Population responses of small and medium sized mammals to fox control at Jervis Bay, southeastern Australia

2007 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick Dexter ◽  
Paul Meek ◽  
Steve Moore ◽  
Matt Hudson ◽  
Holly Richardson
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals ◽  
Southeastern Australia ◽  
Black Rat ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Sugar Glider ◽  
Control Programmes ◽  
Antechinus Stuartii ◽  
Petaurus Breviceps ◽  
Fox Control

At Jervis Bay, strategic pest programmes to control the Red Fox Vulpes vulpes have been in place on the Beecroft Weapons Range (BWR) Beecroft Peninsula, New South Wales since 1995 and Booderee National Park (BNP) Bherwerre Peninsula, Jervis Bay Territory since 1999. As an integral component of the BWR plan, monitoring terrestrial and arboreal mammals has been carried out and demonstrated a significant increase in the abundance of Common Ringtail Possum Pseudochelrus peregrinus, Long-nosed Bandicoot Perameles nasuta, and Bush Rat Rattus fuscipes. There was no significant change in the abundance of Brown Antechinus Antechinus stuartii, Sugar Glider Petaurus breviceps or Black Rat (R. raltus). At BNP changes in population abundance of mammals were not monitored, but a comparison of the abundance of terrestrial mammals between the fox baited BNP and the adjacent un-baited Jervis Bay National Park (JBNP) showed Long-nosed Bandicoots, Bush Rat and Brown Antechinus to be in higher abundance in BNP than JBNP. Scat analysis further supported this finding (Roberts et aI, 2006), We assert that these combined findings are evidence that terrestrial native fauna have responded positively to continued fox control on both peninsulas, thus proving that measuring prey responses are a positive measure of success for strategic pest control programmes.

Powerline Easements: Do They Promote Edge Effects in Eucalypt Forest for Small Mammals?

1997 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 737 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ross L. Goldingay ◽  
Robert J. Whelan
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammals ◽  
Edge Effects ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Vegetative Cover ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals ◽  
Eucalypt Forest ◽  
Hair Sampling ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Antechinus Stuartii

The distribution and abundance of small terrestrial mammals were assessed in forest adjacent to powerline easements at three different sites in New South Wales. At each site, four transects of 300 m length extended into the forest from the edge of the easement. The abundances of two native species (Antechinus stuartii, Rattus fuscipes) did not differ significantly with distance from the easement but abundances differed markedly among sites. Mammals were captured in only one easement where dense vegetation was present. Feral carnivores, which may mediate edge effects on small mammals, were surveyed by using hair-sampling tubes. Cats and dogs were detected only 50–200 m inside the forest. Foxes were not detected by hair-tubes but were observed on two easements. These results suggest that powerline easements may not create edge effects in eucalypt forest for some native mammal species, although further studies are needed to determine the generality of this conclusion. We recommend that easement management should be more benign to native mammals, given the ubiquity of this form of habitat fragmentation. Promotion of dense vegetative cover and habitat linkages within easements could achieve this.

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.

Ecology of the Feral Cat, Felis catus (L. ), in South-Eastern Australia I. Diet

1981 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 537 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Jones ◽  
BJ Coman
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
New South ◽  
European Rabbit ◽  
Brushtail Possum ◽  
Feral Cat ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Sugar Glider ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Eastern Highlands ◽  
Ringtail Possum

Diets were determined for feral cats from the Victorian Mallee, Kinchega National Park in western New South Wales, and the Victorian eastern highlands. The percentages by weight of introduced mammals eaten (mainly European rabbit and house mouse) were 85, 64 and 45 for Mallee, Kinchega and eastern highland cats, respectively, of which rabbit contributed 74, 56 and 43% respectively to the total diets. The weights of native mammals eaten were 2% and 4% for Mallee and Kinchega cats; the species found were common brushtail possum, planigales and bats. For eastern highland cats the weight of native mammals eaten was 40% and at least 11 species were represented: the most important being southern bush rat (16%), common ringtail possum (8%), common brushtail and/or mountain brushtail possums (5%), brown antechinus (470) and sugar glider (4%). The weights of birds eaten were 9, 18 and 13% for Mallee, Kinchega and eastern highland cats. Less important foods were reptiles, amphibians, fish, arthropods and annelids; some food, both carrion and human food scraps, was scavenged. Seasonal changes in composition of the diet were evident in Mallee cats.

scholarly journals Diet of an Eastern Grass Owl Tyto longimembris in northern New South Wales

2021 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 44-48
Author(s):  
Stephen Kearney ◽  
Keyword(s):  
House Mouse ◽  
Mus Musculus ◽  
National Park ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Rattus Rattus ◽  
Black Rat ◽  
South Wales

A single Eastern Grass Owl Tyto longimembris was observed in Bundjalung National Park, New South Wales, in September 2019. Pellets (n = 17) collected from its roost contained the remains of House Mouse Mus musculus, Grassland Melomys Melomys burtoni, Black Rat Rattus rattus, Swamp Rat R. lutreolus, Fawn-footed Melomys Melomys cervinipes, Common Planigale Planigale maculata, Eastern Blossom Bat Syconycteris australis and honeyeater Phylidonyris sp. The most interesting findings were the Eastern Blossom Bat (the first published record of a bat in the diet of an Eastern Grass Owl in Australia) and that one of the Grassland Melomys specimens had pink bones.

Use of tall wooden poles by four species of gliding mammal provides further proof of concept for habitat restoration

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ross L. Goldingay ◽  
Brendan D. Taylor ◽  
Jonathan L. Parkyn
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Restoration ◽  
New South ◽  
Population Connectivity ◽  
Proof Of Concept ◽  
The Road ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Sugar Glider ◽  
Squirrel Glider ◽  
Petaurus Breviceps ◽  
Petaurus Australis

Tall wooden poles (glide poles) and rope canopy-bridges are frequently installed along new highways in Australia to maintain population connectivity for gliding mammals. Knowledge of the use of these structures is rudimentary. We monitored two pairs of glide poles and a canopy-bridge over three years at Port Macquarie, New South Wales. The sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps) and the squirrel glider (Petaurus norfolcensis) were collectively detected on 12–18% of nights on the pole pairs compared with 1% on the rope-bridge. The feathertail glider (Acrobates frontalis) was detected on 3% of nights on the pole pairs compared with 0.2% on the rope-bridge. The yellow-bellied glider (Petaurus australis) was detected twice on one pole. Our results demonstrate that gliding mammals readily use glide poles. Further research is needed to resolve whether glide poles can mitigate the barrier effect of the road canopy gap.

Can Flower-Feeding Marsupials Meet Their Nitrogen Requirements on Pollen in The Field?

1998 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 383
Author(s):  
I.G van Tets
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Arboreal Marsupials ◽  
Sugar Glider ◽  
Cercartetus Nanus ◽  
Pollen Density ◽  
A Site ◽  
Petaurus Breviceps ◽  
Barren Grounds

Two arboreal marsupials, the eastern pygmy possum (Cercartetus nanus) and the sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps) have exceptionally low maintenance nitrogen requirements on pollen diets. This study compares their nitrogen requirements with the density of Banksia pollen that is available in the Barren Grounds Nature Reserve, New South Wales, a site where both species are known to forage on Banksia inflorescences. The pollen density was sufficiently high that both species were capable of meeting their maintenance nitrogen requirements on pollen whenever Banksia spp. were in flower. C. nanus required a smaller proportion of its home range than P. breviceps to do so and pollen was likely to be of much greater nutritional significance to both species in winter than in summer. This corresponds closely with the results of field studies comparing the diets of these mammals at different times of the year. Pollen is an important source of nitrogen for flower-feeding marsupials but its importance will vary between species depending on the marsupial's requirements, its body size and on the quantity of pollen that is available.

Phylogeography of the Australian sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps): evidence for a new divergent lineage in eastern Australia

2010 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mansoureh Malekian ◽  
Steven J. B. Cooper ◽  
Susan M. Carthew
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Nuclear Gene ◽  
Population Subdivision ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Sugar Glider ◽  
Geographical Regions ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Mtdna Diversity ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Petaurus Breviceps

The sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps) shows considerable variation in external morphology and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) diversity across its distribution in New Guinea and Australia. Here we investigate the phylogeography of P. breviceps in Australia using data from two mitochondrial genes (ND2 and ND4) and a nuclear gene (ω-globin). Phylogenetic analyses revealed the existence of two divergent mtDNA clades that are distributed over distinct geographical regions, one from coastal New South Wales and south-eastern Queensland and a second over the remaining distributional range of the species in Australia. The two groups generally had distinct ω-globin haplotypes that differed by one or two mutational steps. Analyses of Molecular Variation further supported the presence of at least two populations, accounting for 84.8% of the total mtDNA variation and 44% of the ω-globin variation. The general concordance of phylogeographic and population analyses suggests that population subdivision, possibly resulting from the combined influences of aridification after the Pliocene and uplift of the Great Dividing Range has impacted the evolution of P. breviceps. Our results also show that the geographical distribution of the two evolutionary lineages does not correspond with the distribution of the current morphological subspecies and we further propose that they be considered as separate Evolutionarily Significant Units for the purposes of conservation management.

Electrophoretic Identification of a New Species of Antechinus (Marsupialia, Dasyuridae) in Southeastern Australia

1988 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 455 ◽  
Author(s):  
CR Dickman ◽  
DH King ◽  
M Adams ◽  
PR Baverstock
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Sensu Stricto ◽  
Biological Species ◽  
Timing Of Reproduction ◽  
Southeastern Australia ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Southern Form ◽  
Antechinus Stuartii ◽  
A New Species

Two electrophoretically distinct but morphologically cryptic forms of Antechinus 'stuartii', designated 'northern' and 'southern', occur together at Kioloa on the southern coast of New South Wales. These forms are distinguished by fixed allele differences in three proteins (albumin, glycollate oxidase and mannosephosphate isomerase) and by differences in allele frequencies for transferrin, and are separated by a Nei D of 0.11. The two forms are reproductively isolated in sympatry at Kioloa by asynchrony in the timing of reproduction, and may be considered separate biological species. Northern form populations were identified by screening for albumin and transferrin in seven localities on the central coast of New South Wales north of Kioloa. Southern form populations were identified similarly in 13 localities south of Kioloa and inland along the Great Dividing Range, and at a further locality in southern Victoria. Ovulation occurs at different rates of change of photoperiod in the two species, and may ensure that reproductive isolation is maintained in all potential areas of sympatry. The northern form represents A. stuartii sensu stricto and ranges from Kioloa north into south-eastern Queensland. The southern form is an undescribed species of Antechinus that appears to be widely distributed throughout southern New South Wales and Victoria.

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