largely replaced the aerial application of chemical pesticides with the use of a biological control agent, Metarhizium acridum commonly known as Green Guard, within primary and secondary plains-wanderer habitat (Story et al., 2007). In August 2010 the APLC agreed, in collaboration with the New South Wales Office of Environment and Heritage, to an operational policy specifying that Metarhizium will be the only locust control agent applied within 1,500 m upwind of mapped primary and secondary plains-wanderer habitat (Adriaansen, pers comm., 2015). Furthermore, APLC annual reports show that aerial spraying for plague locust control has occurred only sporadically over the past decade (APLC, 2015).
While APLC policy provides safeguards that may greatly reduce, or potentially negate, the impacts of plague locust control activities on plains-wanderers, a range of broad-spectrum pesticides [including fenitrothion and fipronil] are available for sale to the Australian public through major chemical supply companies. In New South Wales the use of chemicals on farms is regulated by state legislation and farmers are required to keep records of their usage (NSW LLS, 2015). However, there is no mechanism for individual landholder's records of pesticide usage across the plains-wanderer's range to be reported back to a central repository. Thus the total amount of pesticide exposure to the species is unknown. Furthermore, as ground-level pesticide application can involve different application rates and methodologies to aerial spraying, the