A search for the desert rat-kangaroo or ngudlukanta (Caloprymnus campestris) in north-eastern South Australia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl Vernes ◽  
Stephen M. Jackson ◽  
Todd F. Elliott ◽  
Kelsey Elliott ◽  
Steven G. Carr
Keyword(s):  
South Australia ◽  
North Eastern

Notes on a newly discovered population of the Pygmy Copperhead Austrelaps labialis (Jan, 1859) in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shawn Scott ◽  
Richard Biffin
Keyword(s):  
South Australia ◽  
Vulnerable Population ◽  
Isolated Population ◽  
Allopatric Population ◽  
Dense Vegetation ◽  
The North ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Remnant Habitat

ABSTRACT The Pygmy Copperhead Austrelaps labialis is South Australia’s only endemic snake, being native to the Adelaide Mount Lofty Ranges and Fleurieu Peninsula; with an additional allopatric population on Kangaroo Island. Within the AMLR, it inhabits stringybark forests and adjacent dense vegetation, occupying a total area of ~150 km2. Here, we document a newly discovered and seemingly isolated population at the north-eastern extent of its known mainland distribution. We visited Lobethal Bushland Park from 2013–2018 and observed snakes of varying age and size, while documenting their ecology and behaviour. In late 2019, the site was decimated by catastrophic wildfire and its persistence here remains unknown. Alongside descriptions of our observations, we suggest measures for the conservation of this vulnerable population in its remnant habitat if it has survived the impacts of wildfire.

Grazing management to increase utilisation of phalaris-based pasture in dryland dairy systems

2001 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 29 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Watson ◽  
A. Avery ◽  
G. J. Mitchell ◽  
S. R. Chinner
Keyword(s):  
Crude Protein ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Grazing Management ◽  
Annual Rainfall ◽  
Leaf Stage ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Average Annual Rainfall ◽  
Metabolisable Energy ◽  
Grazing Strategies

Phalaris (Phalaris aquatica cv. Sirosa)-based pastures at Sandy Creek (north-eastern Victoria) and Flaxley (South Australia) were subjected to grazing strategies based on different pre- and post-grazing pasture dry matter levels for 3 years, 1994–96. At Sandy Creek, 3 treatments consisted of commencing grazing when either 1600 (1), 2200 (2) or 2800 (3) kg dry matter per hectare (DM/ha) of pasture had accumulated, with treatments being grazed to a pasture residual of 1200 kg DM/ha. Grazing strategies were imposed over autumn–winter. At Flaxley, there were 5 treatments. Grazing commenced when either 1800 (1) or 2200 (2) kg DM/ha of pasture had accumulated, and was grazed to a pasture residual of 1200 kg DM/ha. Also when either 2200 (3) or 2600 (4) kg DM/ha of pasture had accumulated and these treatments were grazed to a pasture residual of 1800 kg DM/ha. A further treatment was when phalaris had reached a 4-leaf stage (5) (4 fully expanded leaves per tiller) and this was grazed to a residual of 1200 kg DM/ha. The grazing strategies were imposed over the autumn, winter and spring. Pasture consumption at Sandy Creek was higher in treatments 2 and 3. Pasture metabolisable energy (ME) levels and crude protein contents were not affected by treatment. Pasture consumption at Flaxley was greater in treatments 2 and 4. The strategy of grazing at the phalaris 4-leaf stage (5) showed potential for large spring growth. The ME of pasture was unaffected by treatments. The optimal grazing strategy to increase pasture growth for phalaris cv. Sirosa-based pastures in winter-dominant rainfall zones of temperate Australia, receiving about 700 mm average annual rainfall appears to be: allowing 2200 or 2600 kg DM/ha of pasture to accumulate before grazing back to a pasture residual of 1200 or 1800 kg DM/ha, respectively.

Variability and trends in sowing dates across the Australian wheatbelt

1998 ◽  
Vol 49 (7) ◽  
pp. 1111 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Stephens ◽  
T. J. Lyons
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Regional Differences ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Sowing Date ◽  
National Scale ◽  
Climatic Effects ◽  
Weather Patterns ◽  
Sowing Dates ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Australian Wheat

As sowing dates are critical for appropriate yield forecasting, a national survey of Australian wheat farmers was undertaken. This revealed that wheat sowing generally takes 2-4 weeks to complete between the middle of May and the middle of June. Distinct regional differences occur in the way sowing is completed and these are related to soil and climatic effects. In Western Australia, sowing follows a more distinct `break in the season" and the midpoint of farm sowing is fairly uniform across cropping areas. As one progresses into south-eastern and then north-eastern cropping areas the spatial variability in sowing increases. The combination of fallowing practices, unreliable autumn rainfall, and heavier soils (that delay operations when conditions are wet or dry), all add to the variability in sowing date and sowing duration in north-eastern areas. The range of midpoint in sowing (between years) generally decreases as the progression is made from a farm, to a State, to a national scale. Reduced variability at a national scale is enhanced by broad-scale weather patterns causing sowing opportunities to contrast markedly on different sides of the country. During the 1980s, sowing progressed a day earlier per year at a national scale. The most pronounced changes occurred in Queensland and Western Australia, where a 2-3-week shift to earlier sowing was recorded. Coinciding with this was a trend in all areas to reduced or minimum tillage techniques. Late opening rains in South Australia restricted early sowing opportunities during this time.

An overlooked, early record of the desert rat-kangaroo (Caloprymnus campestris) from Lake Killalpaninna, South Australia

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 223
Author(s):  
Karl Vernes ◽  
Sandy Ingleby ◽  
Mark D. B. Eldridge
Keyword(s):  
Henry James ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Australian Museum ◽  
North Eastern

The desert rat-kangaroo (Caloprymnus campestris) is known from specimens collected at just a few localities in north-eastern South Australia. We examined a C. campestris skin (M21674) in the collection of the Australian Museum, that was collected by Henry James Hillier at Lake Killalpaninna in South Australia between 1902 and 1905. This is a new locality for C. campestris, and the most southerly recorded. Furthermore, it precedes Hedley Herbert Finlayson’s rediscovery of the desert rat-kangaroo in 1931 by more than 25 years.

Population ranges of Miniopterus schreibersii (Chiroptera) in south-eastern Australia

1969 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 665 ◽  
Author(s):  
PD Dwyer
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
South Australia ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Navigational Cues ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Western Victoria ◽  
South Eastern Australia

In south-eastern Australia banding of M. schreibersii has been concentrated in four areas: north-eastern New South Wales, south-eastern New South Wales, south-eastern Victoria, and south-western Victoria and south-eastern South Australia. The present paper analyses 2083 reported movements. Only 17 of these are from one of the four areas to another with the longest movement being 810 miles. Biologically and geographically separate populations of M. schreibersii are recognized in both north-eastern and south-eastern New South Wales. Each population has its basis in dependence upon a specific nursery site which is used annually by nearly all adult females in that population. Boundaries of population ranges in New South Wales are considered to be prominent features of physiography (i.e. divides). Bats move between population ranges less often than they move within population ranges. This cannot be explained solely in terms of the distances separating roosts. Available movement records from Victoria and South Australia are consistent with the pattern described for New South Wales. Two biologically recognizable populations (i.e, different birth periods) occur in south-western Victoria and south-eastern South Australia but these may have overlapping ranges. Only one nursery colony of M. schreibersii is known from south-eastern Victoria. On present evidence it remains possible that the apparent integrity of the population associated with this nursery is merely a consequence of distance from other areas of banding activity. Detailed analyses of movements in bats may provide direct evidence as to the kinds of cues by which a given species navigates. Thus the physiographic basis described for population ranges in New South Wales is consistent with the view that M. schreibersii may orientate to waterways or divides or both. The probability that there are area differences in the subtlety or nature of navigational cues is implied by the different physiographic circumstances of south-western Victoria and south-eastern South Australia. It is suggested that knowledge of population range boundaries may aid planning of meaningful homing experiments.

Marine and estuarine phylogeography of the coasts of south-eastern Australia

2016 ◽  
Vol 67 (11) ◽  
pp. 1597 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Colgan
Keyword(s):  
South Australia ◽  
Rocky Intertidal ◽  
Phylogeographic Structure ◽  
Subtidal Zone ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Genetic Techniques ◽  
South Eastern Australia

Understanding a region’s phylogeography is essential for an evolutionary perspective on its biological conservation. This review examines the phylogeographic structures in south-eastern Australia that have been revealed by mitochondrial DNA sequencing and other genetic techniques and examines whether they can be explained by known factors. The review covers species that occur in the intertidal zone or, even infrequently, in the shallow subtidal zone. The coasts most frequently associated with phylogeographic structure are the boundaries between the Peronian and Maugean biogeographical provinces in southern New South Wales and the Maugean and Flindersian provinces in South Australia, the areas in Victoria and north-eastern Tasmania separated by the Bassian Isthmus at glacial maxima, long sandy stretches without rocky intertidal habitat on the Ninety Mile Beach in Victoria and the Younghusband Peninsula–Coorong in South Australia, southern Tasmania and Bass Strait, which acts as a barrier for littoral species.

The occurrence of the yellow-footed antechinus Antechinus flavipes in remnant linear habitats in north-eastern Victoria.

2003 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 97 ◽  
Author(s):  
der Ree R van
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Southeastern Australia ◽  
Linear Habitats ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Temperate Woodlands ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Antechinus Stuartii ◽  
Antechinus Agilis

THE yellow-footed Antechinus Antechinus flavipes is distributed from South Australia, through central Victoria, New South Wales and into Queensland as well as in south-western Australia (Van Dyck 1998). In south-eastern Australia, the conservation of A. flavipes is not assured because its range largely corresponds with the temperate woodlands that have undergone extensive clearing and degradation (Menkhorst 1995). Despite this, no studies on the effects of the loss and fragmentation of habitat on A. flavipes have been published in the scientific literature. In contrast, numerous ecological studies that investigate the consequences of anthropogenic disturbance have been undertaken on its congeners, the brown antechinus Antechinus stuartii and agile antechinus Antechinus agilis (e.g., Bennett 1987; Downes et al. 1997; Knight and Fox 2000). These studies indicate that the abundance of these species may be influenced by patch size (Bennett 1987; Dunstan and Fox 1996), distance to large forest blocks (Downes et al. 1997), habitat structure (Knight and Fox 2000) and degree of tolerance to modified habitats that surround the patch (Knight and Fox 2000). Can the response of A. stuartii and A. agilis be used to predict how the loss, fragmentation and degradation of habitat may affect A. flavipes? In this note, I provide preliminary information about a population of A. flavipes occupying linear fragments of woodland in an agricultural landscape in southeastern Australia.

The winter mortality of eggs of Chortoicetes terminifera (Walk.) (Orthoptera: Acrididae) during the outbreak of 1955.

1965 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 47 ◽  
Author(s):  
TW Hogan
Keyword(s):  
Mortality Rate ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Winter Mortality ◽  
Winter Rainfall ◽  
Median Percentage ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
South Wales ◽  
North Eastern

Migratory swarms of Chortoicetes terminifera established egg beds in New South Wales, South Australia, and Victoria during the autumn of 1955. Samples of eggs were taken from a number of districts in New South Wales and Victoria during the winter and the mortality rate was determined. Scelio fulgidus was the only parasite present but it was very widespread with a median percentage parasitization of 5%. Mortality from other causes had a median of 39%. Winter rainfall during 1955 was considerably above average and in some situations waterlogging of the soil in which the eggs were laid may have been one of the factors affecting survival. Low temperature seems more likely to have been the factor of importance at the higher altitudes in north-eastern Victoria where hatching was particularly poor.

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