Distribution and habitat preference of the broad-toothed rat (Mastacomys fuscus) in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia

2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard N. C. Milner ◽  
Danswell Starrs ◽  
Greg Hayes ◽  
Murray C. Evans
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Relative Abundance ◽  
Field Survey ◽  
Habitat Preferences ◽  
Vegetation Types ◽  
Australian Capital Territory ◽  
Australian Capital ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Tussock Grassland ◽  
Feral Animals

The broad-toothed rat (Mastacomys fuscus) is a small to medium-sized rodent found in south-eastern Australia. Recent surveys across the southern portion of its range indicate that the species is in decline, and climate change has been identified as a key threat to the localised persistence of this species. The present study reports on a rapid field survey across 14 high montane and subalpine sites (including moist tussock grassland, sedgelands, heathlands and bogs) in the southern Australian Capital Territory, Australia. M. fuscus scats were recorded along transects, and habitat, vegetation, distance to drainage lines and disturbance due to feral animals were recorded. Relative abundance of M. fuscus was positively related to specific vegetation types (heath, sedge and Poa) and site size. Conversely, relative abundance of M. fuscus was negatively related to disturbance due to feral animals, and distance from creek drainage lines. This study indicates that M. fuscus has specific habitat preferences and threats associated with environmental change and introduced species may threaten populations in the Australian Capital Territory.

scholarly journals Bandicoots return to Booderee: initial survival, dispersal, home range and habitat preferences of reintroduced southern brown bandicoots (eastern sub species; Isoodon obesulus obesulus)

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 132 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. M. Robinson ◽  
C. I. MacGregor ◽  
B. A. Hradsky ◽  
N. Dexter ◽  
D. B. Lindenmayer
Keyword(s):  
Home Range ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
National Park ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Habitat Preferences ◽  
Home Range Size ◽  
Suitable Habitat ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Vegetation Types ◽  
Eastern Australia

Context Reintroductions can be an effective means of re-establishing locally extinct or declining faunal populations. However, incomplete knowledge of variables influencing survival and establishment can limit successful outcomes. Aim We aimed to examine the factors (e.g. sex, body mass, release order) influencing the survival, dispersal, home range and habitat selection of reintroduced southern brown bandicoots (eastern subspecies; Isoodon obesulus obesulus) into an unfenced, predator-managed environment in south-eastern Australia (Booderee National Park). Methods Over 2 weeks in May 2016, six female and five male bandicoots were wild-caught in state forest and hard released into the park. Release locations were approximately evenly distributed between three primary vegetation types assessed as suitable habitat: heath, woodland and forest. Bandicoots were radio-tracked day and night for 4 weeks from the initial release date. Key results No mortality was detected. Males dispersed more than twice as far as females (male 704 m, female 332 m), but there was no significant sex bias in home range size. At the landscape scale, bandicoots preferentially selected home ranges that contained heath and avoided forest. Within home ranges, heath and woodland were both favoured over forest. Conclusions Post-release dispersal is sex-biased, but more data are required to determine the influence of other predictors such as body mass and release order. Within the release area, bandicoots favoured non-forest vegetation types. Implications Our study outlines factors influencing the establishment of reintroduced bandicoots. We recommend that future bandicoot reintroductions to Booderee National Park occur within areas of heath and woodland, and that subsequent releases consider the potentially larger spatial requirements and conspecific avoidance among male bandicoots. Our findings contribute new knowledge for improving translocation methods of a nationally endangered medium-sized mammal.

The Status and Distribution of The Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) In the Australian Capital Territory with Notes on Some Localised Declines.

1998 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 306
Author(s):  
M. Linternmans
Keyword(s):  
Relative Abundance ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Australian Capital Territory ◽  
River Systems ◽  
The Public ◽  
Australian Capital ◽  
The Past ◽  
Ornithorhynchus Anatinus ◽  
Service Staff ◽  
The Status

Incidental captures of platypuses have been recorded during fisheries research programs conducted in the Australian Capital Territory over the past 25 years. Ad hoc records have also been recorded from Australian Capital Territory Parks and Conservation Service staff and members of the public as part of an ongoing database project known as the ACT Vertebrate Atlas. Information is presented on the distribution and relative abundance of platypuses in the major ACT streams. There appear to have been some localised declines in a number of ACT platypus populations in the Murrumbidgee, Molonglo and Queanbeyan River systems. Possible reasons behind these declines are discussed.

Assessing wetland climate change vulnerability for wetland management decision support using the hydrogeological landscape framework: application in the Australian Capital Territory

2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (2) ◽  
pp. 225
Author(s):  
A. L. Cowood ◽  
J. Young ◽  
T. I. Dowling ◽  
C. L. Moore ◽  
R. Muller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Hazard Assessment ◽  
Wetland Management ◽  
Management Decision ◽  
Anthropogenic Pressure ◽  
Australian Capital Territory ◽  
Australian Capital ◽  
Climate Change Vulnerability ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Hydrogeological Characteristics

The hydrogeological landscape (HGL) framework provides a landscape characterisation method that identifies areas of similar physical, hydrogeological, hydrological, chemical and biological properties, referred to as HGL units. The underlying principle of the HGL framework is that water distribution and movement is controlled by climate, landform, geology, regolith, soil and vegetation properties. By understanding the patterns of variability in the setting and controls of atmospheric, surface and groundwater systems for a given landscape, the developed HGL units, and associated landscape element-based management areas, can be used for hazard assessment and natural resource management centred on water availability, quality, sustainability and associated ecological systems. Existing wetland frameworks also demonstrate that it is the hydrogeomorphological or hydrogeological characteristics of the landscape that will determine the variability in water inputs and outputs for a wetland water balance, a principle shared with the HGL framework. It is therefore logical that HGL units and management areas can be used as planning units for wetland hazard assessment and management. This paper presents an assessment of climate change vulnerability for 1296 wetlands across the Australian Capital Territory using indicators representing current anthropogenic pressure, future ecological change and future hydrological change. The use of management areas for the hazard assessment allows understanding of the patterns of variability in the chosen indicators and hazard assessment outcomes specifically for the areas to be managed. This approach allows consideration of the landscape setting when identifying suitable locations to undertake on-ground management actions to address the hazards identified.

A revision of the pink bollworms of cotton (Pectinophora busck (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae)) and related genera in Austalia.

1958 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 268 ◽  
Author(s):  
IFB Common
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Australian Capital Territory ◽  
Australian Capital ◽  
Australian Species ◽  
Untreated Cotton ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
A New Species

The Australian representatives of four genera of Gelechiidae, the larvae of which apparently all feed within the seed capsules of cotton and other Malvaceae, are reviewed. Pectinophora Busck (pink bollworms). - Three species are recognized, P. gossypiella (Saunders), P. scutigera (Holdaway), and P. endema, sp. nov., from eastern Australia. Holdaway's conclusions about the distribution of the first two are largely confirmed. As there have been no authentic records of P. gossypiella from Queensland, the existing quarantine restrictions on the importation of untreated cotton to that State are fully justified. Pexicopia, gen. nov. - The genus is erected for a group of 16 Australian species, together with Tinea malvella Hubner from Europe, Mometa chlidanopa Meyrick from Africa, and Gelechia melitolichna Meyrick from China. Nine of the Australian species are described as new, while the remaining seven have been transferred from Gelechia. Metacaena, gen. nov. - The genus is based on a new species, M. adela, from Queensland, superficially similar to Pectinophora and Pericopia. Decatopseustis Meyrick. - A new species, D. cataphanes, from the Australian Capital Territory, is described. Genitalic and other characters for the separation of these genera from one another and from the allied genera Platyedra Meyrick, Mometa Durrant, Anisoplaca Meyrick, Phrixocrita Meyrick, and Trachyedra Meyrick are discussed. The genitalia of both sexes and the wings of Australian species are figured, and keys to the species are provided.

scholarly journals Physical and Mental Health Effects of Bushfire and Smoke in the Australian Capital Territory 2019–20

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachael M. Rodney ◽  
Ashwin Swaminathan ◽  
Alison L. Calear ◽  
Bruce K. Christensen ◽  
Aparna Lal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
Health Effects ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Prolonged Exposure ◽  
Health Practitioner ◽  
Australian Capital Territory ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Australian Capital ◽  
Eastern Australia

The 2019–20 bushfire season in south-eastern Australia was one of the most severe in recorded history. Bushfire smoke-related air pollution reached hazardous levels in major metropolitan areas, including the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), for prolonged periods of time. Bushfire smoke directly challenges human health through effects on respiratory and cardiac function, but can also indirectly affect health, wellbeing and quality of life. Few studies have examined the specific health effects of bushfire smoke, separate from direct effects of fire, and looked beyond physical health symptoms to consider effects on mental health and lifestyle in Australian communities. This paper describes an assessment of the health impacts of this prolonged exposure to hazardous levels of bushfire smoke in the ACT and surrounding area during the 2019–20 bushfire season. An online survey captured information on demographics, health (physical and mental health, sleep) and medical advice seeking from 2,084 adult participants (40% male, median age 45 years). Almost all participants (97%) experienced at least one physical health symptom that they attributed to smoke, most commonly eye or throat irritation, and cough. Over half of responders self-reported symptoms of anxiety and/or feeling depressed and approximately half reported poorer sleep. Women reported all symptoms more frequently than men. Participants with existing medical conditions or poorer self-rated health, parents and those directly affected by fire (in either the current or previous fire seasons) also experienced poorer physical, mental health and/or sleep symptoms. Approximately 17% of people sought advice from a medical health practitioner, most commonly a general practitioner, to manage their symptoms. This study demonstrated that prolonged exposure to bushfire smoke can have substantial effects on health. Holistic approaches to understanding, preventing and mitigating the effects of smoke, not just on physical health but on mental health, and the intersection of these, is important. Improved public health messaging is needed to address uncertainty about how individuals can protect their and their families health for future events. This should be informed by identifying subgroups of the population, such as those with existing health conditions, parents, or those directly exposed to fire who may be at a greater risk.

New species of the oribatid mite genus Phyllhermannia Berlese, 1916 (Acari, Oribatida, Hermanniidae) from wet forests in south-eastern Australia show a high diversity of morphologically-similar, short-range endemics

Zootaxa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2770 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
MATTHEW J. COLLOFF
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Oribatid Mite ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Australian Capital Territory ◽  
Australian Capital ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
New Diagnosis

This paper contains descriptions of sixteen new species of Phyllhermannia from temperate rainforest and wet sclerophyll forest in the Australian Capital Territory (P. namadjiensis sp. nov.), New South Wales (P. bandabanda sp. nov., P. colini sp. nov. and P. tanjili sp. nov.), Tasmania (Phyllhermannia acalepha sp. nov., P. craticula sp. nov., P. lemannae sp. nov., P. luxtoni sp. nov. and P. strigosa sp. nov.) and Victoria (P. croajingolongensis sp. nov., P. errinundrae sp. nov., P. gigas sp. nov., P. hunti sp. nov., P. leei sp. nov. and P. leonilae sp. nov. and P. sauli sp. nov.). A partial supplementary description and new distribution record is given for P. eusetosa Lee, 1985 from South Australia. Phyllhermannia dentata glabra Hammer, 1962 is elevated to specific status. Hermannia macronychus Trägårdh, 1907 and H. fungifer Mahunka 1988 are recombined to Phyllhermannia. A new diagnosis of Phyllhermannia is given and immature stages are described for the first time. Three species-groups are tentatively recognised: Acalepha, confined to Tasmania, Colini, found in the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and New South Wales and Eusetosa, found in Victoria and South Australia.

On the Relative Abundance of Some Australian Psyllidae That Coexist on Eucalyptus Blakelyi.

1974 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 387 ◽  
Author(s):  
LR Clark ◽  
MJ Dallwitz
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Host Plant ◽  
Relative Abundance ◽  
Fruit Production ◽  
Australian Capital Territory ◽  
Australian Capital ◽  
Air Temperatures ◽  
Extent Of Damage ◽  
Moisture Conditions ◽  
Autumn And Winter

A 7-year study of fluctuations in the numbers of four psyllids, Glycaspis spp. (G. brimblecombei and G. prepta combined), Spondyliaspis sp. and Creiis costatus, on mature E. blakelyi in the woodlands of the Australian Capital Territory suggests that: (I) The favourableness of the leaves of the host plant as a source of food was the principal environ- mental influence affecting the abundance of each kind of psyllid; (2) Favourableness was determined by the depIetion and aging of leaves involved in the host plant's 2-year cycle of reproduction and foliage replacement (notably, as affected by the extent of fruit production), and, to differing degrees for the different kinds of psyllid, by the extent of damage caused by leaf-eating beetles, previous and prevailing soil moisture conditions (as estimated by a model using rainfall and evaporation as input), and possibly air temperatures in autumn and winter ; (3) The resulting variation in the favourableness of leaves was responsible for similarities in the fluctuations of abundance recorded for the psyllids; and (4) Those characteristics of the psyllids which defined their food requirements and ability to obtain food were responsible for differences in their abundance, mainly in the amplitude of fluctuations.

Aspects of the ecology of swamp antechinus (Antechinus minimus maritimus) on a Bass Strait island

2006 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 215 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. G. Sale ◽  
S. J. Ward ◽  
J. P. Y. Arnould
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Season ◽  
Food Availability ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Vegetation Types ◽  
Dense Population ◽  
Live Trapping ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Tussock Grassland ◽  
Dietary Component ◽  
Near Threatened

The swamp antechinus (Antechinus minimus maritimus) is a small insectivorous marsupial inhabiting closed heath and tussock grassland in south-eastern Australia. The species is considered ‘Near Threatened’ on the Australian mainland. Populations persist on coastal islands off Wilsons Promontory, but their current status is unknown. This study investigated the density, diet and reproduction of the swamp antechinus on Kanowna Island. Data were collected by live trapping in different vegetation types during four trips between August 2003 and January 2004. Higher animal densities (47–129 ha–1) were found for Kanowna Island than for previously studied mainland populations (1–18 ha–1). Examination of scats showed that this species eats a wide variety of prey types, with moth larvae a major dietary component, particularly during the breeding season. Births were estimated to have occurred between 28 June and 8 August, which is a longer period than reported for other populations of this species. Factors including reduced predation, restricted dispersal and increased food availability may be responsible for supporting this dense population.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document