We removed and recorded vertebrate fauna caught in a 392 km pipeline trench running from Moranbah to Townsville, Queensland. During the entire construction all open trench was checked daily, resulting in the retrieval of 3301 animals comprising 91 species. Because many kilometres of trench were open we devised a simple system of shelter sites in the trench, using material available on the job. These sites had the effect of concentrating the animals for easier retrieval and also considerably reduced mortality. We compare our results with four previously published studies. In all cases reptiles and amphibians account for the majority of removals. The composition of the reptiles removed varied between the five studies, reflecting the regions through which the pipelines passed.

Queensland, fauna, pipeline construction, shelters, conservation
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