Observations on the Diets of the Long-Tailed Mouse, Pseudomys higginsi, and the Velvet-furred Rat, Rattus lutreolus velutinus, in Southern Tasmania.

1999 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 121
Author(s):  
M.M. Driessen

Diets of two sympatric murids, Pseudomys higginsi and Rattus lutreolus were studied by faecal analysis during spring and summer in wet sclerophyll forest and sub-alpine woodland on Mount Wellington, Tasmania. Both species were omnivorous but their overall diet differed with Pseudomys higginsi consuming a broader range of food items than Rattus lutreolus. P. higginsi diet tended to reflect the difference in food availability between locations and between seasons. Main items in the diet of P. higginsi at both locations were fruits, monocotyledons (mostly grasses), mosses, fungi and invertebrates. Proportions of fruits and mosses in the diet differed between locations. Mosses and ferns were most common in the diet during spring whereas monocotyledons and some dicotyledons were more common during summer. R. lutreolus diet showed little variation between locations and seasons. Main items in the diet of R. lutreolus were monocotyledons (sedges and grasses), fungi and invertebrates. The importance of mosses and fungi as dietary items are discussed. The results of this study support a developing view of resource partitioning between sympatric Rattus and Pseudomys populations in Tasmania and New South Wales.

1992 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 214 ◽  
Author(s):  
RL Pressey

Information on the features to be protected in a system of conservation reserves is an obvious requirement. The quality of the data base will primarily determine the effectiveness of conservation planning in protecting the full range of natural features in a region. However, the way in which data are used to make decisions on the locations of protected areas is also critical. Rigorous procedures for reserve selection can make the difference between achieving reservation goals or not. Research on reserve selection in New South Wales over recent years has concerned both data bases and procedures for guiding decisions. Reserve planning in many regions is based largely on some form of land classification like vegetation types or land systems. There are good reasons for using such land classes to guide the selection of reserves and to judge their representativeness. Nevertheless, they can have considerable limitations as a basis for protecting all the species in a region. These limitations are reviewed with references to more detailed discussions of particular issues. The paper also reviews a variety of procedures for selecting reserves which have been tested and applied in New South Wales. Some of the recent procedures are conceptually simple but very useful in identifying the requirements of reservation goals and demonstrating the options available to planners for representing particular features. Three principles are proposed which should underpin any attempt at systematic conservation planning.


1979 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 319 ◽  
Author(s):  
GN Goodrick

The study area of 500 km2 was humid and subtropical, on flood plain near Coraki, New South Wales. Gut contents were examined and the percentage by volume of different food items is tabulated for black duck (Anas superciliosa) and grey teal (A. gibberifrons). Black duck fed on flooded meadow-grass flats in autumn, moving when the flats dried to seasonal swamps, and when those also dried, to lagoons. Diet varied with place. Seeds of grasses, swamp plants and lagoon plants were eaten, with water snails and water beetle adults and larvae, water spiders and ostracods, and terrestrial invertebrates being eaten when the dry flats became flooded. They ate also waste maize grain from harvested fields before ploughing. Grey teal fed in the seasonal swamps in winter and then left the area almost completely; they ate almost the same items as black duck but fed by the muddy edges of seasonal swamps more than the black duck did. It was known that black duck strip seed from the growing plant and grey teal pick up the fallen seed.


1981 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 255 ◽  
Author(s):  
NC Shepherd

Over 7 weeks a group of five dingoes killed 83 red kangaroos within 150 m of a watering point in north-western New South Wales. All except three of these kangaroos were juveniles. Detailed autopsies were performed on 17 of the dead kangaroos: primary predation was the only significant gross pathological finding; the dingoes had eaten portions from about half the kangaroos killed. The daily rate of killing was estimated to be about 0.38 kg prey per kg predator. The rate of killing and the selection for juvenile kangaroos suggested that dingoes could have a direct effect on kangaroo densities by limiting rate of increase. The significance of this finding is discussed with reference to the difference in abundance of kangaroos between the New South Wales and Queensland sides of the border fence.


1998 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 251
Author(s):  
R.W. Turnbull

Distribution of the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) in the Bombala River catchment in south-eastern New South Wales was surveyed using questionnaires. Platypuses were reported from all streams in the catchment. The majority of positive sightings were from downstream areas whereas very few positive sightings were reported from headwater areas. The difference between frequencies of headwater and downstream reports of sightings was significant. The platypus was considered common throughout the catchment.


1977 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 109 ◽  
Author(s):  
GM Maynes

M. pauma, which was formerly thought to be extinct in Australia, has been found in the Great Dividing Range of coastal New South Wales between 29D 28' and 32D 23's. The optimum habitat appears to be areas of wet sclerophyll forest with a thick shrubby understorey in association with grassy areas. Although the species may be locally common, its present status is best defined as rare; it has a limited distribution and normally occurs at a low density throughout its range. Limited data indicate that most young are born between February and June. Two of six females examined were probably in embryonic diapause. Females may mature sexually as early as 12 months old, and at a weight of 2.6-2.8 kg. Adult females in Australia were significantly heavier than those in New Zealand (Kawau I.), and larger in seven external body measurements. In contrast, adult males were significantly larger in Australia than Kawau I. in ear length only. The species is mainly nocturnal and the mean group size is 1.34 animals, i.e. it is usually single individuals that are encountered.


Soil Research ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 47 (7) ◽  
pp. 742 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. R. Hart ◽  
P. S. Cornish

Soil testing for plant-available phosphorus (P) in Australia is most commonly conducted using alkaline sodium bicarbonate extraction (Olsen or Colwell tests), followed by a colourimetric assay to measure the concentration of P in solution. Analysis by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) spectroscopy has become increasingly popular internationally for other soil P tests, especially Mehlich 3, due to its efficiency and ability to measure multiple elements in the one extract. The use of ICP in place of colourimetry has been used in some Australian laboratories for bicarbonate-extractable P. However, the method is known to measure forms of P (organic) that are not measured by the colourimetric assay. This study presents data comparing soil Colwell P measured by the 2 methods for 714 soil samples from pastoral sites in south-east New South Wales. Measurement by ICP consistently yielded significantly higher P concentrations than the colourimetric method (ICP-P = 1.122Col-P + 57.0, r2 = 0.95, P < 0.001). Differences between the 2 techniques were more marked in 0–20 mm than 0–100 mm depth soil samples, and in soils with greater clay contents, suggesting that the difference was related to soil organic matter, and thereby organic P contents. Relative differences were greatest in soils with lower P concentrations, i.e. within the agronomic optimum range of most interest to farmers. ICP analysis cannot be directly correlated with colourimetrically measured P in bicarbonate extracts, and would need to be developed and calibrated as a separate, new soil P test.


2007 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 111 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Vernes ◽  
T. Cooper

Parma wallabies (Macropus parma) have a patchy distribution on the coast and ranges of central and northern New South Wales from Goulburn northward to the Queensland border. In Gibraltar Range National Park they are found in dry sclerophyll forest with a heath understorey, a departure from their apparent preference for wet forest types. Distance to swamp was by far the best correlate of M. parma distribution.


2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (5) ◽  
pp. 958 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. L. Dever ◽  
L. P. Kahn ◽  
E. K. Doyle

This experiment tested the hypothesis that integrated parasite management (IPM) programs would reduce the effects of gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) in meat-breed lamb production systems on the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales. The experiment was a longitudinal experiment using twin-bearing Border Leicester × Merino ewes on farms managed in accordance to either regional WormBoss IPM programs (n = 3 farms) or typical (TYP) regional GIN control (n = 2 farms). Ewes on each farm were either GIN-suppressed (SUP; n = 120 ewes) or not (NSUP; n = 120 ewes) and were managed in two groups (n = 120/group) balanced for GIN control. Ewes lambed in September and at lamb marking, 120 lambs (Dorset sires) from each ewe GIN control group were enrolled in the experiment to investigate the effect of ewe GIN control on lamb performance up to weaning. Overall mean worm egg count (WEC) of ewes (P = 0.004) was lower with IPM (IPM 766 vs TYP 931 epg) and was achieved with fewer drenches (IPM 4.5 vs TYP 5.5/year). Despite lower WEC, GIN infection reduced liveweight (IPM –2.1 kg vs TYP –1.1 kg, P = 0.0006) and clean fleece weight (IPM –0.11 kg vs TYP –0.01 kg, P = 0.03) of ewes to a greater extent on IPM farms. The annual rate of apparent ewe mortality was 6.5% and this was unaffected by GIN infection. WEC of lambs at weaning was lower on IPM farms (IPM 159 epg vs TYP 322, P < 0.0001) but the difference in weaning weights of lambs reared by NSUP and SUP ewes was greater on IPM farms (IPM –1.1 kg vs TYP 0.2 kg, P < 0.0001). Overall, the production loss due to GIN infection in these sheep-meat production systems, on the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, was small and treatment frequency can be reduced by IPM programs.


1991 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 547 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Eby

Seasonal movements of 22 Pteropus poliocephalus, from two maternity camps in north-eastern New South Wales, were monitored from January to June 1989 using radiotelemetry. The animals moved independently in time and space among various communal roosts located 8-610 km from the maternity camp sites. Generally, P. poliocephalus from a camp near rainforest (Currie Park, Lismore) remained within 50 km of the maternity site. These localised movements were attributed to the continued availability of fruits in the rainforest throughout the study. Animals from a maternity camp surrounded by sclerophyll forest (Susan I., Grafton) undertook long migrations south (median distance 342.5 km, n = 11) to camps containing up to 200 000 P. poliocephalus of both sexes. These large aggregations formed during the mating season and comprised individuals drawn from various previous sites. Thus, P. poliocephalus in northern and central N.S.W. appear to function as a single breeding population and should be managed as such. After mid-May, animals from Susan I. returned to north-eastern N.S.W. There was high correlation between movements of P. poliocephalus from the camp at Susan I. and the flowering patterns of certain species of Myrtaceae and Proteaceae. It is hypothesised that flowering attractive to apiarists is also attractive to P. poliocephalus and that information from apiarists could be used by wildlife managers to predict large aggregations of the animals.


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