October 2017
The smooth newt (Lissotriton vulgaris) is an amphibian native to large parts of Europe and western Asia. In 2011 the Smooth Newt was detected in the wild in Australia for the first time, at a site in metropolitan south-east Melbourne, Victoria. While the Victorian Government conducted surveys to try and delimit the extent of the incursion, no control efforts have been implemented to-date. Since 2013 no further surveillance has been undertaken to determine the persistence of the species in the area or its potential to spread.
Ecology Australia, on behalf of the Invasive Species Council, conducted surveys for the smooth newt during the spring of 2016, across an area of south-east Melbourne, to help determine the ongoing persistence of populations, and/or evidence indicating that the species may have spread.
This report presents the methodology and results of the surveys.